MIAMI — Businesses that rely on Haitian workers with Temporary Protected Status are beginning to feel the impact as employees leave their jobs, forcing some owners to replace workers while preparing for higher labor costs.
Chef Creole owner Wilkinson Sejour said he recently lost four employees.
“I said, look, they extended it for three more days,” Sejour said. “They said, ‘Boss, the way this administration is doing business, they don’t care about the rule of law. They just care about their agenda. I’m not going to be embarrassed. I’m not going to be looking like a criminal in front of people,’ so they’re out of here. They’re gone.”
Sejour, who is Haitian American, said he empathizes with Haitian TPS holders who came to the United States for better opportunities as Haiti continues to deal with crime and instability.
“How do you get sent back to a country that the American embassy is saying, ‘Do not go over there?’” Sejour said. “This is very contradictory. I don’t understand it.”
Sejour owns seven Chef Creole locations across Miami. He said he is now looking to hire more workers to replace the employees he recently lost.
“My cost of labor is supposed to be at 23½%, and now it’s going to go to 27% or maybe 28%,” Sejour said. “So my net profit is going to be smaller. How am I going to mitigate that? My prices on my goods are going to have to go up. Everyone is going to feel it.”
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