Expert Testimony During the Congressional Field Hearing on Haitian Tps Termination

Floor Speech

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Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, as part of the Congressional Field Hearing on Haitian TPS Termination held in the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District, experts from the community were invited to discuss the importance of extending TPS for Haitian nationals. Therefore, I include in the Record their testimonies: Testimony of Attorney Mirian Albert of Lawyers for Civil Rights to the

Congressional Field Hearing on the Termination of Haitian Temporary Protected Status

Lawyers for Civil Rights (``LCR'') advocates for communities of color and immigrants through legal action, education, and economic empowerment. On March 3, 2025, LCR fIled a federal lawsuit to block the termination of Temporary Protected Status (``TPS'') for Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of three immigrant advocacy organizations--Haitians Americans United, Inc. (``HAU''), Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts (`` VAM''), UndocuBlack Network (``UBN'')--and four individual TPS holders. Today, LCR urges Congress to act to preserve humane immigration protections like TPS. Without those protections, the consequences will be severe, forcing families into crisis, undermining local economies, and pushing communities into unnecessary instability.

TPS for Haiti was first designated in 2010, after a catastrophic earthquake. Extensions continued over many years in recognition of Haiti's ongoing instability and humanitarian needs. The designation was most recently extended through February 3, 2026, under a Biden-era decision, reflecting the reality that the conditions prompting the original designation have not meaningfully improved. In February 2025, the Trump Administration attempted to shorten that designation through a ``partial vacatur,'' purporting to cut the TPS period by six months. A federal court ruled the action unlawful and restored the February 3, 2026 expiration date. Despite this ruling, in late 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would not renew Haiti's TPS designation beyond that date.

LCR strongly condemned this decision. Terminating TPS amid Haiti's ongoing crisis--including widespread gang violence, political instability, and economic collapse--ignores conditions that even the U.S. State Department continues to warn make travel unsafe. The consequences of this decision are not abstract or speculative; they are immediate and deeply human. If allowed to proceed, the termination of Haitian TPS on February 3, 2026 would impose immediate and serious harms.

First, TPS holders would lose protection from deportation absent another lawful status resulting in the sudden destruction of countless lives and the separation of families. Many Haitian TPS recipients have lived in the United States for over a decade, have U.S. citizen children, contribute to the economy, own homes, and have built stable lives rooted in their communities. Termination would suddenly expose over 300,000 Haitian TPS holders to removal proceedings, upending families and lives.

Second, work authorization tied to TPS would expire creating a severe gap in the economy. Haitian TPS holders comprise a large portion of essential work in healthcare, education, and other critical sectors. The loss of their labor would harm not only individual families, but also employers, local economies, and public services that rely on their contributions.

In light of these realities, LCR urges Congress to take the following actions:

Pursue a Pathway to Permanent Residency for TPS Holders. While politically challenging, abandoning long-term TPS holders to indefInite legal limbo, or forcing them into undocumented status, is neither humane nor rational immigration policy.

Invest in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' capacity, access, and fairness. Congress should fund and mandate meaningful improvements at USCIS to reduce adjudication backlogs, expand language access, and ensure TPS holders can realistically pursue alternative forms of relief.

Increase Funding for Legal Services and Community-Based Organizations. Congress should increase funding for legal services providers and trusted community-based organizations that assist TPS holders with transition planning, applications for relief, and know-your-rights education. Access to legal counsel is often the difference between stability and removal.

Terminating Haitian TPS without a humane and legally sound alternative compounds existing injustices and jeopardizes the well-being of families and communities across the United States. We must choose policies rooted in justice, grounded in law, and reflective of this Nation's fundamental values. __________

To Whom it May Concern: This testimony is submitted anonymously on behalf of a Massachusetts-based, community- rooted mental health organization that primarily serves Haitian individuals and families, many of whom hold TPS. To protect the safety, dignity, and privacy of our clients, staff and community partners, no identifying information is included. Our mission has been to destigmatize and normatize conversations around mental health within the Haitian community, a community that has long been taught to endure suffering in silence, to ``be strong,'' and to survive without support. For many of our clients, seeking mental health care represents a cultural and emotional rupture: the first time they have allowed themselves to name fear, grief, trauma, and exhaustion out loud. We have worked intentionally to build trust with Haitian families, often in their own language, often through community relationships, and always with deep respect for history, culture, and faith. Over time, we have watched individuals begin to heal. Parents who survived political violence, natural disasters, and forced migration finally started to feel grounded. Families began to imagine stability. Children began to feel safer because their caregivers felt safer. The current administration's actions surrounding TPS are now reopening wounds that never fully healed.

The possibility of TPS being taken away has had a devastating emotional impact on our Haitian clients. Many are survivors of profound trauma, political persecution, gang violence, the 2010 earthquake, repeated displacement, and systemic racism both abroad and in the United States. TPS has been one of the few stabilizing forces in their lives. The threat of its removal has triggered intense fear, panic, despair, and retraumatization. We are seeing clients unravel emotionally. Individuals who had made progress in therapy are now regressing under the weight of uncertainty. Parents express terror at the thought of losing work authorization and the ability to provide for their children. Many fear being forced to return to a country that remains unsafe and unstable. Others carry the unbearable guilt of potentially uprooting U.S.-born children or leaving them behind. For the Haitian community, this fear is not hypothetical. Haiti's ongoing political collapse, gang violence, kidnappings, and humanitarian crisis are part of our clients' lived reality. The idea of return is not a policy debate, it is a threat to life, safety, and psychological survival.

If TPS is terminated, the emotional consequences will be severe and long-lasting. It will undo years of trust- building, reinforce stigma around seeking help, and send a devastating message to Haitian communities that safety and healing are conditional and disposable. The mental health impact will reverberate through families, schools, churches, and workplaces.

From our clinical and community perspective, ending TPS for Haitians is not only destabilizing, it is inhumane. It punishes resilience, undermines recovery, and disregards the deep trauma history carried by this population.

We urge decision-makers to consider the profound emotional harm TPS termination will cause to Haitian individuals, families, and communities. Preserving TPS is essential to protecting not only legal status, but mental health, dignity, and human life. Respectfully submitted,

Massachusetts-based Haitian Community Mental Health Organization (on behalf of Haitian clients and families). __________

My name is Rebecca Henry. I have been living in the United States since February 2010, following the devastating earthquake that killed so many people in Haiti. Before leaving, I lived under constant fear and stress. Gangs attempted to kidnap me multiple times, and I nearly lost my life due to political violence and instability.

Coming to the United States was the best thing that could have happened to me. I am a mother of two children--one born in Haiti and one born here in the U.S. As soon as I was able, I enrolled in school to learn English and began working to support my family.

I am a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), and I care for my patients with great joy, pride, and dedication. My patients love me deeply, and every day they look forward to seeing me and receiving my care. This work is not just a job--it is my calling.

I have lived here peacefully, attending church, participating in community activities, and raising my children responsibly. Through hard work and sacrifice, I was able to purchase a home and a car so I could care for my family and fulfill my responsibilities.

Since this past summer, however, I have begun experiencing severe anxiety and panic attacks. I am increasingly fearful and reluctant to leave my home. I constantly worry about losing my house and being unable to drive or work because my driver's license and work permit are at risk of expiring.

I am overwhelmed by the thought of not being able to work. I have many bills to pay and two children who depend on me. I respectfully pray that those in authority will take our situation into consideration.

I cannot return to Haiti, and I have no other place to go. Please help! __________

My name is Xian Mao and I am a resident of Methuen, Massachusetts, Ward 0 Precinct 3. I am a family medicine physician who cares for many Haitian patients in Lawrence, Massachusetts. I believe rescinding the TPS would lead to significant barriers for my patients to accessing healthcare. Many of my patients have withstood remarkable obstacles to start their lives in this state, some without any support from their family or community. My mission as a doctor is to ensure all my patients receive the best care possible, and added stress from their immigration status being rescinded would lead to worse outcomes in an already vulnerable population.

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