Joining politicians and religious leaders, more than 500 physicians from the Service Employees International Union penned a letter to the Department of Homeland Security calling for an 18-month extension of a program that allows 58,000 Haitians displaced by the 2010 earthquake to live and work in the U.S., according to a report from The Boston Globe.
The physicians called for an extension of the temporary protected status program due to the poor health conditions in Haiti. They wrote that the country has among the world's worst health indicators, and deporting Haitians back would "jeopardize the safety and wellbeing" of those currently living in the U.S., according to the report.
The administration must make a decision by May 22. If they do not, the program expires July 22, and the Haitians in the program will lose their legal right to work and could be deported, according to The Boston Globe.
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