Watch CBS News

330,000 Haitians expected to lose Temporary Protected Status as Supreme Court order takes effect at midnight: "This has to stop"

When Farah Larrieux came home from work Monday morning, she did so believing it could be the last time she would safely leave her house for a while.

"I am emotionally exhausted. Physically, I feel willing to speak publicly without concealing their identities."

"Someone has to speak up. Someone has to denounce that," she said. "We are tired of being the weak one, the weak one that you can do anything to with no consequences. This has to stop."

At midnight, a Supreme Court order is expected to take effect, ending TPS protections for more than 300,000 Haitians living in the United States.

After that, Larrieux will be considered undocumented. She has applied for political asylum, but she said she understands that approval is not guaranteed.

"Even if you have a decent and truthful asylum claim, that doesn't mean that they're going to assign it to you," she said.

As she waits for a decision, Larrieux is preparing to stay put. Her cabinets and freezer are stocked with food and other necessities.

Many Haitian TPS recipients say they are afraid of being forced to return to Haiti because of continuing violence, political instability and widespread kidnappings. 

"As a woman, I can be a target for rape, kidnapping and all types of humiliation, extortion or even be killed because we have seen people disappearing in Haiti," Larrieux said.

At Miami International Airport, CBS News Miami spoke with Haitian American passengers preparing to travel to Cap-Haïtien on Sunrise Airways.

"I don't have a problem if I go to my country and I come back," traveler Guerlin Fritz said. When asked whether he felt safe, Fritz responded, "Yeah."

Another passenger, Alex Telfort, said he wants to make Haiti safe again. "If it's time for us to go back home, we can always go back home," Telfort said. "Home is sweet home."

However, passenger John Etienne said visiting Haiti for several days is very different from uprooting an entire life and relocating there permanently. "Visiting, let's say it's for five days, you may see it and you're enjoying it," Etienne said. "But living there, you have to get yourself acclimated with the system that's there and set in place. That's the difference."

The U.S. Department of State continues to classify Haiti under a Level 4 travel advisory, warning Americans not to travel there because of crime, terrorism, kidnappings, civil unrest and limited access to health care.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue