Empty pews and fear of ICE on Maryland's Eastern Shore after TPS ends for Haitians

SALISBURY -- These are harrowing days for the Word of Life Center, a church that has long been a vibrant hub of the Haitian community on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Roosevelt Toussaint, the senior pastor of the nondenominational congregation in Salisbury, said attendance at Sunday's service dropped by more than half. Normally, more than 500 people would have heard his sermon, titled "What to do in a time of crisis."

"We're expecting you to have compassion for our people. They haven't done anything wrong," Toussaint said. "All they came to this country to do is to work, to make a difference in our economy. ... There's no security at home. If you really send us over there, you send us to die."

ICE has pressed ahead, according to advocates and attorneys who say the agency is calling Haitians in for ankle bracelets and telling them not to travel more than 75 miles (121 kilometers) from their home address.

"Instead of them heavily descending on communities, they are using tactics to bring those people into their offices to either detain them or fit them with an ankle monitor, and telling them that if they don't self-deport, they will be called back to report within a month," said Guerline Jozef, president of the Haitian Bridge Alliance.

Asked about ICE enforcement activities in Salisbury, the Department of Homeland Security said via email that it "does not discuss ongoing or future operations." "Temporary Protected Status is exactly that — temporary," the email said. "For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent."

"They're not going after the people committing crimes," said the 39-year-old man, who has been a caregiver at a nursing home since moving to Salisbury in 2020. "When I go out to the street, I'm in fear."