Immigration Extension For Haitians Pushed By Councilman

PROSPECT-LEFFERTS GARDENS, DITMAS PARK and FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — Councilman and Haitian immigrant Mathieu Eugene has started an online petition calling on President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security to allow Haitian immigrants facing imminent deportation to remain in the U.S. Eugene's district, one that includes many immigrants from Haiti and other Caribbean countries, covers Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush and Ditmas Park.

Under president Obama, Haitians who arrived in the U.S. before 2011 were granted "Temporary Protected Status" (TPS), meaning they could remain in the country, work here, and send money back to their home country. The TPS designation was established following the devastating earthquake that hit the island nation in 2010, killing as many as 300,000 people and likely wounding hundreds of thousands more.

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In August 2015, the U.S. offered the most recent of several TPS extensions, this one lasting until July 22, 2017. However, the special status has thus far only been applied to Haitians who arrived in the country before 2011.

Legislation recently introduced by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, who also represents Flatbush, Ditmas Park and Lefferts Gardens, would change that, granting an 18-month TPS status to any Haitian who arrived in the country before Nov. 4, 2016.

Eugene's petition says a new TPS extension is justified, considering the host of disasters that have recently befallen Haiti, including "four tropical storms in 2008, the horrific 2010 earthquake, and the recent hurricane in 2016."

The petition also argues that "Haiti cannot withstand an influx of deported Haitian nationals who will put additional strain on the country’s ongoing economic challenges," adding that the nation "has a severely damaged socioeconomic infrastructure, which the government is still in the process of rebuilding."

Extending the TPS status for Haitians in the U.S., the petition concludes, would be "a humanitarian gesture that will alleviate the country's socioeconomic burden and ease its recovery."

Pictured at top: Councilman Mathieu Eugene. Photo courtesy of the councilman's office.