Haiti has formally requested the US government to extend the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals currently living in the US for a further 18 months. Over 50,000 Haitian immigrants are registered on the humanitarian aid program, which is set to end on 22 January 2018.
Temporary Protected Status was given to Haitian nationals in 2010, after a massive earthquake in their home nation. It allowed them to stay in the US on a temporary basis, and also provided the legal right to work until the situation in Haiti had been resolved. The Department of Homeland Security extended the TPS by six months in May, although the government of Haiti and some advocates had wanted to see a year-long extension.
The fear that they were about to be deported from the US resulted in several thousand Haitian immigrants leaving the country on their own and illegally crossing into Canada, to try to claim asylum in the province of Quebec. The Miami Herald claims that The Department of Homeland Security received a letter from the Haitian government on Friday, in which they asked for the TPS to be extended again.
Paul Altidor, the Haitian ambassador to the US, wrote the letter and invited Elaine Duke, the acting director of the Department of Homeland Security, to visit Haiti before a final decision is made by the Trump administration on whether to extend the TPS again. The decision could be made as early as next month.