Haiti's transitional government leader, Leslie Voltaire, expresses the country's dependency on U.S. support through remittances and warns against the potential crisis that could emerge from the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian citizens in the U.S.
Leslie Voltaire, a prominent member of Haiti's transitional government, conveyed a message of urgency regarding the nation's reliance on financial support from the United States and other countries. He articulated that the Haitian economy is heavily dependent on remittances from Haitians living abroad, particularly in the U.S., Canada, and France. This dependency is significantly tied to the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows many Haitian immigrants to live and work in the U.S. without the immediate threat of deportation. Voltaire's observations highlight the precarious nature of Haiti's economic stability, particularly with elections scheduled later this year.
Voltaire explicitly pointed out the potential fallout if the TPS were abruptly terminated, estimating that about 400,000 Haitian citizens could be repatriated from the U.S. back to Haiti. He stated that the country's current infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle such a sudden influx of returning migrants, which could exacerbate existing issues such as poverty and unemployment in Haiti. The transitional leader characterized the situation as one where
