But the end is coming, DHS officials warned, telling the 58,706 Haitians enrolled in the Temporary Protected Status program, or TPS, to use the time “to handle their affairs.”
“This six-month extension should allow Haitian TPS recipients living in the United States time to attain travel documents and make other necessary arrangements for their ultimate departure from the United States, and should also provide the Haitian government with the time it needs to prepare for the future repatriation of all current TPS recipients,” Homeland Secretary John Kelly announced.
Kelly’s decision, which had become the focus of an unprecedented social media and letter-writing campaign in communities across the United States, was received with mixed emotions. While some breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of six more months in the United States, others panicked at the new Jan. 22 deadline.
“There’s just no way that in six months the nation of Haiti could absorb 60,000 of its people back,” Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson said from the Senate floor Monday as he called on Haitians to be patient. “It would be like trying to swallow a bite of food that is way too big, in order to do it.”
Likes: 
Reply With Quote
