“Don’t you see what they’re doing, God? You’re not going to let them get by with it, are you? Not going to walk off without doing something, are you? Please get up—wake up! Tend to my case. My God, my Lord—my life is on the line.” (Psalm 35:22-23 – The Message)
This morning, My heart was breaking as I read about the plight of Haitians in Haiti and the plight of Haitians in the United States who have lost their Temporary Protected Status.
The most recent reports coming out of the country of Haiti reveal a nation without a functioning government, cities controlled by violent gangs, decaying infrastructure, abject poverty, internal displacement and little outside support. According to the UN International Organization for Migration, there are almost 1.5 million Haitians who have been internally displaced since 2022, and 16,000 people have been killed. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 6.4 million Haitians need urgent humanitarian aid. Thousands of Haitians have sought refuge in the nearby countries to escape the violence, only to be forcibly returned.
Pierre Espérance, a resident of Port-Au-Prince, says, “There is no life at night.” Night is when the gangs roam freely and terrorize entire neighborhoods, burning down homes and massacring residents. And when the electric power grid shuts down (as it does frequently), night becomes even more stressful. Dr. Greg Beckett, author of the book, “There Is No More Haiti,” writes: “Living in a blackout [isn’t] just living with the lights off—it [is] living with the constant possibility of your own death.”
Life in Haiti is life in Hell.
In 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 100,000 people. In response to the devastation, the United States offered Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to almost 300,000 Haitians. TPS gave them permission to work for American companies and send funds back to family still living in Haiti. In 2017, the first Trump administration proposed ending TPS for Haitians effective July 2019. However, there was strong opposition to the termination since the political stability of Haiti had begun to deteriorate and a federal court ruled that TPS for Haitians would be maintained. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) extended TPS until January 4, 2021.
Then COVID-19 entered the picture, Haiti’s political and social conditions deteriorated even further, and a new president was elected. However, under the Biden Administration, Haitians remained in limbo. Some Haitians lost their status and were deported while many were allowed to remain in the US and apply for asylum.
But hopes for asylum ended on February 3, 2026, when the second Trump administration announced that TPS for Haitians would be terminated immediately. A federal court temporarily barred revocation on the basis of possible “racial animus” perpetuated by the claims that Haitians in Springfield, OH, were eating their neighbors’ dogs and cats. Then, in June, the Supreme Court ruled that possible “racial animus” was insufficient reasoning for preventing the government from terminating TPS for Haitians. USCIS announced TPS would expire on July 1. It was later extended to July 26, 2026. On July 27, 2026, almost 350,000 Haitians lost their status, their job permits, their drivers licenses and any sense of safety and security–including the 12,000+ Haitian nationals living in Springfield, OH.
In the two weeks since TPS termination, Haitians living in Springfield have begun receiving emails or letters from the Department of Homeland Security ordering them to appear at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Blue Ash, OH, a suburb of Cincinnati about 70 miles southwest of Springfield. The letter, confirmed by the Guardian, did not include the reason for the appearance though everyone suspected it was about their TPS designation. What they didn’t expect was that they would leave the facility wearing an ankle monitor — limiting their movement as the first step toward ending their lives in the United States and being sent back to Haiti — back to Hell.
The Psalmist’s lament (Psalm 35) came to mind as I thought of Monsanto Maler, collapsing to the ground in tears outside the Blue Ash ICE facility on August 9, terrified by the thought of being sent back to the very place he had almost lost his life at the hands of gangs. And I thought of the citizen children who had been born and raised in the safety of Springfield, OH, terrified of what will happen to them when their parents receive “the letter.” I heard them all crying out to God to do something — anything — to spare their lives that are on the line.
I cried out with them: “Wake up, God! Please!”. And then I remembered what God had said in the Great Assembly: “You’re here to defend the defenseless, to make sure that underdogs get a fair break; Your job is to stand up for the powerless, and prosecute all those who exploit them.” (Psalm 82:3-4 — The Message). No innocent people should be condemned to life in Hell.
Tongue on Fire 