Legislator Solages Applauds President Biden for Reinstating Temporary Protected Status for Haitian Asylum Seekers; Thanks Senate Majority Leader Schumer for Advocacy

USANEWSONLINE.COM DESK, LAWRENCE, N.Y.- Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages (D – Lawrence) is thanking President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer for heeding the call of Haitian community advocates and extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for asylum seekers for the next 18 months – an extension that provides crucial and potentially life-saving protections from expulsion from the United States.

Prior to the May 22 order from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, more than 1,800 Haitians were placed in the path of “grave political, social and economic conditions in Haiti” since February after being expelled from the United States under the guise of Title 42 of the Public Health Act – a number that exceeded the total number in the entire calendar year of 2020.

However, citing the low number of cases of COVID-19 in Haiti compared and comparatively low risk of Haitian nationals introducing COVID-19 into the United States, Legislator Solages implored Majority Leader Schumer and Rep. Gregory Meeks, Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, to work with President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to immediately change course on the treatment of Haitian nationals and asylum seekers – a call that was heeded.

“Under the despotic rule of its current regime, the people of Haiti continue to endure deplorable conditions that amount to nothing short of a humanitarian crisis,” Legislator Solages said. “America has a moral obligation to offer safe harbor for those who are fleeing tremendous peril in their homelands, and I thank Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Chairman Meeks and President Biden for taking this crucial step toward restoring our nation’s standing as a beacon of hope for the oppressed people of the world.” Press Release.