Trump Administration Ends Temporary Protection for Haitians

The Trump administration is ending a humanitarian program that has allowed some 59,000 Haitians to live and work in the United States since an earthquake ravaged their country in 2010, officials said on Monday.

Haitians with what is known as temporary protected status will be expected to leave the United States by July 2019 or face deportation.

The decision, while not a complete surprise, set off immediate dismay among Haitian communities in South Florida, New York and beyond. Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is still struggling to rebuild from the earthquake and relies heavily on money its expatriates send to relatives back home.

The Haitian government had asked the Trump administration to extend the protected status.