Faith leaders, immigrant advocates and Haitian community members were set to gather on Tuesday, October 27, across from U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody's district office in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to urge her to support a three-year extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, South Florida Caribbean News reported.

Organizers asked Moody to co-sponsor S. 4814, a bill they say would extend Haiti's TPS for three years, and planned to deliver letters from constituents, faith leaders and Haitian TPS holders to her office. Scheduled speakers included Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien and the Rev. David Eugene, president of the Haitian Christian Leaders Coalition.

The event, backed by groups including the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the NAACP Florida State Conference and 1199SEIU, was part of BAJI's Protect Black Migrants Week of Action. BAJI organizer Santcha Etienne said Haiti's violence and humanitarian crisis, combined with the loss of TPS, are deepening displacement, hunger and barriers to health care, and called for a halt to deportations to Haiti.

Barbara Eriv, president of the PBC Indivisible Immigration Coalition, said the event would also highlight what the midterm elections mean for Floridians and encourage people to vote.