Lawler, a Republican from the 17th District, is also calling on the federal government to extend temporary protected status for Haitians. The Trump Administration is currently dismantling some long-running TPS programs, which allow refugees from certain countries to legally stay in the United States, as part of its broader efforts to ramp up deportations nationwide.
The Department of Homeland Security says political tensions in Haiti have calmed enough since the assassination of the Haitian president in 2021. Speaking from Spring Valley’s First Timothy Christian Church Thursday, Lawler says he disagrees.
“The challenges on the ground in Haiti are immense and they are serious," says Lawler. "It has devolved into a full-blown crisis and a government that is unstable and beholden to gangs and others engaged in illicit conduct including gang activity, kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking and gun trafficking.”
Lawler notes the U.S. Department of State currently warns Americans against travelling to Haiti and has urged Americans there to return home. Lawler, who has sided with his fellow Republicans on some immigration initiatives, including those in Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” says he agrees with the federal government in that some countries have “abused the TPS designation” — but he doesn’t believe Haiti is one of them.
The Rockland County Village of Spring Valley is home to a large Haitian diaspora.
This week, a Spring Valley High School student was released from Immigration & Customs Enforcement after more than a month of detention. Lawler says 20-year-old Alan Junior Pierre was in the country legally, on parole after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. He was arrested by ICE while attending an immigration hearing in New York City last month. Lawler says his office coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate his release.
"He is here under the parole system, and he went in accordance of what was asked of him — what was required of him — to go get his biometrics done, and was subsequently detained. It was wrong," Lawler explains. "And so I personally called Secretary Noem's office, and within 36 hours he was released. It shouldn't take that."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office was also involved in the discussions.
Brendel Logan-Charles, deputy supervisor of the Town of Ramapo, says much of the local Haitian community is on edge amid the rise in deportations.
“I have a Haitian grandson," she adds. "And so, when you speak to your 11-year-old grandson and he says, ‘Nana, am I OK to go to school? Are they gonna take me in school? Are they gonna take his other grandparents?' I have to reassure him, ‘Don’t worry, Nana's got you. I’ll make a phone call. I'll call the congressman.’”
Lawler says he agrees with some of the government’s efforts to deport those who are in the country illegally, but he says those who are legally going through the immigration system should be allowed to see their cases through. Part of the problem, he says, is that that system is overwhelmed. At multiple points Thursday, Lawler voiced his support for the “Dignity Act,” a bipartisan immigration bill that has been in Congress since 2023.
Nathanial Demosthene, pastor of First Timothy Christian Church, says he’d like to see Haitian refugees treated similarly to those from Ukraine.
“To say that we’ve been walking on eggshells – we’ve been walking on eggshells since before Mike [Lawler] was born. We need reform, and we need an immigration bill solution that is commensurate with the great history of this nation," says Demosthene. "What we did at Ellis Island is what we need to do again.”
Asked whether it would consider Lawler’s call to extend TPS, the Department of Homeland Security pointed WAMC to its original decision to let the designation expire. TPS status for Haiti is set to expire August 3, with participants expected to leave by September 2.
