LAKELAND, Fla. — Two Polk County mothers are fighting to keep their loved ones in the U.S. after learning they could be deported back to Haiti.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. government, under the Trump administration, is revoking TPS for migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, citing abuse and exploitation of the program

  • Dawn Chappelear and Stacey Angulo are advocating to keep their loved ones from being deported to Haiti

  • Both women plan to take legal action and have already contacted lawmakers to express their concerns

Mother of four, Dawn Chappelear, still remembers the very moment she met her son Cabilah back in 2013.

“There was just this special connection,” she said. “He also was just a light. His laugh was infectious. I don’t really know how to explain it other than it was just a God connection.”

Chappelear says she and her husband, John, were living in Haiti for missionary work at the time. After raising Cabilah, 28, for three years as their own, he was later able to join them in Lakeland last May under Biden’s humanitarian parole program.

“I ran to him as he came through the doors of the airport that day. It wound up being Mother’s Day on the 12th, and so it was wonderful that day,” she said.

Chappelear’s friend, Stacey Angulo, shared a similar reaction when she and her husband, Alex, adopted their 15-year-old son, Marven, in 2013. The couple was then able to help bring Marven’s biological sister, Maill-Eva, 20, and his mother to the U.S.

The two were granted humanitarian parole and received Temporary Protected Status (TSP).

“It was a God thing for us to be able to bring them here and have them leave Haiti and come to a safe place, find safe harbor, be able to work, be able to learn how to support themselves, all the things they were unable to do in that country for the last several years,” Angulo said.

However, both women say their loved ones' well-being is now at risk after learning that their Temporary Protected Status has been canceled. According to a letter they received in the mail, they have until April 24 to return to Haiti.

The Trump administration announced it is revoking TSP for migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security says the program has been “abused and exploited” for decades.

Chappelear and Angulo say the decision completely goes against why they voted for President Trump in the 2024 election.

“It now flies in the face of what we thought, you know, we so to speak, were signing up for,” Angulo said. “These are human lives. These are people that did things the right way. They did not cross the border illegally. It’s unthinkable, unimaginable, heartless, and cruel to think of sending anyone back to Haiti in the conditions that are there on the ground in Haiti right now.”

Angulo says they’ve sent several letters to lawmakers and the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, about the situation in Haiti. The country remains in crisis due to ongoing gang violence.

“For a myriad of reasons, it’s not the right time to send people back to Haiti,” Angulo said.

Both women say they plan to do whatever it takes to keep their loved ones from having to leave. Chappelear says it’s not only for their safety, but because America has become their home.

Chappelear and Angulo have sought legal counsel and plan to share their concerns with Congressman Scott Franklin’s office Friday, April 11.