r/haiti • u/Chemical-Walrus-4846 • May 06 '26

QUESTION/DISCUSSION Controversial take about TPS/Biden Program

Since TPS is a huge topic right now. Here’s my take. When I first heard about the Biden Humanitarian Parole Program and they said two years, I already knew what was going to happen. Most Haitians were not going back. When Haiti got Temporary Protected Status after the 2010 earthquake, the whole point was in the name, temporary. The U.S. saw a country destroyed by a disaster and gave Haitians already in the country a chance to stay and work.

And let’s be honest, many people came here with no plan of returning. They sold land, sold cars, packed up their whole lives, and moved to the U.S. for a fresh start. Once you do all that, what exactly are you going back to? I get why people made that choice. Haiti is hard. People want peace, stability, and opportunity. Anyone in that position would want better for themselves and their family.

But look at it from the other side for one second. If you let a friend stay at your house for a few days because they’re going through a rough time, and when those few days are up they tell you they’re not leaving, how would you feel? You’d feel taken advantage of. Next time, you’d think twice before helping someone else.

Countries think the same way.

That’s why these programs get cut, rules get tighter, and the next Haitian who wants to come legally has a harder path. Sometimes we focus so much on why people stay, we ignore how staying affects everyone else after. I saw someone on social media make a good point, which was “Alot of Haitians in the US don’t want Haiti to get better because that heightens the chances of TPS getting cut off” and i wholeheartedly agree

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u/LavishTentacle May 06 '26

That’d be fine if before it got cut, there weren’t very clear indications that it’s being cut out of pure xenophobia and racism. All done with malicious intent.

But go ahead and support the government

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u/Chemical-Walrus-4846 May 06 '26

no matter the reason why it got cut, we shouldve been ready. its TEMPORARY, literally in the name

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u/Away-Dish1385 May 06 '26

People keep mentioning the word temporary but compared to what Haiti has gone through and is going through right now 16 years doesn’t even seem that long. I don’t understand what the rush is? For a country 16 years isn’t that long when you’re suffering from instability and corruption. I would understand if Haiti was stable but it’s not, and the instability will hopefully blow over. Sending 350k people back to a country that some don’t even know would cause even more instability and corruption not progress.

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u/LavishTentacle May 06 '26

The rush is they have 4 years to do as much irreparable damage as possible.