ICE just gave this Haitian man with no criminal record, who came here legally, an ankle monitor. Why?
Back in February, the Department of Homeland Security ended temporary protected status for Haitians. TPS gives work authorization and protection from deportation to people here in the United States whose home countries are experiencing armed conflict, war, or a natural disaster.
TPS for Haiti began in 2010 after an extremely large earthquake. The devastation from that earthquake sped up the collapse of Haiti’s government. Its president got assassinated in 2021, and armed gangs have basically been running the country ever since. There are no more elected officials in Haiti, according to Global Guardian, which measures international risk.
Haiti is the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere and the only one carrying an extreme risk designation. So why is the U.S. ending its protected status?
The Trump administration says that Haiti no longer meets the legal criteria for TPS, which is pretty suss. Because yes, the earthquake is over, as is the aftermath, but the violence has gotten exponentially worse.
So here’s where things stand. After Homeland Security ended TPS in February, a judge blocked it. The administration appealed, and the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration, overturning the block. So TPS ended for Haitians on July 27th. Just to be clear about how many people we’re talking about: 330,000 Haitians in the United States are affected.
That is less than one tenth of a percent of the population, and about 100,000 fewer people than saw Taylor Swift at her six night residency in LA in 2023. America is the most powerful country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti is the most dangerous. Strength is when the powerful protect the endangered; weakness is when they don’t; and cruelty is when they traumatize them further by putting ankle monitors on them for literally no reason.
Ben Sheehan is a political commentator and digital creator. He specializes in civics education, which is showcased in his latest book, What Does the Constitution Actually Say?: A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy Is Supposed to Work. Check out his Substack, Politics Made Easy.
