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A group of protesters, including some personally affected by the Trump administration’s decision to end TPS for thousands of Haitians allowed into America after the devastating 2010 earthquake, hit the road to the President’s Mar-a-Lago home Tuesday in an effort for their voices to be heard.
The Rally for TPS Extension & Permanent Status left Miami Gardens and headed to the Palm Beach County as a Facebook page organizing the protest said they want the Temporary Protection Status renewed for all immigrants from Haiti and Central America while also asking for a “clean” Dream Act for children of immigrants.
President Trump is expected to spend the Thanksgiving holiday at his Florida home and travel from Washington D.C. on Tuesday.
Over 60,000 people who relocated following that earthquake are affected, as the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that conditions have improved enough that the status will only be allowed to continue until 2019.
“Since the 2010 earthquake, the number of displaced people in Haiti has decreased by 97 percent,” the department said in a press release. “Haiti is able to safely receive traditional levels of returned citizens.”
Advocates for Haitians say a persistent cholera epidemic and damages caused by three hurricanes since 2016 exacerbate the difficulty for returning Haitians.
Days after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010, President Barack Obama granted the 18-month protection status for Haitians in America who would otherwise have to go home. Obama renewed it every time it ran out.
Since taking office, Trump has ended temporary permit programs for Sudan and Nicaragua. He postponed until next July a decision on how to deal with a similar program for 86,000 residents from Honduras.
The temporary status covers some 435,000 people from nine countries ravaged by natural disasters or war, who came to the U.S. legally or otherwise.
