Source: United States Senator for California – Dianne Feinstein
Washington–Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and a group of their colleagues to urge the Biden administration to immediately extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, which would authorize Haitian nationals in the United States to remain in the country until conditions improve in Haiti. The island nation continues to face compounding crises — escalating gang violence, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, reports of cholera deaths for the first time in three years and an inability to get humanitarian assistance to more than five million Haitians — that have forced thousands of Haitians to leave their home in growing numbers. The current TPS designation for Haiti is set to expire in February 2023.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken the senators wrote, “In light of the worsening conditions in Haiti, including prolific gang violence, widespread civil and political unrest since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and the inability of average Haitians to obtain gasoline, food, water, health care, and other basic necessities, extending and redesignating Haiti’s TPS status is urgently warranted.”
In addition to Feinstein and Markey, the letter was also signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
Full text of the letter is available here.
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