With expired work permits, couple who fled Haiti leans on Texas church that brought them hereNBC News LogoSearchSearchLiveNBC News LogoMSNBC LogoToday Logo | Latest News Today

July 11, 2025, 7:00 AM EDT

By Fredlyn Pierre Louis and Yamiche Alcindor

An immigrant couple whose employment authorization recently expired is relying on members of the Texas church that helped them flee Haiti to stay afloat while they fight deportation.

Sherlie and Kevenson Jean left everything behind in Haiti in 2023 as gang violence and dwindling resources took over the capital. “We chose to leave Haiti because it was unsafe — kidnapping everywhere, gang control everywhere,” said Sherlie, 29, her voice cracking. “We were living in fear … and stress.”

The Jeans legally immigrated to the United States through the humanitarian parole program during the Biden administration and later applied for Temporary Protective Status, which allows eligible foreign nationals to live and work in the United States temporarily because of unsafe conditions in their home countries.

Now, the futures of both protections are in jeopardy.

Kevenson Jean and Sherlie Jean pose next to one another — Haitian immigrants Kevenson Jean, a truck driver, and his wife, Sherlie Jean, a fast-food worker, at their rental home in Panhandle, Texas, on April 14.Eric Gay / AP file

On June 27, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation on Sept. 2 — months before its original expiration date, Feb. 3, set during the Biden administration. DHS argued that conditions in Haiti had improved and no longer warranted the special protections.

But on July 1, a federal judge in New York blocked the move, temporarily shielding more than 500,000 Haitians — including the Jeans — from immediate deportation.

Gang violence has displaced more than 1.3 million people, with gangs controlling roughly 90% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration.

“Return to Haiti right now, it’s a death sentence. … The airport is shut down because of gangs,” said Kevenson, 28.

DHS also recently revoked legal protections for thousands of Haitians who entered through the humanitarian parole program. That program, now under intense scrutiny, had offered entry to migrants with U.S.-based sponsors — often relatives — who could financially support them.

Kevenson, a truck driver, said he was forced to return his work vehicle more than a week ago after his employment authorization expired. Sherlie had to leave her job at a convenience store for the same reason.

“The bills didn’t stop,” Kevenson said. “But the paycheck did.”

Kevenson Jean walks between two trucks — Kevenson Jean, a truck driver, checks his truck before a road trip in Panhandle on April 15.Eric Gay / AP file

The couple are surviving off savings and the support of their small rural church community, some members of whom voted for President Donald Trump. The same church helped connect them to an immigration attorney as they consider seeking asylum.

Kevenson said that if he returns to Haiti, gang members will think he is rich. “They’ll kidnap me,” he said.

Sherlie said she fears becoming a target for sexual violence.

“They can kidnap me, rape me,” she said. “They don’t care about if you’re going to suffer.”

The Jeans said they followed every legal step to enter the United States. Their American sponsor covered their travel, and both passed background checks.

Kevenson said he acknowledges that TPS was not a permanent status for immigrants, but he also said now is not the time to end it for Haitians.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the administration’s move in a statement, calling it part of an effort to “restore sanity” to the immigration system.