Brooklyn leaders use carnival parade to urge Congress to restore protected status for Haitians
Senate Bill 4814 would redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status through 2029, but it has stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
NEW YORK, United States. Haitian-American elected officials and Brooklyn community leaders used the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade to urge Congress to pass a bill restoring Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians.
Senate Bill 4814, introduced on June 17 by Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts and co-sponsored by other Democrats, would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for TPS through 2029. It has not cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee amid Republican opposition, including from Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and no further hearings or votes are scheduled.
At the parade, leaders encouraged people to call the offices of Republican senators and urge them to pass the bill.
Groups join forces
The Haitian American Alliance of New York, Little Haiti BK, the CUNY Haitian Studies Institute, Haitian-Americans United for Progress, the Haitian-American Foundation for Democracy and 1199 joined the call.
Dr Marie Lily, director of the Haitian Studies Institute at Brooklyn College, said the groups "knew it was important to be present, visible and to draw attention to the injustices of the current administration against TPS holders."
"As an educator, I already see the horrible impact of the TPS termination on Haitian students who attend our public schools and universities," she said.
Council Member Rita Joseph said: "I came to this country from Haiti as a child, so this fight is personal. TPS may have officially ended, but there is a path forward."
Deportations under way
The Trump administration ended TPS for 350,000 Haitians in the US in July 2026. On August 20, Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent the first major deportation flight to Haiti, and flights have since increased from monthly to weekly.
The Department of Homeland Security posted a message to Haitian deportees that read: "Dear Haitian doctors, lawyers, scholars, and engineers, Imagine what you could do with $3,000 in Haiti." It also published video of deportees in restraints boarding a flight.
Deportees have arrived in Cap-Haïtien, on the north coast, many with no money or belongings. The route south to Port-au-Prince is controlled by gangs. Haitian authorities say they are at capacity and that some deportees could become homeless; 450 people landed in Cap-Haïtien in August.
Crisis at home
The UN Security Council held a briefing on August 28 after a massacre in Kenscoff, south-east of Port-au-Prince, on the night of August 23 to 24, in which 47 people were killed and homes set on fire.
The UN says nearly 1.5 million people have been displaced, 2.6 million children need humanitarian assistance and 5,500 incidents of gender-based violence were reported in the first six months of the year.
Leaders said deportations should not continue while the crisis escalates.
