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Secretary Kelly Emphasizes The 'Temporary' In TPS After A Visit To Haiti

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly appeared at a joint press conference with Governor Rick Scott about hurricane season following his visit to Haiti.
Holly Pretsky
/
WLRN
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly appeared at a joint press conference with Governor Rick Scott about hurricane season following his visit to Haiti.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly visited Port-au-Prince Wednesday to meet with Haitian President Jovenel Moise. The visit came after Kelly recommended a 6-month extension for Haitian Temporary Protected Status in May. Haitian activists and advocates had been pushing for at least an 18-month extension to the policy that protects them from deportation. 

At a National Hurricane Center press conference in Miami after the visit, Kelly said he encourages Haitians to remember it was never meant to be a permanent solution.

"The message is: by definition, TPS is temporary," he said. "They should start thinking now about what will happen in the not-too-distant future, but I don’t want to get into whether it’s going to be extended or not at this point."

Haitians were originally granted TPS following a devastating earthquake in that county in 2010. Kelly hasn't said whether he plans to recommend another extension, but he said a longer-term solution is up to Congress to address.

"I would hope that the Congress would come up with some solutions because it affects a lot of people," he said.

More than 50,000 Haitians are protected under TPS. 

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Holly Pretsky is a Colorado native who loves riding her bike around, eating tuna sandwiches, asking questions, and climbing mountains.She discovered radio storytelling when she won second place in an informal audio essay competition her sophomore year of college. The prize: a t-shirt from the local radio station. Since then, she's graduated from Colorado College and continued reporting in Colorado Springs and now Miami. One of her favorite things is learning about people who dedicate themselves to things she didn't know existed, and being reminded how much passion there is in the world.
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