This hearing, convened by the City Council’s Committee on Civil Rights, examined the impact of the Supreme Court’s June 25, 2026 ruling that upheld the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, which took effect on July 27, 2026. The council heard from city officials and community organizations about the resulting crisis in Boston, including housing instability, job loss, legal service gaps, and severe mental health distress. The discussion focused on assessing the city’s response and identifying additional resources needed.
Good morning, good morning. My name is Mignard Culpepper. City Council. Someone has me an ad lords this morning, but I'm not so successful city council. Today is September twenty-fifth. This hearing is being recorded. It's also being live streamed at Boston.gov backslash city council-tv and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN 82, and files channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.civilrights at Boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing. Individuals will be called on in the order in which they have signed up and will have two minutes to testify. If you're interested, interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber. If you're looking to testify virtually, please email our Central Staff Liaison, Megan Kabanoff at Megan.cavernov at Boston.gov for the link and your name will be added to the list. Today's hearing is on Docket No. 0299. Order for a hearing to confront the termination of federally protected status for Haitian immigrants and examine the City of Boston's response to protect affected residents. This matter was sponsored by Councillors Mignard Culpepper, Councilor Julia Mejia, Councillor Ruth Z. Louis John. And referred to the committee on February 4th 2026. Today I am joined by my colleague, Councillor Roosley Louis Jean, and we'll acknowledge the letter from our President Council Braden. I'll read it into the record per her request. Dear Chair Culpepper, I regret that I am unable to attend this morning's hearing on Docket 0299. Order for a hearing to confront the termination of federal protected status for Haitian immigrants and examine the City of Boston's response to protect affected residents. The possible termination of federal protective status for Haitian nationals poses profound risk for families across Boston. As a representative of a welcoming city with a long-standing Haitian community, I remain committed to ensuring that affected residents receive the support, legal protections, and coordinated services they deserve. While I am unable to attend today's hearing, members of my team will be listening into this critically important discussion, and I plan to review the record. Dr. Number 0299. The litigation was before the Supreme Court, and much of our discussion focused on preparedness. What could happen if those protections were terminated? How Boston residents could be affected, and whether the city was prepared to respond. Unfortunately, the circumstances have changed dramatically since then. On June 25th, the Supreme Court ruled in the litigation involving the termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria and Haitian TPS subsequently ended on July 27th. We also have a clear picture today of the scale of the impact in Boston. The administration's updated analysis estimates that approximately 5,790 Haitians in Boston were previously covered by TPS, significantly more than the estimate we discussed at our April hearing. The administration has also identified approximately 1,800 children and more than 8300 other adult family and household members who could be affected by the deportation of Haitian non-citizen adults, demonstrating that the consequences extend far beyond individual TPS holders. So today I want to understand what has happened since July 27th, what we are seeing on the ground, and whether the response matches the scale of the need. We need to understand what is happening to residents who lost their work authorization, whether people are finding alternative forms of immigration relief, whether our legal service providers have sufficient capacity, and what additional resources the city and this council can provide. And finally, we need to hear directly from the organization serving the Barston's Haitians community. Our second panel includes representatives from Myra, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, and the Immigrant Family Services Institute. These organizations can help us understand what residents are experiencing on the ground, where the city's response is working, and where additional support is needed. With that, let us get started, and I'd like to announce the arrival of one of the co-sponsors, Council Julia Mejia. I'll give each counselor six minutes for their opening statement, and then we'll turn to our panelists. Our first speaker, Councillor Rucy Lujon. Counselor, you have six minutes. Good morning, everyone. Bonjour tout moun, Messi Pasquenula. Um this is a topic and an issue that my office has been working on endlessly, day and night. And I mean that literally and figuratively. I was talking to Brian Cun Cannon, the head of the IJDH Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti about how, you know, I fell yesterday, had a lot of issues going on, and at the same time got a call from a constituent who was being rejected from services at a legal services organization. I got on the phone in the middle of everything with the head of the immigration clinic there to make sure that that woman could turn around and receive services.