‘They cannot work. They cannot drive. They’re very afraid to even go to Walmart’.
By Ed James III
Original Air Date: October 1, 2026
Host: For decades, Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, has provided a legal bridge for hundreds of thousands of immigrants fleeing humanitarian crises in their home countries. But in June, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to remove protections for citizens of Haiti. And that ruling turns an estimated 158,000 Haitians in Florida into potential deportees. Included in that count are an estimated couple thousand Haitians in Sarasota and Manatee counties who are now facing profound uncertainty. For a closer look, we turn to WSLR reporter Ed James III.
Ed James III: In communities across Southwest Florida, the economy runs on labor that is often invisible to the casual observer—working behind the scenes in hospitality, healthcare, agriculture and food service. Following the Supreme Court’s June ruling, giving the executive branch the power to end Temporary Protected Status, federal protections have lapsed for hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals nationwide—including more than 158,000 across Florida.
Locally, the impact is rippling through communities. At a recent panel discussion organized by the Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota, nonprofit and business leaders gathered to discuss the reality facing families struggling to make a living without protected status.
Marlene Berthelot, with the St. Petersburg-based humanitarian group Haitian Mission Par La Foi, works directly with affected individuals and families. She notes that the loss of work authorizations and driver’s licenses has left many feeling isolated and afraid to seek basic necessities.
Marlene Berthelot
Marlene Berthelot: They cannot work. They cannot drive. They’re very afraid to even go to Walmart.
EJ: That fear extends across daily essentials, including ongoing medical treatments and children’s education in mixed-status families. Pastors and community organizers like Diems Duverlus note that individuals are running out of crucial daily medications, while parents avoid taking their U.S. citizen children to school due to deportation fears. All that creates a disruptive domino effect.
Local service organizations and business owners in Manatee and Sarasota counties are also seeing firsthand how immigration status affects day-to-day operations and worker vulnerability. A retail associate at a restaurant in Bradenton who asked to remain anonymous in our interview, works closely with kitchen and service staff, including several individuals who previously held TPS, and she spoke about the pressures facing these workers.
New Jerusalem Haitian Church of Sarasota
Worker: Some of those workers are living day to day and paycheck to paycheck, and because they are doing that, they settle for a low pay rate. Some of them don’t even care if they get mistreated or talked to any kind of way as long as they have a job. I think that is unfair because they’re mistreated, and people need to treat them with respect.
EJ: The anxiety crosses party lines.
In Miami-Dade County, well-known culinary figure Chef Creole is a prominent voice in the South Florida Haitian-American community. He supported Donald Trump in past elections, anticipating economic benefits and business-friendly policies. But as federal rhetoric and policy proposals surrounding TPS and deportations have materialized, Wilkinson Sejour a.k.a. Chef Creole says he feels misled. In an interview with WPLG Local 10 News in Miami, Sejour expressed his disillusionment with Trump.
Wilkinson “Chef Creole” Sejour
Wilkinson Sejour: I voted for Donald Trump.
Interviewer: What would you say to the president that you voted for?
WS: He sold to me that he is a businessman making business decisions.
Interviewer: Do you regret your vote?
WS: Yes. I do.
EJ: For WSLR News, I’m Ed James III.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6pm.