Guest Commentary | TPS terminations: A humanitarian crisis unfolding in Southwest Florida
Today, our community faces a moment of deep uncertainty and grief. Families who have built their lives here now confront the possibility of sudden displacement, separation, and loss as immigration protections are stripped away.
What is happening right now to immigrant families across this country and here in Southwest Florida is not abstract policy. It is not theoretical. It is deeply personal, devastating, and historic in its scale.
Across the United States, more than one million people are preparing to lose Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, many by Feb. 3, 2026. Florida alone is home to more than 400,000 TPS recipients, placing our state and communities like Fort Myers at the epicenter of this crisis.
I want to be clear: This has never happened before. Immigration experts have confirmed that we are witnessing the largest mass loss of lawful immigration status in U.S. history. Families who followed the law, renewed their documents year after year, paid taxes, worked legally, and raised U.S citizen children are now being pushed into fear and uncertainty through no fault of their own.
Here in Southwest Florida, TPS holders are not strangers. They are the people who rebuilt our homes after hurricanes. They are the caregivers in our hospitals and nursing homes. They are the workers in construction, hospitality, childcare, and home services who keep our local economy moving. And now, many are being told that the lives they built here, sometimes over decades, can simply be erased.
The impact is especially severe for Haitian and Venezuelan families, who make up nearly 935,000 of those losing TPS protections nationwide. These are individuals who fled political violence, economic collapse, and humanitarian disasters. Many cannot safely return to their countries of origin, yet they now face the terrifying possibility of detention, deportation, or family separation.
This is not just a policy shift: It is a humanitarian emergency.
Behind closed doors, children are witnessing the fear and tears of their parents. Families are afraid to drive to work, attend church, or take their kids to school. Employers are bracing for workforce shortages that will ripple across our regional economy. Entire communities are being destabilized.
Economists warn that terminating TPS for Haitians and Venezuelans alone would reduce the U.S. economy by more than $14 billion. But beyond the numbers lies something far more painful: the erosion of dignity, safety, and hope.
The Haitian-American Community Coalition of Southwest Florida is also deeply concerned about the parallel termination of the Humanitarian Parole Program for hundreds of thousands of individuals from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. This sweeping decision dramatically expands the scope of the crisis, leaving families overwhelmed by fear, uncertainty, and confusion as they struggle to understand what comes next.
Let me say this plainly: These are not “temporary people.” They are permanent contributors.
As president of the Haitian-American Community Coalition of Southwest Florida, I call on elected officials at every level, faith leaders, business owners, and community partners to act with urgency and moral clarity.
We ask for:
• Legislative protections that recognize reality and humanity
• Compassionate enforcement policies
• Clear pathways for stability for families who have already proven their commitment to this country
History will remember how we responded in this moment.
We refuse to be silent while our neighbors are pushed into the shadows.
We refuse to accept policies that tear families apart.
And we will continue to advocate, educate, and stand with our community because no one deserves to live in fear after doing everything right.
This is our home.
These are our families.
And their lives matter.
Beatrice Jacquet-Castor is the president of the Haitian-American Community Coalition of Southwest Floridas.