Councilor Flynn blocks measure calling for response to elimination of protected status for Haitians

A City Council resolution that would have pushed the Wu administration to implement a coordinated response for Boston residents at risk of displacement due to the elimination of their Temporary Protected Status was derailed Wednesday by a single council member. 

The resolution, introduced by Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, was filed in response to the recent expiration of TPS for Haitian and Syrian beneficiaries. TPS is a designation for foreign-born individuals in America who cannot return to their home countries safely due to conditions such as civil war or environmental disaster. 

The Trump administration has moved to end TPS for about a million beneficiaries, saying that the Biden administration was wrong to expand the designation. The Supreme Court ruled in June that the administration could move forward with its plans to end TPS protections for Haitians and Syrians. The decision increased fears of deportation for the approximately 45,000 TPS holders in Massachusetts, many of whom are Haitian. 

Earlier on Wednesday, a federal judge officially cleared the way for the Trump administration to end TPS protections for Haitians.  

Louijeune, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, called on city officials to “pick up the pace” in ongoing efforts to help those who have lost or are at risk of losing their TPS status. A number of employers have come to Louijeune’s office with concerns about the implications of the loss of TPS status for residents. Losing TPS status will eliminate these residents’ ability to work, she said. 

“People are really frantic and worried about what’s happening,” Louijeune said. 

The loss of work authorization could lead to a worsening of the city’s housing crisis, Louijeune said, since people could struggle to pay their rent and mortgages. 

“If the moral or humanitarian argument does not stick with you, there’s a big economic argument here too,” she said. 

Earlier this week, Louijeune teamed up with Mayor Michelle Wu to lead more than 100 elected officials from across the country in urging Congress to extend TPS protections for Haitians. 

Louijeune’s resolution calls for the city to better coordinate resources for residents experiencing a sudden loss of housing stability or income due to the TPS changes. The goal would be to enable residents to “quickly access assistance without undue bureaucracy, navigating multiple agencies, or unnecessarily disclosing sensitive immigration information.”

Councilor Ed Flynn objected to a vote on the measure, forcing it to be sent to the Committee on Housing and Community Development for a future hearing and delaying an official vote.

Flynn asked whether city resources would be specifically allocated for this response, and said that he had other outstanding questions about the measure.

Louijeune clarified that the resolution intentionally “has no dollar amount” and is intended to spur the creation of a comprehensive plan. A potential plan could later call for a specific amount of city funds. 

Flynn still objected, eliciting a response from Council President Liz Breadon. An immigrant from Northern Ireland herself, Breadon called on her colleagues to schedule a hearing as soon as possible. 

“This is an emergency. We’re in a crisis. Thousands of our residents in the city of Boston are facing a very, very uncertain future,” Breadon said. “A crisis demands that we respond with some urgency.”