R.I. leaders blast Supreme Court ruling stripping protections for Haitians

PROVIDENCE — Sexual trafficking. Kidnapping. Gang violence. Death.

That is what awaits Haitians in Rhode Island, and across the country, if the Trump administration strips them of Temporary Protected Status and deports them back to their home country, a local Haitian leader warned Tuesday while standing in the State House rotunda.

Read more Proposed budget from state lawmakers won’t raise taxes and includes review of school funding

Bernard Georges, founder and executive director of New Bridges for Haitian Success, joined Governor Daniel J. McKee, Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos, Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore, and Providence Mayor Brett P. Smiley in vowing to stand with the more than 1,700 Haitians who are in Rhode Island with Temporary Protected Status.

Speaker after speaker denounced last week’s US Supreme Court ruling, which said the Trump administration has the authority to revoke an immigration program that allows some 330,000 people from Haiti and 6,100 people from Syria to live and work legally in the United States on humanitarian grounds.

Georges said he has visited Haiti as recently as March, and he warned that the conditions there are dire and deteriorating.

“You see kidnapping every day,” he said. “People are killing every day. People are dying every day. Public institutions are burning.” The government, including the judiciary, is no longer functioning, he said, and gangs control large swaths of the country.

“Sending people back under these conditions will expose them to sex trafficking, sexual violence, kidnapping, extortion, and death,” Georges said.

He urged officials to do all they can to protect Haitians who have built new lives in the United States — people working in Rhode Island’s hospitals, schools, and local businesses.

“Let us choose justice over fear,” Georges said. “Let us choose humanity over policies that strip people of their dignity, because history will remember what we did when our neighbors need us most.”

Temporary Protected Status shields from deportation immigrants from certain countries that are experiencing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. The program protected a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries whenPresident Trump took office.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision allows the Department of Homeland Security to move ahead with its plans to end the program for Haitians. Those who lose their TPS status will have to leave the country voluntarily or apply for other legal pathways to stay in the United States lawfully.Many couldremain here without legal status, which could make them ineligible to work and leave them vulnerable to deportation.

McKee, a Democratic governor, said he is “angry” and “frustrated” by Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling.

“Look, we have a community of hardworking people that are being attacked right now — loving families, caring neighbors, and yet they’re being attacked,” McKee said. “This is a moment when we all should stand together to support the communities that are under attack — members who have been through trauma, who fear suffering and violence in their home country, and who have found a safe haven here among us.”

Matos, a Democratic lieutenant governor who was born in the Dominican Republic, called the Trump administration’s attempt to expel Haitians “inhumane.”

Read more Follow live updates on the Trump administration

“As an immigrant myself, I have seen the hard work that the immigrant community does here in the state of Rhode Island,” Matos said. “We can no longer just sit by the sidelines and watch as the Supreme Court and the Trump administration strip away everything that makes this country great — because this country is great, we don’t have to make it great.”

Smiley, a Democratic mayor, said he and other city officials are “deeply disappointed” in the Supreme Court decision.

“Providence is a city that has always been shaped by immigrants,” he said. “Providence is a place where all are welcomed, and we will continue to stand up for all of our neighbors, regardless of their nation of origin. Discriminatory policies have no place in our community.”

Amore, a Democrat secretary of state who taught history at East Providence High School, recited lines from a poem mounted inside the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal: “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

“Temporary protected status is protected status — it defines a nation’s decency,” Amore said. “This action flies in the face of a history that welcomes and protects those who come to our shores.”

Speakers noted that US Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed, both Rhode Island Democrats, denounced the Supreme Court ruling as “epically bad” and urged Congress to pass legislation designating Haiti for temporary protected status and providing three years of legal protections to Haitians.

“The US Supreme Court got it wrong, but the US Senate still has a chance to get it right and we urge swift, bipartisan action to extend TPS for people who are here legally, have already been vetted, are making a positive contributions in our community, and who would face unsafe, life-threatening conditions if they were expelled from the United States,” Whitehouse and Reed said in joint statement.

Juan Pablo Ocampo Sheen, coordinator of the Immigrant Coalition of Rhode Island, described local Haitians as “a pillar in Rhode Island.”

“They are working in our hospitals and schools. They are small business owners and community leaders,” Ocampo Sheen said. “The US government has not offered a clear path for TPS holders to become residents, despite the fact that they have both established lives here and are in great danger if forced to leave the US. Shame!”

Milagro Sique, executive director of the Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, called the Supreme Court decision “devastating,” saying it will allow the Trump administration to take action against those losing Temporary Protected Status in 32 days, meaning July 27.

While she knows people are afraid, Sique said, “Please know there is still hope. There are still different pathways that you can seek. I urge you to seek legal guidance for your particular case.”

Read more A US missile killed Iranian schoolchildren four months ago. We still don’t know the full story.