Members joined a rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC on April 29 as justices deliberated on whether to overrule the Trump administration’s plans to remove more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians who are currently entitled to remain in the country under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Nativita Paul, a Home Care member from Queens, New York, who works with the Accent Care and FEGS agencies, said outside the court:

“I have been with 1199 for thirty years. I came to Washington because of TPS. They are talking about sending Haitian people back home. We come here because we know that America has honey and we want a little taste. We are not bad people. We do our best to take care of the patients we work for. It is a lot of work. If somebody comes from another country to take care of patients here, I think it is a good thing. We all have to live and have kids to take care of. Right now, there are six people in my family and I’m the only person who is working. It’s not easy.”

The day before the DC rally, members in North Miami took part in a demonstration of their own. Florida has the largest population of Haitian TPS holders in the country.

Earlier in the month, the House of Representatives voted to extend TPS for Haitian migrants through 2029. Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley, a close ally of 1199, led the effort.

TPS allows individuals to legally stay and work in the US when their home country is too dangerous to return to due to armed conflict or natural disasters.