Haitians who resettled in Iowa communities like Marshalltown, Cedar Rapids and Storm Lake on Temporary Protected Status face uncertainty as those protections are set to expire Monday.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration could lawfully end the protections, but a series of lower court orders extended them multiple times.
Karen Everling runs a resettlement organization in Waterloo and says the end of TPS will be difficult for employers, too.
“Because companies like Tyson have a large, large workforce of Haitians, and when something hits your community hard, it hits your workforce hard,” Everling says, “their productivity, how they show up for work, everything.”
Dozens of Haitians could lose work at the Waterloo plant if the protections expire. Thousands of Haitians have settled in the Cedar Valley in recent years and Everling says many went to work at Tyson.
“Right now, I believe they’re the largest population at the plant,” she says. “So obviously, employers don’t want their employees to have to go through this. So, I think it’s hard for everyone.”
If the change takes effect, Haitians dependent on TPS could lose their jobs, their driver’s licenses, and their legal status.
