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.