Sandra Jourdainet of Catholic Charities testifies on Haitian TPS loss

Good afternoon.

My name is Sandra Jourdainet, and I am the supervising attorney for the Haitian Response Initiative at Catholic Charities.

I would like to thank Councilwoman Farrah Lewis for inviting us to speak today and for sponsoring Resolution 626.

And thank you, Councilwoman Encarnacion, for having us here today.

The Catholic Charities Haitian Response Initiative was established in 2022 to respond to the growing legal and humanitarian needs that Haitian New Yorkers faced.

HRI provides culturally and linguistically responsive immigration legal services, meaning that the staff is Haitian or Haitian American, and we all speak Haitian Creole, which helps with...

Cultural sensitivities and for New Yorkers to tell us their story.

We assist with asylum, temporary protected status, employment authorization, special immigrant juvenile status, adjustment of status, and other forms of humanitarian relief.

Our work extends beyond the far walls of our offices.

We conduct Know Your Rights presentations, legal clinics, immigration screenings, and community outreach throughout New York City.

We work with faith-based organizations, elected officials, and trusted partners.

We meet Haitian New Yorkers where they are and provide critical information and services in both Haitian Creole and English.

Today, as we know,

TPS has ended.

And more than 300,000, 330,000 Haitians nationwide had faced the loss of temporary protective status, placing their families who have lived, worked, and paid taxes and raised children in the United States at risk of losing their work authorization

and their protection from deportation.

Haitian TPS holders are our neighbors, healthcare workers, home health aides, caregivers, business owners, students, and parents in this community.

The impact reaches far beyond immigration status.

The psychological toll can also be very profound.

People who have spent years building stable lives are now suddenly facing horrible conditions.

The thought of sending them back to Haiti, where it's very dangerous and they have mixed status families, where the parents are TPS holders, but their children are U.S.

Citizens.

And now they're deciding whether I take my children to this dangerous country or do I leave them here with people that they don't really know.

We're asking that the Senate bill passes 4814 because it's really important to make sure that we protect our Haitian immigrants in the United States.

We're also asking that DHS halts arrests and deportation of affected former TPS holders and restore humanitarian protection where legally available.

Thank you so much.