"We are deeply concerned about the plight of our Haitian brothers and sisters living in the United States," the chairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committees on Migration and International Justice and Peace said in a joint statement issued January 29. "There is simply no realistic opportunity for the safe and orderly return of people to Haiti at this time."
In the statement, Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of the Diocese of Victoria, Texas (Migration), and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon in Los Angeles (International Justice and Peace), recognized that Temporary Protective Status (TPD) is not intended to provide permanent legal occupancy.
The designation, which was first granted to Haitian refugees in 2010 and has been extended periodically since that time, is based on a finding that a state is experiencing ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or “extraordinary and temporary conditions” -- in the case of Haiti, economic chaos and the collapse of lawful governmental order.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced on November 28, 2025, that TPS for Haitians would be revoked on February 3, 2026, because she "determined that Haiti no longer meets the conditions for the designation for Temporary Protected Status."
Bishops Cahill and Zaidan dispute this finding, as the press release on the statement from the USCCB notes:
The U.S. Department of State’s own travel advisory for Haiti is Level 4, the highest level, because of “life-threatening risks” that include kidnapping, terrorist activity, and civil unrest; meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration is currently prohibiting any flights from the United States to Haiti’s capital.
The bishops join Haitian refugees and immigration advocates across the U.S. in urging that TPS be extended:
The Trump Administration still has the opportunity to do the right thing—to safeguard human life, to uphold the law, and to promote greater stability for people in this country and beyond. TPS was created by Congress with these very goals in mind, and the ongoing conditions in Haiti are precisely the sort warranting TPS. We urge the Administration to act accordingly by extending this vital relief for Haitians.
In closing, the bishops reaffirm their solidarity with the Haitian people and invoke the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, patroness of Haiti, for their strength and comfort. Catholics make up approximately 35% of Haiti's population, influenced by the country's history of French Catholic colonialism.
Gangs have control
In a press release on January 30, the United Nations noted the numbers of deaths in Haiti last year:
According to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), during the fourth quarter of 2025 (October–December), at least 1,523 people were killed and 806 others injured. Over the whole of 2025, these figures bring the number of people killed to more than 5,915 and those injured to 2,708.
While UN measures have curbed the advance of gangs in terms of taking over more territory, there are still areas of the capital and the island under the control of these violent groups.
One of their notable tactics of control is sexual violence, particularly gang rape.
