Haitians In The U.S. Fear New Trump Reign Will Jeopardize Their Temporary Protections

'I don't have the answers, but I have faith that God will work it out,' Warrens Dolcine, a Haitian living in New York City, tells NBC News.

Thousands of Haitians who fled the tumultuous country due to temporary protections given by the Biden administration now fear they will be sent back since President-elect Donald Trump has promised mass deportations on “day one” of his new term, NBC News reports.

President Joe Biden and his team has allowed eligible individuals to stay in the country for up to two years with a temporary protected status (TPS), also allowing them to work. Given certain criteria, applicants must pass security screenings and are required to have a U.S.-based sponsor.

As the program’s goal is to address the growing refugee crisis in Haiti, a number of Haitians are fearful of the future as a new administration—including a Vice President with not-so-pleasant ties to Haitians—is set to take over on Jan. 20.

Warrens Dolcine, a student at the Université d’État d’Haïti, and her mother fled the country as gang violence took over the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Both entered the U.S. legally in December 2023. She works as a full-time assistant at her church in New York City while caring for her disabled mother.

But as Trump claims to have plans to end programs like TPS, set to expire in 2026, Dolcine is concerned about what will happen next.

“If my mom has a problem, I have a problem,” she said. “She asks, ‘What will happen to us?’ I don’t have the answers, but I have faith that God will work it out.”

Data from the National Foundation for American Policy found that close to half a million people from four foreign countries entered the country under Humanitarian Parole. Out of that number, 210,000 were Haitian as of August 2024.

While U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services highlight hopeful beneficiaries of the program go through strenuous background checks to guarantee no possible security threat to U.S. soil; there have been some issues with TPS programs in the past.

In 2024, the Humanitarian Parole Program took a brief pause after close to 101,000 applications were filed by so-called serial sponsors using the same contact information and Social Security numbers on a repeated basis.

Orilas Jean Francois, who owned construction and finance business in Haiti, was forced to flee as violence became too much to bear. But his trip was pushed back several times even after being authorized to enter the U.S. under the Humanitarian Parole Program.

The delay resulted in his initial authorization expiring, so he was forced to petition the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an extension.

“The stress was unbearable,” he said.

Despite the fear of being sent back, refugees like Dolcine aren’t letting Trump’s threats get to her. “He talks a lot,” she said. “I’m just going to live in the moment and let things be.”

The violence in Haiti doesn’t seem to be getting better. According to the Associated Press, data from the International Organization for Migration claims the “relentless gang violence” is heightening displacement there and threatening the collapse of healthcare and other humanitarian services. Food scarcity is increasing as the country is labeled as one of the poorest in the world.