In a Florida home, 16-year-old Marven celebrates his birthday surrounded by his mother, Guerline, and sister, Rochelle—a reunion that took a decade to achieve. Now, that hard-won family is at risk of being torn apart again.
Marven was adopted by American Stacey Nageli Angulo from Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. As gang violence spiraled in Haiti years later, Stacey helped bring Guerline and Rochelle to the U.S. legally under Temporary Protected Status (TPS). After ten years apart, the family was finally whole.
But their future is in jeopardy. As part of a sweeping immigration overhaul, the Trump administration is ending TPS for 350,000 Haitians in February, arguing the “environmental situation in Haiti has improved.” Guerline and Rochelle now face deportation back to a country the U.S. simultaneously advises its own citizens not to visit due to “kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest.”
“We were told America is the land of freedom and safety,” says Rochelle, who now dreams of becoming a nurse. “Now I don’t know where we belong.”
The situation creates deep personal conflict, even among Trump’s supporters. Stacey, a three-time Trump voter, is horrified by the policy. “Do we want criminals deported? Absolutely,” she says. “But to rip families apart like ours… is unthinkable.”
The decision highlights a stark contradiction: the U.S. government deems Haiti safe for deportations but not for its own citizens. For families like Marven’s, the promise of reunion is being replaced by the fear of a permanent separation, as the temporary protection that held them together is set to expire.
