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Mango Update

As of this week, thanks to your support, our partners in Haiti have so far distributed 125,000 mangoes to 10 elementary schools in the city of Gonaives, 3 schools in Gros Morne, and several very remote mountain schools. In one remote village armed gang members intercepted the truck and told them to turn back. The local priest intervened, explaining that the mangoes were for hungry children. The gang members allowed them to pass. We also distributed mangoes to the Sisters of Charity, Mother Theresa's sisters, who have a health clinic in Gros Morne. Their patients received mangoes, and they even somehow sent some to their clinic in Port-au-Prince. Although schools are no longer in session, the mango season continues through August and we will continue the distribution to families and community centers.

This program fed hungry people, saved mango trees, and saved some of the income for mango producers when the U.S. canceled the mango export contract. This short-term fix helped us to buy time while we develop creative solutions to bring back the export contract as well as design a local processing center to sell mango juice. Thank you.

Quixote Center Applauds Extension of TPS for Haitians; Calls on the Administration to Do More

Last week, Department of Homeland Secretary Mayorkas announced that DHS will extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haiti for another 18 months. The agency cited the country's ongoing violence and insecurity, including food insecurity. This means that over half a million Haitians already in the United States are protected from deportation.

To benefit, Haitians need to have been in the U.S. as of June 3. There are approximately 214,000 Haitians who are already in the United States and receiving TPS benefits.

Their benefit will now extend for another 18 months. Another 309,000 who arrived after January 2023, under a Biden Administration humanitarian parole program, will become newly eligible for the TPS designation. Haitians enrolled in TPS are protected from deportation and can also apply for work permits.

This step is a result of the tireless advocacy of many groups, including Quixote Center. Haiti is experiencing extreme challenges and we commend our government for providing protection from deportation for Haitians already living and working here. We call on the Biden Administration to take additional steps to protect Haitians, including ending all deportations and maritime removals to Haiti, and to offer TPS to Haitians who arrived in the United States after June 3.

We also call on the Administration to put a stop to activities that destabilize Haiti, leading to irregular migration. Criminal gangs that are terrorizing the population have military-grade weapons and ammunition trafficked from the United States, where weak gun laws enable criminal elements to purchase weapons, and weak enforcement allows them to flow out to the Caribbean through U.S. ports.

Quixote Center will be co-sponsoring a webinar on this topic to help our supporters to understand the issue better. It will take place on July 30 at 5 pm. To register, click HERE ([link removed]).

We have prepared this summary ([link removed]) of the legislation currently before Congress designed to address the trafficking of weapons to Haiti. We will be sending out an action enabling you to write to Congress and the Administration on these bills and other administrative measures. Since Congress is currently on break, we will send that out to you in two weeks.

Your support makes this work possible. Thank you.

 

NOW AVAILABLE IN SPANISH: NEW REPORT Underscores Need for Additional Legal and Safe Pathways for Migrants and People on the Move in the Americas/Panama and U.S.: PELIGRO EN EL DARIÉN: Violaciones de Derechos Humanos y la Urgencia de Rutas Seguras hacia la Proteccion.Junio 2024 ([link removed])

 

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