U.S. bishops urged the Senate to pass legislation extending immigration protections for Haitians, arguing that escalating violence and instability in Haiti make deportations unsafe and calling for broader immigration reforms to provide a pathway to more permanent legal status.
The Nov. 10 letter sent to every U.S. senator urged passage of a bill, S. 4814, that would designate temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians through April 20, 2029. It would allow TPS recipients, including more than 330,000 Haitians, to remain and work legally in the United States during that period.
TPS is an immigration status granted to eligible foreign nationals from designated countries that are deemed unsafe to return to due to ongoing conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions.
The Trump administration has moved to end TPS for people from more than a dozen countries since 2025, and Lebanon TPS is set to end Nov. 27. TPS for Haiti ended July 27, after a Supreme Court decision allowed the termination to take effect.
In April, the Republican-controlled U.S. House passed legislation, H.R. 1689, that would extend TPS for Haitians for three more years. No legislative efforts have gained traction in the Senate.
The letter was signed by Bishop-designate Brendan Cahill of Joliet, Illinois, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Migration, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, chair of the Committee on International Justice and Peace.
Cahill and Zaidan wrote that they "pray that, in its remaining weeks, the current Congress, along with the incoming 120th Congress, will devote more attention to the situation facing both Haitian families in the United States, especially those who have recently been stripped of their legal protections, and the human tragedies unfolding in Haiti itself."
"Finally, we reiterate the need for all of Congress to work in a bipartisan manner, together with the Administration, to pursue broader reforms that provide expanded opportunities for longtime residents of American communities, such as Haitians and others with TPS, to achieve a more durable legal status, something President Trump expressed openness to in the last few days," they wrote.
Trump told CBS' "60 Minutes" on Nov. 8 that he would "love to do something on immigration" with congressional Democrats, who will hold the majority in the House and Senate starting in 2027.
Crisis in Haiti
The bishops said Haiti's worsening violence, kidnappings, and institutional collapse make it unsafe to return large numbers of people to the country.
In a September appeal to Trump, Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, USCCB president, referenced a mass killing in Haiti that left 47 people dead and dozens abducted, including children. The bishops' Nov. 10 letter also cited that attack, which Pope Leo XIV later called a "grave massacre," as evidence of the country's ongoing security crisis.
The attack and "the lack of any justice in its wake, and its existence as one of many such tragedies in recent months, help to demonstrate why it is unacceptable and untenable to forcibly repatriate hundreds of thousands of Haitians at this time," the bishops continued.
"This conclusion is bolstered by the absence of an orderly reception system and the lack of coordination needed to safely receive large numbers of repatriated families," Cahill and Zaidan wrote to the senators. "Under these circumstances, we are deeply troubled by the deportation flights that have been departing for Haiti on a weekly basis since August."
