United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Mexican diplomat Carlos Ruiz as the organization’s special representative to Haiti and to lead the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, or BINUH, on Thursday, July 3. The move comes after a U.N. report on Wednesday, July 2, revealed 90% of Port-Au-Prince is now controlled by gangs and as protected status for Haitians in the United States is threatened.
Who is Carlos Ruiz?
Ruiz previously worked as a special representative to Colombia since 2019, according to BINUH. In that role, he oversaw the adoption of the nation’s peace agreement and worked on peace negotiations between the government and armed guerrilla factions.
A worsening crisis
Ruiz is slated to succeed Ecuador’s Maria Isabella Salvador as head of the U.N. office in Haiti, as violence worsens and gangs threaten to overtake the government. The deteriorating situation has forced 1.3 million people from their homes, creating a disease and hunger crisis as well.
BINUH reported that since January, there have been more than 4,000 deliberate killings, which is a 24% increase from the same time last year.
U.N. officials described the capital city of Port-Au-Prince as “paralyzed” by gangs and “isolated” due to the suspension of international flights out of the country’s main airport.
Mirsolav Jenca, assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, urged the international community to act now, and warned that “total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario.”
Haitians’ protected status in US in limbo
As residents on the island nation deal with a dire humanitarian situation, Haitians in the United States have been granted a lifeline.
A U.S. federal judge ruled on Tuesday, July 1, that the Trump administration cannot cancel Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for thousands of Haitian migrants this September. The ruling came from U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan, an appointee of former President George W. Bush. It blocks Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from moving forward with a plan to rescind TPS for Haitians living in the United States under the program on Sept. 2, a few months before their status was scheduled to expire under a Biden administration deadline.
Roughly 350,000 Haitians are in the TPS program, which allows immigrants to stay in the United States if their nation of origin is unsafe due to war or natural disaster. TPS for Haitian migrants was first allowed in 2010 after a deadly earthquake. Former U.S. President Joe Biden extended the program until February of 2026.
However, DHS announced on Friday, June 27, that TPS for Haitians would end early, and unless they had another form of protected legal status, deportation was likely.
In Tuesday’s ruling, Hogan agreed with the group of Haitian migrants who sued the Trump administration over ending TPS, saying Noem “does not have statutory or inherent authority to partially vacate a country’s TPS designation.”
Trump administration’s response
The White House vowed to appeal the ruling.
“District courts have no authority to prohibit the Executive Branch from enforcing immigration laws or from terminating discretionary temporary benefit programs,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement, according to CBS News.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also responded to the judge’s decision.
“Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago,” McLaughlin said. It was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.”
Attorneys for DHS argued the week of June 23 that TPS could be ended for Haitians because the “environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.” However, that assessment conflicted with the findings of officials on the ground in Haiti.
The United States contributed to a U.N.-backed international police force to help quell the violence in Haiti, but funding for the effort is reportedly drying up and the security force is severely lacking in personnel.
