Immigration authorities are permitting undocumented Haitians in the country to apply for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which allows those eligible to legally live and work in the country for the next 18 months.
Josephys Dafils, a social worker and the director of Haitian-American United For Change in Philadelphia, says the change will help protect Haitians not only from deportation, but also will provide access to legitimate employment and protection from exploitation.
“It’s affecting us in a positive way, as I said, keeping people out of poverty and keeping people away from abuse because a lot of them are being abused,” Dalfis says.
He says the development is a relief for undocumented Haitians.
“At least there is a way, a second chance, that is the core of the American Dream, a second chance. You can make it after something major happened in your life,” Dalfis says.
The Trump Administration moved to end TPS for previously undocumented Haitians in 2017.
The status had been afforded to them after the 2010 earthquake and subsequently renewed for years.
As of 2017, some 1,400 Haitian TPS holders were living in the commonwealth.
The change is expected to affect more than 100,000 people across the nation.