With Humanitarian Crisis Worsening, Pressley Renews Call for TPS Redesignation, Halt to Deportations, Haitian-Led Democratic Transition, and More

Press Call Audio

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Co-Chair of the House Haiti Caucus, joined Haitian-led activists, organizations, and a directly impacted person in Haiti for a press call urging federal action to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Haiti Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20) and Rep. Cori Bush (MO-01) also joined the press call.

As Co-Chair of the House Haiti Caucus, Rep. Pressley has led calls for extending Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, a halt to deportations, a Haitian-led democratic transition, the delivery of humanitarian, economic and security assistance to the island, and more.

The press call today came as Haiti continues to face a severe humanitarian, political, and security crisis. Medical care, food, water, and other essential resources are in short supply throughout the country due to insecurity and violence, mainly caused by gang conflicts. The situation has become so dire that the country has been declared to be in a state of emergency, with curfews imposed. In just the past few weeks, over 53,000 people have been forced to flee from gang-driven violence.

A transcript of Rep. Pressley’s remarks are available below and audio of the full press call is available here.

Transcript: Rep. Ayanna Pressley Joins Haitian Advocates, Impacted Individuals in Urging Federal Action to Expand Protection for Haitians
Press Call

April 11, 2024

It is an honor to be with you, and I’m very proud to serve as one of the Co-Chairs of the House Haiti Caucus and grateful for my sisters-in-service that are joining us on the line today. And I’m very proud to represent the third largest Haitian diaspora in the country, the Massachusetts 7^th.

Thank you to the members of the press for joining us, to our advocates for their work to support our Haitian neighbors, to my colleague and fellow Co-Chair of the House Haiti Caucus, Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Representative Cori Bush.

The layered crises that we’re seeing unfold today in Haiti are beyond devastating. Economic turmoil. Political instability. Escalating violence. Natural disasters.

The people of Haiti have suffered long enough.

And despite what Republicans might think, these are people – people – not pawns.

People with hopes and dreams, with homes and families. People who go to school to learn, who work to provide. People who deserve to live with dignity.

So now more than ever, this is the time for federal action to stabilize Haiti and to save lives.

Haitians on the island and throughout the diaspora should know that there are people in Congress fighting for you. And we are making progress.

We called for an ambassador to be appointed, and now the Senate has confirmed Ambassador Hankins.

We called for Prime Minister Henry to step down, and he has committed to do just that.

We called for additional humanitarian aid to be released, and we got $33 million through USAID.

But our work is unfinished. There is more to do to create a future where Haiti and its people can prosper.

That means immediately halting all deportations. Anything less is a death sentence.

We have to halt all deportations to the island.

We have to redesignate TPS for Haiti because it is truly not hyperbole to say that sending anyone back to Haiti right now would be a death sentence.

It means cracking down on arms trafficking to Haiti, which has fueled the unspeakable violence we’re witnessing today. The guns are coming from here.

It means supporting a Haitian-led democratic transition, one that is led by Haitian civil society.

It means immediately providing the security, humanitarian, and economic assistance that the island needs.

Now, I was proud to join my colleagues on the Haiti Caucus and the Massachusetts congressional delegation in statements and letters urging Congress and the administration to act and today we’re not letting up.

Because stabilizing Haiti is not just the right thing to do. It is also good for addressing the migrant—it is essential—to addressing the migrant and asylum-seeking crisis here at home.

So while we continue working to deliver the federal resources needed for states like Massachusetts to meet the needs of vulnerable Haitian migrants, the U.S. has got to prioritize our foreign policy to stabilize Haiti so folks don’t have to leave the country in the first place.

U.S. foreign policy, which has long been rooted in colonialism and anti-Blackness has played a role in destabilizing Haiti.

So we must commit to rectifying the generations of hurt foisted upon this community.

Black lives matter. Haitian lives are Black lives.

And that’s why I’ll continue pressing for critical action to support the people of Haiti and the Haitian families who call the Massachusetts 7^th their home.

And I will never stop fighting to fundamentally rebuild our immigration system, to affirm asylum as a human right that it is, and to affirm the dignity humanity of every person who calls this country home, regardless of their immigration status or skin color.

Again, if we truly believe that Black lives matter, then that must include Haitian lives as well.

I’m so grateful to be your partner in this fight to build a world where all of our children can thrive whether they’re in Massachusetts, Gaza or Haiti.

And we must move with urgency and compassion for the sake of the people of Haiti, for the Haitian diaspora, and for the sake of our shared humanity.

Thank you.

—

As Representative for the Massachusetts 7^th Congressional District, Congresswoman Pressley serves as Co-Chair for the House Haiti Caucus and represents one of the largest Haitian diaspora communities in the country, with approximately 46,000 Haitians and Haitian-Americans living across the state and over half in the Boston metropolitan area. Additionally, Massachusetts is home to more than 4,700 Haitians with Temporary Protected Status.

• On March 27, 2024, Rep. Pressley joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and her colleagues on the Massachusetts congressional delegation in urging the Biden Administration to expedite visa processing for Haitians, particularly  for relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.
• On March 12, 2024, Rep. Pressley and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Cherfilus McCormick and Yvette Clarke issued a statement on the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
• On March 6, 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on the recent jailbreak and State of Emergency in Haiti.
• On December 8, 2023, Rep. Pressley and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke urged the U.S. Department of State to withdraw U.S. support for an armed foreign intervention in Haiti and encourage negotiations for a Haitian-led democratic political transition.
• On December 6, 2022, Rep. Pressley issued a statement applauding the Biden Administration’s extension and re-designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti.
• On December 1, 2022, Rep. Pressley, Rep. Cori Bush, and Rep. Mondaire Jones led 14 of their colleagues on a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging the Department to extend and redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
• On August 17, 2022, Rep. Pressley, along with Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Val Demings, Yvette Clarke, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), called on President Biden to appoint a new Special Envoy to Haiti, a position that has remained unfilled since September 2021.
• On May 31, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Reverend Dieufort Fleurissaint, chair of Haitian Americans United, published an op-ed in the Bay State Banner in which they called on the Biden administration to withdraw support for de facto ruler of Haiti, Ariel Henry, and instead support an inclusive, civil society-led process to restore stability and democracy on the island. 
• On May 26, 2022, Rep. Pressley, along with with Representatives Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Andy Levin (MI-09), Jim McGovern (MA-02), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24), led a letter to United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Power urging her to act to ensure food security in Haiti.
• In February 2022, Reps. Pressley, Judy Chu (CA-27), and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) led 33 other House Democrats on a letter to CDC Director Walensky demanding answers about the agency’s justification for treating asylum seekers as a unique public health threat, how these expulsions are being coordinated, how asylum seekers being returned to dangerous situations are being cared for, and more. Days later, Rep. Pressley once again called on the Biden Administration to reverse the Title 42 Order and other anti-Black immigration policies.
• On March 16, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Mondaire Jones called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky to fully end Title 42, cease deportations of people to Haiti and affirm their legal and fundamental human right to seek asylum.
• On February 16, 2022, Rep. Pressley joined Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), and 100 House and Senate colleagues in urging President Biden to reverse inhumane immigration policies – such as Title 42, originally introduced under the Trump Administration – that continue to disproportionately harm Black migrants.
• On February 14, 2022, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), alongside Representatives Judy Chu (CA-27) and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), led 33 other House Democrats on a letter to Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding answers about the agency’s justification for treating asylum seekers as a unique public health threat, how these expulsions are being coordinated, how asylum seekers being returned to dangerous situations are being cared for, and more.
• In April 2022, she joined her colleagues at a press conference reaffirming her support for President Biden’s decision to end Title 42. Full video of her remarks at the press conference is available here. Rep. Pressley applauded the Biden Administration’s end of Title 42 in a statement in April 2022.
• In September 2022, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Velázquez led 54 of their colleagues on a letter calling on the Biden Administration to immediately halt deportations to Haiti and provide humanitarian parole protections for those seeking asylum. The lawmakers’ letter followed the Administration’s resumption of deportation flights to Haiti as thousands of Haitian migrants continue to await an opportunity to make an asylum claim at the border. 
• In September 2022, Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues on the House Oversight Committee in demanding answers regarding the inhumane treatment of migrants in Del Rio, Texas, by Border Patrol agents on horseback and pushing to Biden Administration to end the ongoing use and weaponization of Title 42.
• On July 7, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Andy Levin (MI-09), Val Demings (FL-10) and Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) released a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
• On November 21, 2021, Rep. Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren led the Massachusetts congressional delegation on a letter to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) calling on them to coordinate with the government agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to assist newly arrived families from Haiti. 
• On October 18, 2021, Rep. Pressley, and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Val Demings (FL-10), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), and Andy Levin (MI-09) issued a statement following the kidnapping of American and Canadian missionaries in Haiti.
• On October 18, 2021, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on the civil rights complaint filed by Haitian families demanding a federal investigation into the heinous actions perpetrated by federal officials at the border.
• On October 22, 2021, Rep. Pressley, along with Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Reps. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), sent a letter to Troy A. Miller, the Acting Administrator of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), demanding a briefing and answers regarding press reports of the inhumane treatment of migrants in Del Rio, Texas, by Border Patrol agents on horseback. 
• On September 17, 2021, Rep. Pressley and Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07) led 52 of their colleagues calling on the Biden Administration to immediately halt deportations to Haiti and take urgent action to address the concerns of the Haitian Diaspora after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti.
• On August 14, 2021, Rep. Pressley Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Andy Levin (MI-09) and Val Demings (FL-10) and Mondaire Jones (NY-17) released a statement regarding the recent earthquake in Haiti.
• On July 14, 2021, Rep. Pressley and Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Andy Levin (MI-09) and Val Demings (FL-10) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling on him to take a series of steps to support the Haitian diaspora amid ongoing political turmoil in Haiti.
• In July 2021, the Reps. Pressley, Clarke, Demings and Levin issued a statement condemning the assassination of President Moïse and calling for swift and decisive action to bring political stability and peace to Haiti and the Haitian people.
• In May 2021, on Haitian Flag Day, Reps. Pressley, Levin, Clarke and Demings announced the formation of the House Haiti Caucus, a Congressional caucus dedicated to pursuing a just foreign policy that puts the needs and aspirations of the Haitian people first.

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