Florida Senate - 2018 SM 442
By Senator Campbell
38-00677-18 2018442__
1 Senate Memorial
2 A memorial to the President of the United States, the
3 Secretary of the United States Department of State,
4 and the Secretary of the United States Department of
5 Homeland Security to urge the extension of Haiti’s
6 temporary protected status designation for at least 18
7 months beyond its scheduled January 22, 2018,
8 expiration.
9
10 WHEREAS, on September 16, 2016, while still campaigning for
11 the presidency, President Donald J. Trump told a gathering of
12 Haitian-Americans that he would be their “greatest champion,”
13 praised their “perseverance, entrepreneurship, creativity, and
14 faith,” and stated that “all the things that make America good
15 and strong can be found right here, amazing people, so I come
16 here today to say that the Haitian-American community deserves
17 our gratitude and our respect, and I want you to know you have
18 my respect,” and
19 WHEREAS, President Trump continued, “It’s simply hard to
20 believe that something like that could have happened, the
21 turmoil and pain and suffering that so many people are going
22 through. The 2010 Haitian earthquake unleashed a horrible and
23 catastrophic devastation. Over 300,000 dead, unbelievable,
24 300,000; millions displaced or injured; homes, businesses,
25 schools reduced to rubble; amid the suffering Haiti showed the
26 world so much heart and so much incredible resilience, but the
27 truth is Haiti is still suffering very badly, maybe as badly,
28 after all of the tears and all of the money and all of the
29 work,” and
30 WHEREAS, President Trump went on to say, “The Haitian
31 people deserve better, so... I will give them better. Today we
32 begin a new chapter, together we will build a relationship based
33 on mutual respect and friendship and love, and... we will really
34 do something very special with our commonly shared values
35 because we have lots of commonly shared values, maybe full
36 shared values... and whether you vote for me or don’t vote for
37 me, I really want to be your greatest champion, and I will be
38 your champion whether you vote for me or not... we are going to
39 do things for you folks that you have really deserved for a long
40 time. You’re an amazing community and it’s an honor to be with
41 you,” and
42 WHEREAS, immediately following the devastating January 2010
43 earthquake in Haiti, the United States Department of Homeland
44 Security announced that it would provide temporary protected
45 status (TPS) to Haitian nationals in order to allow those
46 eligible to continue living and working in the United States,
47 and
48 WHEREAS, Haiti has not yet fully recovered from the 2010
49 earthquake, as nearly 40,000 earthquake victims are still
50 residing in internally displaced persons camps and another
51 200,000 have been relocated to a new settlement, called Canaan,
52 to begin rebuilding their lives, and
53 WHEREAS, since the earthquake, the Haitian people have also
54 faced a devastating cholera outbreak, after the disease was
55 allegedly introduced to the country by United Nations
56 peacekeepers, which has been responsible for nearly 10,000
57 fatalities and 800,000 illnesses, and
58 WHEREAS, in October 2016, Hurricane Matthew became the
59 first Category 4 hurricane to hit Haiti in more than 50 years,
60 causing 1,000 fatalities, leaving hundreds of thousands of
61 Haitians without potable water or food, and destroying crops,
62 livestock, and infrastructure in broad swaths of the country,
63 and
64 WHEREAS, since Haiti’s initial TPS designation in 2010, the
65 designation has been extended numerous times by the United
66 States Department of Homeland Security due to the devastation
67 that Haiti continues to face, and
68 WHEREAS, in a December 2016 report, United States
69 Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) concluded that the
70 conditions in Haiti warranted another extension of the TPS
71 designation, and then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry
72 recommended continuing the designation that same month, and
73 WHEREAS, the acting director of USCIS recommended in April
74 2017 that Haiti no longer retain its TPS designation, which is
75 in direct contradiction with the recommendation made under the
76 previous administration, and
77 WHEREAS, on May 22, 2017, the United States Department of
78 Homeland Security extended Haiti’s TPS designation for six
79 months beyond the scheduled July 22, 2017, expiration date and
80 that designation is now scheduled to end on January 22, 2018,
81 and
82 WHEREAS, there has been significant bipartisan and public
83 support for an extension of Haiti’s TPS designation, evidenced
84 through the support voiced by numerous members of the Florida
85 congressional delegation, including Senators Bill Nelson and
86 Marco Rubio; Florida Governor Rick Scott; faith leaders;
87 physicians; the mayors of several large American cities; and the
88 editorial boards of several large newspapers, and the adoption
89 of resolutions by the United States Conference of Mayors, the
90 Broward County Board of County Commissioners, and the City
91 Council of the City of North Miami, and
92 WHEREAS, the failure to extend Haiti’s TPS designation
93 beyond January 22, 2018, would be in conflict with the promises
94 that President Trump made to Haitian-Americans while on the
95 campaign trail, and
96 WHEREAS, many of the 58,000 Haitian nationals who enjoy TPS
97 status regularly send remittances to relatives in Haiti to
98 assist them in their recovery, and have strong ties to their
99 local communities, including many who have American-born
100 children, and
101 WHEREAS, as Haiti continues to struggle to recover from the
102 catastrophes experienced in recent years, Haiti’s government is
103 not equipped to safely receive or assimilate the 58,000 Haitian
104 nationals living in the United States under TPS or to replace
105 their remittances should they be deported, and
106 WHEREAS, Haiti’s recovery and stability are in the national
107 security interests of the United States, and the extension of
108 Haiti’s TPS designation for at least 18 months beyond its
109 January 22, 2018, expiration would support the national security
110 interests of both the United States and Haiti, NOW, THEREFORE,
111
112 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
113
114 That the Legislature of the State of Florida urges the
115 President of the United States to instruct the United States
116 Department of Homeland Security to extend Haiti’s TPS
117 designation for at least 18 months beyond its scheduled January
118 22, 2018, expiration.
119 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the United
120 States Department of State is urged to recommend to the
121 President of the United States and the United States Department
122 of Homeland Security that conditions in Haiti fully warrant that
123 the United States Department of Homeland Security extend Haiti’s
124 TPS designation for at least 18 months beyond its scheduled
125 January 22, 2018, expiration.
126 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the United
127 States Department of Homeland Security is urged to extend
128 Haiti’s TPS designation for at least 18 months beyond its
129 scheduled January 22, 2018, expiration.
130 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch
131 copies of this memorial to the President of the United States,
132 the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States, the
133 Secretary of the United States Department of State, and the
134 Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security.