President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to urge you to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitian nationals currently residing within our borders.  The earthquake that occurred yesterday, January 12, 2010, has devastated the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and the chaos that has ensued puts all the citizenry of that country at risk.  Now is certainly not the time to deport Haitians into an overly burdened country. 

Prior to the earthquake, Haiti was already facing a humanitarian crisis due to the four major hurricanes that ravaged Haiti in 2008 and was exacerbated by the country’s extreme poverty.  The earthquake yesterday has brought the operations of the country to a complete standstill.  Many reports from Haiti describe the damage as “near total destruction” of all buildings, including hospitals, the Presidential palace, homes and many Embassies.  The phone and electrical system is inoperable and emergency services are nearly non-existent.  TPS is needed because there is no way to safely return Haitian citizens to their country.  The United States granted TPS to Honduras and Nicaragua in 1999, following Hurricane Mitch, and to El Salvador in 2001, following several earthquakes.  As the program is designed, TPS would only be available to Haitians already living in the United States. 

Haiti clearly meets the criteria for TPS designation and extending it would be one small way to help address this catastrophe, as well as alleviate additional burdens on American assistance workers.  We respectfully request that you grant TPS to Haitian nationals as soon as possible.

Sincerely,