Designation Of Haiti For Temporary Protected Status
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to talk about the economic damage. I support this bill because, at the end of the day, we have to recognize that the Haitian people who actually have come to the United States, they did go through a vigorous…
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to talk about the economic damage.
I support this bill because, at the end of the day, we have to recognize that the Haitian people who actually have come to the United States, they did go through a vigorous vetting process in order for them to get the TPS status that they have.
Second of all, if we are looking at the economic damage that will come to actually pushing out more than 350,000 TPS recipients, we know that is going to be devastating to our market. There is a better way.
We should be contemplating not just extending TPS in this bill to 2029, but also figuring out how we can actually transition. While these TPS recipients hold over 100,000 jobs in healthcare, which is actually a fact, why don't we put together some kind of continuing education program for Americans so they can replace them. What is the rush to kick them out of the country and to leave all of these positions open with no one to refill them?
Let's talk about more how we can protect and make sure that our hospitality industry in South Florida, where we have more than a thousand Haitian TPS workers who work in the airports in Miami, the airports in Broward County, and also in hospitality, if we kick them out willy-nilly, just everybody goes out in one day, how are we going to sustain the economy in South Florida, in a State that everybody loves to visit?
What I am asking for is cool minds to actually come together and think about how we can actually have a transition process that will protect the American people, help our economy, but not rushing toward this mass exodus which is going to leave the American people in the industry.
One of the things we have to realize also is that the American people did ask for job skills training. They did ask for a transition. They are not looking for chaos and just to push people out.
The truth is, I keep hearing this fact about 61 percent of Haitian people are on welfare. My district is full of Haitian people. My family is from Haiti. I don't know anybody who is on welfare. What we are saying is that we are not arguing that it should be temporary. In fact, the bill says until 2029. What we are arguing is that we sit together, come together, and have a plan of transition.
What I would propose is that we actually pass this bill and then come together and think of a transition where we can now train Americans so they can get those jobs, give them a green card until that time comes, and protect our economy.
I would say it one more time. If we just move forward like this, what we would be doing is economic sabotage. Look at all of the Haitian workers and what they uphold. Think of every elderly person who has a nurse. Think of the vulnerable.
My heart hurts for anybody who was hurt. I do not like women being abused. I think it is terrible when we have criminals, but let's have cool minds come together and have a plan that benefits both sides and this country.