Miami action demands ‘No deportations!’

Militant/Chuck Guerra

MIAMI — Several dozen people gathered in front of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office here Oct. 28 to protest threats to deport thousands of immigrants from Haiti and Central America if their Temporary Protected Status is not renewed.

The program covers over 400,000 people, many of whom have been in the U.S. for over 20 years. It is granted to immigrants who have fled here as a result of national disasters — like earthquakes in Haiti — or social unrest. Their status is reviewed every 18 months. Up for immediate decision are some 86,000 Hondurans and 5,000 Nicaraguans.

Marleine Bastien from Haitian Women of Miami and other speakers called for TPS to be extended and for Congress to allow people admitted under it to become permanent residents. Anthony Dutrow from the Socialist Workers Party called for amnesty for all immigrants and an end to deportations. This fight can win broad support from working people, he said, because there is less prejudice among U.S-born workers towards immigrants than ever before.

— CHUCK GUERRA