The Biden administration announced on Monday that the temporary legal status granted for Haitians living in the United States will be expanded and extended. The decision was made after determining that Haiti is too dangerous for illegal aliens to be deported back to their country.

The decision applies only to those Haitians already here and granted temporary legal status. The Department of Homeland Security said Haitians who were in the United States on November 6 can apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), while those who were granted it last year can stay an additional 18 months until August 3, 2024.

The Biden policy toward the southern border has been to do everything differently than the previous administration did to secure the border. In this case, extending and expanding TPS has been approved for several countries by this administration. TPS has been granted to Haiti, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Cameroon, and Venezuela. The previous administration cut back on providing TPS for those already in the United States. TPS usually comes with authorization to work. TPS can be extended for increments of up to 18 months and is granted to migrants from countries who have suffered natural disasters or civil unrest.

Haiti has experienced an outbreak of cholera which has taken the lives of children, along with malnutrition. Gang violence has been rampant since July 2021 when President Moise was assassinated. During one period of time, Haitian migrants made up the largest group of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. Remember Whipgate? The Border Patrol agents were falsely accused by the Biden administration of whipping Haitian migrants as they crossed the Rio Grande River into Texas. That was in September 2021. On Monday, DHS Secretary Mayorkas said the decision is a humanitarian one.

“The conditions in Haiti, including socioeconomic challenges, political instability, and gang violence and crime — aggravated by environmental disaster — compelled the humanitarian relief we are providing today,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Homeland Security didn’t say how many Haitians are expected to benefit from the expansion. An estimated 40,000 were granted TPS in 2011 — extended last month to June 30, 2024 — after a devastating earthquake in Haiti the previous year. Another 3,200 who got TPS last year are covered under Monday’s 18-month extension.

Chaos in Haiti has fueled an exodus to South America, Mexico and the United States. The U.S. flew many Haitians back home after about 16,000 predominantly Haitian migrants camped in the small Texas border town of Del Rio in September 2021. The administration used a Trump-era rule that suspends rights to seek asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

That is what is so infuriating – the Biden administration knows that the policies and agreements used by the previous administration worked to secure the border. But, out of some misguided belief that he is a bigger humanitarian than the former president, Biden insists on doing things differently. Clearly, the Biden border crisis is born out of spite, to do things differently than Trump, and it has resulted in disaster.

We know that, generally speaking, once illegal migrants come across the border, few are expelled by Biden’s DHS. Expanding and extending TPS is one more way they are staying in the U.S., whether they are eligible for asylum or not.

Deportations to Haiti appear to have waned as conditions have deteriorated. Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks deportations, said Monday that the administration hasn’t had a deportation flight to Haiti since Sept. 6.

Haitians who enter the U.S. after Monday’s announcement will not be eligible for TPS, according to DHS officials. No one expects that to discourage them from coming, though. In October, more than 6,700 apprehensions of Haitians happened on the Mexican border. The number of Haitian migrants has grown every month since September 2021. They are one of the most common nationalities coming across the border.

Chuck Schumer said more than 100,000 Haitians will be eligible for TPS under this week’s decision. Other progressives are applauding the Biden administration.

“Providing temporary protection to Haitian nationals in the United States is critically important as Haiti continues to face extreme physical conditions and deteriorating political instability,” he said.

Advocates thanked the Biden administration.

“We rejoice and celebrate with our Haitian siblings and stand undeterred in solidarity as we continue to work with and for the Haitian and Haitian-American communities,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance.

The Cato Institute, which advocates for more open immigration laws, said last week that nearly 1 million people are eligible for TPS under Biden, more than double the figure under Trump.

This is an aftereffect of the Biden border crisis. Illegal aliens are not deported and there are no consequences for breaking U.S. immigration laws. This is why the numbers at the border continue to increase. Word spreads and more come. Biden’s porous border is anything but an act of humanitarian kindness.