Haitian leaders decry end to temporary residency program

BOSTON – Haitian community leaders in Boston are urging President Donald Trump to reconsider his decision to end Temporary Protected Status for thousands of citizens of the Caribbean nation.

Haitian Americans United and other local Haitian groups are holding an emergency gathering Tuesday night at the Kay Pam Center, an adult day care facility in Dorchester.

The organizations say affected Haitians face a “terrible choice” of returning to a still-struggling nation or remaining in the U.S. illegally.

The Trump administration announced Monday it was ending the special designation effective July 2019.

The temporary residency program has allowed almost 60,000 Haitians to live and work in the country since 2010, when a powerful earthquake struck Haiti.

Boston has the nation’s third largest Haitian community. Massachusetts has about 4,700 Haitian TPS holders.