MIAMI SHORES, Fla. — Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski, a long-time advocate of Haitian migrants, isn’t giving up.

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While fluent in Haitian Creole, Wenski, 75, is among the leading voices urging the U.S. Senate to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.

With the expiration of TPS on Monday, more than 300,000 beneficiaries will be vulnerable to deportation and no longer have a work permit.

“Many of them are working in health care. In the Archdiocese of Miami, in our nursing homes, I have over 40 people on TPS that will lose their work permits today, and we will have to let them go,” Wenski said about Catholic Health Services, one of Miami’s largest ministries.

Wenski said he was preparing for a flight on Monday before a meeting with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to lobby for a solution for TPS beneficiaries.

“We are looking for them to support a bill in the Senate that would embrace the House bill that was passed,” Wenski said about H.R. 1689.

U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen, a Democrat from New York, introduced the bill on Feb. 27 in the House, and it passed 224-204 on April 16.

Wenski said it could be done through a discharge petition, a legislative maneuver to force a bill out of a stalled committee and onto the floor for a full vote.

“That would give the Haitians a three-year extension on their TPS,” Wenski said.

Related report: North Miami advocate on end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians: ‘Be prepared’

In Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, the streets were quieter than normal on Monday.

“People have been here for decades, many of them own homes, own businesses, own other assets (and) are crucial and essential workers,” said FANM political director Paul Christian Namphy. “If people are going out in the community, they’re taking a bigger risk and that’s why we are encouraging all of our community members, keep your movements to a minimum.”

U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody said she has been in communication with the Trump administration about alternatives for Haitians.

“We have got to start looking at these on a case-by-case basis,” Moody said.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said Haitian immigrants “who are vetted” and are not criminals are welcome. Scott faced questions about Haitians’ deportations.

“My heart goes out to them,” Scott said.

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who is campaigning for Florida governor with Trump’s endorsement, voted against H.R. 1689.

“It is a temporary program, but it was abused by Joe Biden,” Donalds said about TPS. “We have to get to a semblance and a standard on immigration.”

Wenski hopes to change minds in the Senate. Immigration policies should reflect both “justice and mercy,” Wenski recently wrote in a statement urging leaders to pursue “compassionate and humane solutions that protect family unity” and “recognize” the crisis Haitians face.

“Policies should seek not only to enforce the law but also to reflect our nation’s longstanding commitment to protecting human dignity and promoting the common good,” Wenski wrote. “To make America Great again is a worthy goal but you don’t make America great by making America mean.”

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