MIAMI SHORES, Fla. — Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski, a long-time advocate of Haitian migrants, isn’t giving up.
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While fluent in Haitian Creole, Wenski, 75, is among the leading voices urging the U.S. Senate to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.
With the expiration of TPS on Monday, more than 300,000 beneficiaries will be vulnerable to deportation and no longer have a work permit.
“Many of them are working in health care. In the Archdiocese of Miami, in our nursing homes, I have over 40 people on TPS that will lose their work permits today, and we will have to let them go,” Wenski said about Catholic Health Services, one of Miami’s largest ministries.
Wenski said he was preparing for a flight on Monday before a meeting with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to lobby for a solution for TPS beneficiaries.
“We are looking for them to support a bill in the Senate that would embrace the House bill that was passed,” Wenski said about H.R. 1689 .
U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen, a Democrat from New York, introduced the bill on Feb. 27 in the House, it passed 224-204 on April 16.
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“Through a discharge petition, that would give the Haitians a three-year extension on their TPS,” Wenski said.
Related report: North Miami advocate on end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians: ‘Be prepared’
Immigration policies should reflect both justice and mercy, Wenski recently wrote in a statement urging leaders to pursue compassionate and humane solutions that protect family unity and recognize the extraordinary circumstances facing the Haitian people.
“Policies should seek not only to enforce the law but also to reflect our nation’s longstanding commitment to protecting human dignity and promoting the common good,” Wenski wrote. “To make America Great again is a worthy goal but you don’t make America great by making America mean.”
Related social media
Temporary protected status is exactly that — TEMPORARY.
For those with terminated TPS: it’s closing time. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.
It’s not too late to get a $2,600 check and a FREE flight home: https://t.co/YGo3uuNvrE pic.twitter.com/8kPIp6AvBd
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