‘Going to lose billions’: TPS ending for Haitians sparks fears of lost tax revenue, labor shortage

MIAMI — The expiration of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals living in the United States has raised concerns about a possible economic impact on South Florida.

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A manager at an establishment in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood said business was slower on Tuesday as many members in the community, it appears, are retreating from public life.

At the restaurant Chef Creole, State Rep. Wallace Aristide, D-Miami, said now that Haitian TPS beneficiaries have been stripped of their deportation protections and work permits, “I think you’re going to lose billions of dollars in the tax base when you take them out of the workplace, because these folks came here to work.”

Aristide, a Haitian American, said he is bracing for impact to the economy and South Florida seniors in the care of now-terminated TPS Haitian healthcare workers.

“I go into those (nursing) homes all the time and I spend a lot of time with seniors because it means a lot to me. Let’s make sure that we have something in place that these people could stay here,” Aristide said. “We’re making phone calls in Washington, reaching out to Congress and we’re reaching out to the Senate.”

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican, sees things differently.

“They have been saying that the economy was going to crater and no one was going to be able to fill these jobs for two, three years,” he said. “Guess what? The economy is fine. We are humming along.”

He said, “I’ve said this before. I’ll continue to say it. The ‘T’ in TPS stands for ‘temporary.’”

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TPS advocates say conditions in Haiti are not in a position for nationals to return safely, which was a designating criteria for TPS.

“If you don’t have papers, you can’t work, you can’t do anything,” resident Jean Baptiste said. “Haiti (is) no good now.”

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Local 10 News in a statement, “What we would say now is it’s closing time which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

Miami Roman Catholic Archbishop Thomas Wenski was in Washington D.C. on Tuesday to advocate for TPS recipients, championing a Senate bill that would extend TPS for Haitians for three years.

“They are working hard at many jobs nobody else would take or want and so having them removed from the workforce will have a negative impact on our economies, the economies of our communities,” he said. “(Senators’) response was they’re sympathetic, but they don’t think it’ll pass. But we say let’s get it passed and we’ll see what happens after that.”

Community organizers have also expressed fears of family separations, a major concern for TPS recipients with U.S.-born children.

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