Dear Haiti Friends,
If you have not already done so, please consider writing to your senators about the Senate Bill extending TPS for Haitians.  The House has already passed a similar bill with bipartisan support.  Sending thousands of people to Haiti would put extreme pressure on a situation where there is already grievous shelter and food insecurity, where hundreds of thousands are already internally displaced.
The website below makes it very easy — takes less than a minute.  You can personalize your message if you wish.  You do not need to be an Episcopalian to use this website, although you might wish to remove the church references from the letters if you are a member of a different faith or no faith.
Thank you for considering this action.
Yours,
Serena
Serena Evans Beeks
Canon Serena Evans Beeks, D.Min.
US Coordinator, Haiti Episcopal School Partnerships
National Association of Episcopal Schools

Haiti continues to face a profound humanitarian and security crisis. The U.S. Department of State maintains a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Haiti because of widespread violence, kidnapping, political instability, and limited access to basic services. Conditions remain so dire that many advocates, faith leaders, and humanitarian organizations have warned that there is no realistic opportunity for a safe and orderly return for Haitian nationals at this time.

Against this backdrop, a June Supreme Court decision cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS), on which more than 330,000 Haitians and 3,800 Syrians rely. TPS is a humanitarian protection created for individuals who cannot safely return to their countries because of armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.

As The Episcopal Church shared in its statement following the Mullin v. Doe decision, this decision “means that families who have built their lives, raised children, worshiped, worked, and contributed to their communities in the United States may now face the loss of work authorization and protection from deportation, and may need to return to countries still marked by violence, instability, or humanitarian crisis.”

Congress has the authority to respond. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation extending TPS protections for Haitians, and in June, Sen. Edward Markey introduced companion legislation, Senate Bill 4814.

Now is the time to urge your senators to cosponsor and support S.4814. Extending TPS would help prevent individuals and families from being returned to countries where their safety remains at risk and would uphold the humanitarian values that have long guided the United States’ response to people facing extraordinary circumstances.

Contact your senators and ask them to cosponsor and support S.4814, the Senate version of the House bill. Your voice can help ensure that Haitian families are not forced into harm’s way.
 

Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

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