Photo courtesy of www.pixbay.com
By David L. Snelling
MIAMI – Haitian professionals have condemned the U.S. government’s alleged offer of $3,000 to leave the U.S. and help rebuild the embattled Caribbean nation as entrepreneurs.
But will they have to surrender their U.S. citizenship is they accept the offer?
Haitian professionals said it’s just another example by the President Donald Trump administration trying to push them out of the U.S.
Furthermore, they face imminent danger in Haiti as the gang violence has spiraled out of control as the United Nations warned visitors about traveling to Haiti as their lives could be in peril.
According to the New York Times which shared a tweet which has since gone viral, the Department of Homeland Security urged Haitian doctors, lawyers, nurses and entrepreneurs in America to accept the offer to help rebuild Haiti, which is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
The tweet reads: “Dear Haitian doctors, lawyers, scholars, and engineers, Imagine what you could do with $3000 in Haiti! An entrepreneur’s dream!” @DHSgov tweeted, alongside a link to the department’s “assistance to voluntarily self-deport” page. (The DHS offers a $3,000 “exit bonus” and a free flight home to undocumented immigrants who voluntarily self-deport.)
Some initially believed the tweet was a hoax, but DHS never released a statement denying the post came from the agency.
The agency didn’t respond to a request to be interviewed to elaborate on the deal offered to Haitian professionals.
Haitian professionals expressed their disapproval over the U.S. government’s offer, saying the Trump administration could care less about their lives being in danger, just like the 350,000 Haitians nationwide Trump is in the process of deporting after they lost their Temporary Protection Status (TPS).
“Haiti’s dream is not $3,000,” said Haitian attorney Lana Joseph. “Haitians are doctors, lawyers, engineers, scholars, teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs, and professionals with the talent and determination to help build a stronger Haiti. But that dream requires something far more important: security, stability, respect for Haiti’s independence, and the opportunity for Haitians to rebuild their own nation.”
Joseph added that immigration laws can be enforced without diminishing the dignity of an entire people.
“Haitians are more than an immigration statistic. We are a people with history, talent, resilience, and dignity,” she said. “Respect our people. Respect Haiti’s independence. Let Haitians rebuild Haiti.”
The Haitian Heritage House, a New Jersey-based non-profit, which preserves Haitian culture while empowering communities through wellness, education, and economic development, said the government’s offer is another way to get rid of Haitians.
“$3,000… an “entrepreneur’s dream”? Seriously? DHS is now directing this message specifically at Haitian doctors, lawyers, scholars and engineers, encouraging them to leave the United States with a $3,000 exit bonus through CBP Home.”
The organization warns that returning to the U.S. could be much harder than what the U.S. government is proposing.
“That $3,000 doesn’t rebuild a career and it doesn’t replace a livelihood,” said HHH. “And it certainly doesn’t make starting your life over simple. But behind the ridiculous messaging is something very serious: the government is actively encouraging immigrants to leave the United States. And before anyone makes that decision, understand this: leaving the U.S. can have immigration consequences that $3,000 won’t fix.”
Critics said it’s a cruel offer with Haiti lacking the safety and resources amid the humanitarian crisis, where roughly 12 million people need assistance.
According to a UN report, gang violence has already displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti.
More than 3,100 people were reported killed and another 1,189 injured between January and June.
Willis Howard, who was the campaign manager for Dr. Rudolph Moise during his 2026 Congressional bid and former U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, both Haitian Americans, said the offer to rebuild Haiti sounds good.
But not if they have to surrender their citizenship.
“Who better to serve Haiti than people who can speak their native language and have a desire to help the country,” Howard said. “But as U.S. citizens, can they leave and come back?”
Jean Etienne, a Haitian American real estate investor, said the U.S. government should offer them opportunities including an easier pathway to citizenship and economic benefits instead of creating hardship.
“We fought so hard for other countries to gain independence without compensation,” he said. “We should have half of U.S economy funds compensate Haitians given the fact that we helped America’s independence. Without Haitians they wouldn’t have the chance to purchase Louisiana, and have Chicago.”
The U.S. government’s offer comes amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown operation including deporting roughly 350,000 Haitians nationwide who lost their Temporary Protection Status (TPS).
The offer to Haitian doctors and nurses raises a concern since the U.S. faces a projected shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036.
The healthcare provider shortage is particularly bad in rural America; an estimated 60 percent of rural counties in the United States lack a general surgeon, and about two-thirds (roughly 66 percent) completely lack an oncologist to treat cancer in the community.
“It’s to our disadvantage to turn away skilled workers, and it’s at odds with our more recent history, too,” Michele Waslin, the assistant director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities told HuffPost. “The U.S. has historically been a destination for the world’s best and brightest, and a country that welcomes highly skilled workers because of the contributions they make to our economy. If the U.S. wants to compete in the global marketplace for highly-skilled and highly-trained workers, this is exactly the wrong message to send.”
The healthcare industry’s struggle stems from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June that allowed Trump to deport Haitians.
According to Reuters, about 21,000 of the estimated 330,000 Haitians in the U.S. who were under TPS Temporary worked as caregivers or nursing assistants, serving around 77,000 patient
Broader estimates from the American Immigration Council indicate over 112,000 Haitians work in the healthcare industry in the U.S., but it is unclear how many of those are TPS holders.
Meanwhile, the industry is struggling to fill those positions.
“We need highly educated people with skills, we should be making them welcome, not turning them away, especially given the dangers in Haiti right now,” said Nancy Foner, a sociology professor at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the author of “One Quarter of the Nation: Immigration and the Transformation of America.”
Since Trump won his court battle to strip Haitians of their TPS, the U.S. carried out at least three consecutive deportation flights to Haiti, bringing a total of 319 people deported on those flights.
In the same period, according to the Support Group for Returnees and Refugees, 1,187 Haitians had been returned to Haiti by the United States throughout the year.
News reports clarify that most of the deportees reported on individual flights were not former TPS holders but rather individuals subject to removal for other immigration reasons including unauthorized entry, criminal history, or birth outside Haiti to Haitian parents.
The U.S. government has announced plans to deport hundreds per week, potentially affecting thousands of former TPS holders, but as of the latest reports, no confirmed figure exists for former TPS beneficiaries actually deported.
Trump has a history of degrading Haitians.
He has unleashed a series of verbal attacks at their expense since his first term.
Trump used a slur describing Haitians in 2019 and called Haiti a “shithole country.”
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump and then-Vice President candidate J.D. Vance spread a false rumor that Haitians were eating their neighbors’ pets in Springfield, Ohio.
The city has seen an influx of Haitians since TPS were granted by the President Obama administration in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake.
Some of those neighbors came to the defense of Haitians and dismissed the rumors.
