Campaign Action
As the fates of 300,000 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients hang in the balance, 10-year-old Haitian-American Ronyde Christina Ponthieux makes a heartfelt plea to the administration on behalf of her family and community:
“If I were you, President Trump, I would make the smart, economic, and humane decision. Renew TPS for 18 months for Haiti, Honduras, [El] Salvador, Nicaragua, and the others to give Congress a chance to think about PPS, Permanent Protected Status ….”
“… I know that you have to act in ways and do unpopular things, sometimes to appease your base. You don’t want to get in trouble. Believe me, I don’t like to get in trouble either. So, if I were you President Trump, I would use my authority to renew TPS. I would educate myself about the contributions of over 300,000 TPS recipients.”
If the administration decides to end TPS—“a provisional designation granted to immigrants who cannot return to their homes due to violence, natural disasters, or other conditions”—Haitian families who have U.S. citizen children and have lived in the U.S. could be uprooted, including families like Ronyde’s.
During a rally in Washington, D.C. this week, Haitian TPS recipients, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, other advocacy groups called on the administration and lawmakers to continue protections for TPS recipients, including 50,000 Haitians. Several lawmakers have also introduced legislative proposals, including the American Promise Act and the ASPIRE Act, to protect TPS families.
“We have so many residents in our state that has TPS,” Yvette Clarke, the Democratic congresswoman from New York and author of the ASPIRE Act, said at the Capitol Hill rally. “It is just heartbreaking to see the anguish on the faces of those within my community whose lives are uncertain right now … sending people back under these conditions is inhumane, quite frankly.”
Ronyde continues in her video message: “My parents … are hardworking, honest people who just want a safe place to raise their families. They have deep roots in their communities, they pay taxes, they contribute to the social, economic, and political fabric of this great nation … ending TPS would not only hurt families, it would be bad for business and bad for the economy.”