Congress watches quietly as time runs out for Haitian immigrants | Local
Mary Eby (center) holds a sign reading “congress extend TPS for our Haitian neighbors” during a protest at Springfield City Hall Plaza on July 3, a week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for Haitians. When that will happen is still unclear. Joseph Cooke / STAFF
As the Trump administration moves ahead with plans to ultimately deport thousands of Haitian immigrants living in Ohio and other states, there is no evidence that Congress will approve any legislation to stop those plans.
On Capitol Hill, the U.S. House is already on a summer break until August 31. In the U.S. Senate, GOP leaders have shown no interest in forcing a vote on legislation to extend the Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants.
And for many Republican lawmakers in Congress — that’s just fine.
“Let’s send them home,” declared northeast Ohio Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli. “If Haitians on TPS don’t want to go home on their own, ICE will be happy to assist.”
On the other side, many Ohio Democrats are horrified by what might be next.
“What they’re doing is so inhumane,” said U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Cincinnati of the Trump administration effort. “It’s terrible for our country.”
While the House voted back on April 16 to extend the Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants by three years, that bill has gone nowhere in the Senate.
“Haitian TPS was supposed to last 18 months,” said U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, who recently blocked efforts for a Senate vote on a bill to extend their legal status. “It is time for 350,000 Haitians to go home.”
Only a handful of Republicans in Congress have joined with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in urging that Haitians be allowed more time in the U.S.
“They have been woven into the fabric of our community,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, who voted earlier this year to extend the legal status of Haitians.
A late push to force a House vote on a new bill delaying the removal of Haitian immigrants has garnered 210 signatures in the U.S. House — but 218 are needed to force action.
Neither Turner, nor U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, R-Columbus — who also voted for the Haitian TPS bill back in April — have signed on to that effort.
Carey has publicly acknowledged that his April vote to extend the temporary status of Haitian immigrants drew all sorts of angry responses to his office. But he argues it is wrong to send people back to a country which cannot guarantee normal security measures.
“Is that the right thing to do? I just didn’t believe that it was,” Carey said.
The deportation push against Haitian immigrants comes as polling has turned upside down for President Trump on immigration matters.
The latest national poll from Quinnipiac University showed that 37% of voters approve of how Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doing its job.
While Republican voters remain supportive of Trump’s immigration policies, Independent voters have swung sharply against him — not pleased with ICE tactics.
What’s coming next worries more moderate Republicans, some of whom still see compassion for immigrants as a central part of America.
“Sending them back to Haiti is not in my view a Christian action,” said U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska.