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RESOLUTION URGING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND THE UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO EXTEND TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIAN NATIONALS FOR 18 MONTHS BEYOND JANUARY 22, 2018; PRELIMINARILY IDENTIFYING THIS ISSUE AS A CRITICAL COUNTY PRIORITY FOR THE 2018 FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION

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WHEREAS, on January 15, 2010, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals who were in the United States as of January 12, 2010, the date of the devastating earthquake in Haiti; and
WHEREAS, the TPS designation is a humanitarian program that allows eligible Haitian nationals to continue living and working in the United States; and
WHEREAS, TPS was made available to Haitian nationals for 18 months from January 12, 2010 to July 22, 2011 and was extended several times due to the devastation Haiti continues to face; and
WHEREAS, on May 22, 2017, DHS extended Haiti�s TPS designation for only six months to January 22, 2018, the shortest TPS extension for Haitian nationals to date; and
WHEREAS, Haiti has not recovered from the 2010 earthquake; the nation continues to suffer from economic and political crisis, rampant Zika and Chikungunya cases, devastating cholera cases and deaths, and the damaging effects of Hurricane Matthew; and
WHEREAS, on October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew was the first Category 4 hurricane to hit Haiti in 50 years; and
WHEREAS, Hurricane Matthew left at least 1.4 million people in need of emergency aid, killed nearly 1,000 people, and dramatically increased the number of cholera cases in Haiti; and
WHEREAS, Hurricane Matthew also left entire towns completely destroyed and cut off from the outside world by flooding and caused great damage to crops, livestock and infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti�s southern peninsula, one of the nation�s breadbaskets, exacerbating the nation�s food insecurity crisis after a three-year drought in Haiti�s rice-growing region; and
WHEREAS, President Donald Trump recognized the devastation Haiti faced even before the additional damaging effects of Hurricane Matthew, acknowledging the turmoil, pain and suffering of the Haitian people as a result of the 2010 earthquake and desiring to be their �greatest champion�; and
WHEREAS, an extension of TPS for Haitian nationals has gained bipartisan support as it is a humanitarian concern; and
WHEREAS, because conditions in Haiti have not improved, President Donald Trump and DHS should extend TPS for an additional 18 months beyond the January 22, 2018 expiration; and
WHEREAS, prior to DHS granting TPS to Haitian nationals, TPS had been granted and extended to nationals from a number of countries, including El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia and Sudan; and
WHEREAS, this Board considered the extension of TPS for Haitian nationals one of its highest priorities during the 2017 federal legislative session and would like to again identify this issue as a critical County priority for the 2018 federal legislative session and urge President Donald Trump and DHS to extend TPS for Haitian nationals for an additional 18 months,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Urges President Donald Trump and the United States Secretary of Homeland Security to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals for 18 months beyond January 22, 2018.
Section 2. Preliminarily identifies the issue described in Section 1 above as a critical County priority for the 2018 federal legislative session.
Section 3. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the President of the United States, to the Members of the Florida Congressional Delegation and to the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Section 4. Directs the County�s federal lobbyists to advocate for the action set forth in Section 1 above, and authorizes and directs the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to amend the 2017 Federal Legislative Package to include this item and include this item in the 2018 Federal Legislative Package when it is presented to the Board.