Standing with TPS Holders

Honorable Majority Leader Thune and Minority Leader Schumer,

As mayors and local leaders from communities across the United States, we write to urge the U.S. Senate to act immediately to protect our families, local businesses, health care institutions, and communities from the great harms caused by the expiration of Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for Haiti. Congressional action is now necessary to restore legal status and work authorization to more than 350,000 Haitian TPS holders, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin v. Doe and one of the largest de-legalization events in U.S. history. We ask that you act with utmost urgency to pass S. 4814, which would extend TPS for Haiti until early 2029, and assert Congress’s power to act in the face of injustice and disregard for our residents and communities. We offer the following arguments in support.

The United States government’s official position is that Haiti remains unsafe, justifying Congressional extension of TPS.

The former Secretary of Homeland Security’s decision to end TPS for more than 350,000 people living and working legally in the United States flies in the face of the federal government’s own understanding of the conditions on the ground in Haiti. The State Department has applied a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” warning to Haiti, and the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a Notice to Airmen that prohibits U.S. air carriers from flying to Port-au-Prince. The State Department’s advisory is driven by concerns of “rampant” violent crime and “widespread” risks of kidnapping. Circumstances in Haiti are so dire that the federal government encourages U.S. citizens to prepare proof of life protocols and write a will prior to traveling.  These extreme measures are justified by realities on the ground: more than 8,100 killings were documented between January and November 2025, and violent gangs control wide swaths of territory in the country.

Congress’s failure to protect Haitian TPS holders puts them in immediate danger. The conditions in Haiti have only worsened since the last time the Trump Administration extended TPS for Haiti in 2017.

Ending TPS for Haiti will damage the economy and harm communities across the United States.

350,000 Haitian TPS holders have earned their place in America as workers, taxpayers, and leaders in our communities. In the 16 years since TPS for Haiti was established, Haitian TPS holders have contributed greatly to our local economies, including filling tens of thousands of health care jobs and working in other essential roles. Following the Supreme Court’s wrongful decision in Mullin v. Doe, these workers and their families will be subject to the loss of status, loss of work authorization, and threat of deportation if Congress does not act.

Local governments and their leaders, including many of the signatories to this letter, argued as amici in Mullin v. Doe that the Secretary’s decision was unlawful. The amicus brief made clear that TPS holders provide immense value to our communities and described the disorder that would result from putting 350,000 people at risk of immediate removal from the U.S. Removing legal status from hundreds of thousands of hard-working, law-abiding community members will create massive disruptions for health care providers, other employers, and our social safety nets. It will also harm the country’s economy—Haitian TPS holders contribute between $4.4 billion and $5.9 billion annually. Parents will be forced to make the impossible choice to either leave their American citizen children behind or remain together in highly dangerous conditions. Instead of being allowed to lawfully work and contribute, TPS holders will be subject to immediate removal from their homes of many years. Surges in federal immigration activity will endanger our residents and strain local law enforcement and first responders.

Congress has the authority to act now to extend TPS.

Although the Administration and the Court have failed to act responsibly, Congress can still protect TPS for Haiti. But it must act urgently. The House passed H.R. 1689 in April, and now, the Senate must pass S. 4814.

TPS status may be applied when “conditions in country. . .temporarily prevent the country's nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.” The conditions in Haiti today are precisely what Congress had in mind when establishing TPS, and Congress has the authority to extend protections where the Secretary has failed to.

Terminating Haiti’s TPS designation—even as the U.S. government itself acknowledges the country’s extreme danger—contradicts longstanding U.S. policy and undermines the very purpose established by Congress for the TPS program. We are urging you to pass S. 4814 to protect our residents and the institutions that rely on their contributions.

Sincerely,

Michelle Wu

Mayor of Boston

Ruthzee Louijeune

Boston City Councilor At-Large

Additional Signatories

The City of Albany, New York

The City of Burlington, Vermont

The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The City of Chelsea, Massachusetts

The City of Chicago, Illinois

The City of Cincinnati, Ohio

The City and County of Denver, Colorado

The City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts

The Village of Hempstead, New York

The City of Lima, Ohio

The City of New York, New York

The City of Omaha, Nebraska

The City of Portland, Oregon

The County of Santa Clara, California

The City of Seattle, Washington

The City of Somerville, Massachusetts

The City of Spokane, Washington

The City of Worcester, Massachusetts

Mayors

Jim Ross

Mayor, City of Arlington, Texas

Michael Cahill

Mayor, City of Beverly, Massachusetts

Joseph Ganim

Mayor, City of Bridgeport, Connecticut

John Cowen

Mayor, City of Brownsville, Texas

Sumbul Siddiqui

Mayor, City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Jess Anderson

Mayor and Town Council, Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Brandon Johnson

Mayor, City of Chicago, Illinois

Aftab Pureval

Mayor, City of Cincinnati, Ohio

Justin Bibb

Mayor, City of Cleveland, Ohio

Barbara Buffaloe

Mayor, City of Columbia, Missouri

Andrew Ginther

Mayor, City of Columbus, Ohio

Gay Lynn Bennion

Mayor, City of Cottonwood Heights, Utah

Derrick Henry

Mayor, City of Daytona Beach, Florida

Leonardo Williams

Mayor, City of Durham, North Carolina

Daniel Biss

Mayor, City of Evanston, Illinois

Theresa Rich

Mayor, City of Farmington Hills, Michigan

Christina Muryn

Mayor, City of Findlay, Ohio

Samantha Squailia

Mayor, City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts

Harvey Ward

Mayor, City of Gainesville, Florida

Michael J. Nicholson

Mayor, City of Gardner, Massachusetts

James Solomon

Mayor, Jersey City, New Jersey

Mayor Quinton Lucas

Mayor, City of Kansas City, Missouri

Keith Sydnor

Mayor, City of Laurel, Maryland

Kyle Schlachter

Mayor, City of Littleton, Colorado

Jack Bradley

Mayor, City of Lorain, Ohio

Jared Nicholson

Mayor, City of Lynn, Massachusetts

Karen Bass

Mayor, City of Los Angeles, California

Gary Christenson

Mayor, City of Malden, Massachusetts

Annette Blackwell

Mayor, City of Maple Heights, Ohio

Girmay Zahilay

County Executive, Martin Luther King Jr. County, Washington

Breanna Lungo-Koehn

Mayor, City of Medford, Massachusetts

Jennifer Grigoraitis

Mayor, City of Melrose, Massachusetts

D.J. Beauregard

Mayor, City of Methuen, Massachusetts

Eileen Higgins

Mayor, City of Miami, Florida

Jacob Frey

Mayor, City of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Wayne Messam

Mayor, City of Miramar, Florida

Shawyn Patterson-Howard

Mayor, City of Mount Vernon, New York

Phillip Jones

Mayor, City of Newport News, Virginia

Marc Laredo

Mayor, City of Newton, Massachusetts

Gina-Louise Sciarra

Mayor, City of Northampton, Massachusetts

Angelo Castillo

Mayor, City of Pembroke Pines, Florida

Adrian Mapp

Mayor, City of Plainfield, New Jersey

Keith Wilson

Mayor, City of Portland, Oregon

Brett Smiley

Mayor, City of Providence, Rhode Island

Janet Cowell

Mayor, City of Raleigh, North Carolina

Joseph Begeny

Mayor, City of Reynoldsburg, Ohio

Dominick Pangallo

Mayor, City of Salem, Massachusetts

Todd Gloria

Mayor, City of San Diego, California

Chad Jason Ashmore

Mayor, City of Sesser, Illinois

Jake Wilson

Mayor, City of Somerville, Massachusetts

Domenic J. Sarno

Mayor, City of Springfield, Massachusetts

Regina Romero

Mayor, City of Tucson, Arizona

Anne McEnerny-Ogle

Mayor, City of Vancouver, Washington

William Reichelt

Mayor, Town of West Springfield, Massachusetts

Joseph M. Petty

Mayor, City of Worcester, Massachusetts

Local Government Leaders

Elizabeth Breadon

Boston City Council President, District 9, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Julia Mejia

City Councilor At-Large, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Erin Murphy

City Councilor At-Large, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Henry Santana

City Councilor At-Large, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Gabriela Coletta Zapata

City Councilor, District 1, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Ed Flynn, U.S. Navy (Retired)

City Councilor, District 2, City of Boston, Massachusetts

John FitzGerald

City Councilor, District 3, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Brian Worrell

City Councilor, District 4, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Enrique Pepén

City Councilor, District 5, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Benjamin Weber

City Councilor, District 6, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Miniard Culpepper, Sr., Esq.

City Councilor, District 7, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Sharon Durkan

City Councilor, District 8, City of Boston, Massachusetts

Jeff Charnel

City Councilor, City of Brockton, Massachusetts

Charles Carey

Town Administrator, Town of Brookline, Massachusetts

William Moehle

Supervisor, Town of Brighton, New York

Marc McGovern

Vice Mayor and City Councilor, City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Megan Bayer

City Solicitor, City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Catherine Zusy

City Councilor, City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Zach Klein

City Attorney, City of Columbus, Ohio

Toni Preckwinkle

President of the Board of Commissioners, County of Cook, Illinois

Burhan Azeem

Vice Mayor and City Councilor, City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Patricia Nolan

City Councilor, City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Jonathan Nieuwsma

City Councilor, City of Evanston, Illinois

Natasha Megie-Maddrey

City Councilor, Ward 4, City of Lynn, Massachusetts

Sameer Kanal

City Councilor, City of Portland, Oregon

Mitch Green

City Councilor, City of Portland, Oregon

Angelita Morillo

City Councilor, City of Portland, Oregon

Dan Ryan

City Councilor, City of Portland, Oregon

Pat McRae

Supervisor, Charter Township of Redford, Michigan

David Chiu

City Attorney, City and County of San Francisco, California