Haitians React to Trump’s Decision to End ‘Protected’ Status

New York State Assemblyman Michael Blake on Homeland Security 
Decision Terminating Temporary Residency Program for Haitians

I am vehemently opposed to the Homeland Security Department’s disgraceful decision to end the Temporary Protected Status of the about 60,000 Haitians here in the United States, which will send them to an impoverished nation still recovering from the devastating earthquake which struck them almost eight years ago. Donald Trump continues to amaze with his lack of compassion and decency. After stripping away protections from immigrant children and their parents, he is now trying to do the same for U.S. residents. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, and millions on the island are still in desperate need of humanitarian aid following a string of calamitous natural disasters, war, and disease. Sending these U.S. residents back to Haiti is heartless and cruel, and it is diametrically opposed to our values as Americans which have made us the great nation that we are. Haitians have been ravaged by heartbreak, and we have just added to their pain. There are many good, hardworking Haitians here in the Bronx who I have personally seen make the 79th District a better place. This decision is, frankly, disgusting, and I am angered and saddened that we consider a small island which has been left battered physically, economically, and politically to be fit for these people to have to return. As the proud son of immigrants, I cannot hide my disdain for this repugnant decision. To all the Haitians who have called this country home for the past decade: I stand with you, and we will fight this.

Source: The Office of Assemblyman Michael Blake