Miami, Fla. – U.S. Congresswomen Frederica Wilson and Sheila CherfilusMcCormick, both Democrats from South Florida, are urging President Biden and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to extend the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Haitian migrants and place a moratorium on deportations to Haiti.

The TPS, which affects more than 50,000 Haitian migrants living in the U.S., expires in February 2023 and the Biden administration has yet to decide to extend it again.

The urgent entreaty comes after Haiti has drifted into a whirlpool of violence and anarchy including the assassination of President Jovenel Moise last year and gangs terrorizing citizens of all ages.

According to Wilson, the country lacks a democratically elected government, insecurity due to gangs and the illegal flow of weapons has increased significantly.

"Haiti has fallen into a more profound political uncertainty since the death of President Moïse," Wilson said. "There is still no elected president, legislators, or mayors."

South Florida has a large Haitian migrant population seeking political asylum who fear the worst if they are returned to Haiti.

The social disorder in Haiti is so bad that Haitians tried to flee in record numbers in 2021 and 2022.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported stopping 1,527 Haitians who tried to reach the Florida coast including the Florida Keys, repatriating most and detained others.

Wilson and Cherfilus-McCormick, who is of Haitian descent, are undertaking efforts to support the Haitian community and stabilize Haiti.

“Given the deteriorating conditions in Haiti and the fast approaching February 2023 expiration of TPS for Haitians, I’m urging President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to extend and redesignate TPS for Haitians,” said Wilson “The extraordinary challenges that prompted Haiti’s original TPS designation persist, and we must continue to provide these protections and other forms of assistance, including for those who arrived after July 29, 2021.”

Cherfilus-McCormick said due to the failed leadership by the de facto government of Dr. Ariel Henry, the people of Haiti are being terrorized, raped, murdered and kidnapped daily by emboldened gangs financed and supported by powerful elites.

“Over the past several months, the pervasive insecurity has resulted in massive protests against the government’s complicity and failures to protect citizens," Cherfilus-McCormick said. "As evi-

denced, the insecurity crisis in the Republic of Haiti is dire. For these reasons, President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have a legal and moral obligation to extend and redesignate TPS for Haitians. It would be unconscionable to send anyone back to Haiti at this time.”

Wilson and Cherfilus-McCormick were joined in the letter by U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor (FL-14), Al Lawson (FL-5), Darren Soto (FL-9), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), and Reps. Anna Eshoo (CA-18), Dwight Evans (PA-3), Gwen Moore (WI-4), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

Wilson said while Congressional Democrats are working to pass legislation to create a pathway to green cards and citizenship for TPS recipients, Senate Republicans have failed to support a permanent solution to countless hardworking immigrants. Thus, the executive branch much act.

She said the country has suffered through a lot of hardships due to natural disasters that killed hundreds of thousands of people and crippled the nation’s infrastructure.

Wilson said the country never rebounded as conditions have not improved in the past 12 years.

"Unfortunately, the August 2021 designation, which has protected thousands of Haitian nationals living in the United States, kept mixed-status Haitian families united, provided employment eligibility, and enabled economic contributions to our nation and Haiti, is set to expire," she said. "For many decades, the country has weathered foreign interventions, extreme weather events due to climate change, including the 2010 and 2021 earthquakes that claimed roughly 300,000 lives and devastated the nation’s infrastructure, and contagious diseases including cholera and COVID-19.

Last year, the Biden administration granted TPS to Haitians nationals who were currently living in the U.S. for 18 months amid ongoing security concerns, poverty and human rights abuses in the country.

TPS protects nationals of designated countries living in the U.S. from potential deportation if they are eligible and also allows them to apply for work permits, as well as giving them the freedom to travel.

"Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," Mayorkas said in a statement in 2021 "After careful consideration, we determined that we must do what we can to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so they may safely return home."

A decision to extend the TPS for Haitian migrants could come soon.