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Politico
19 minutes ago
- Politico
Tariff roulette
Presented by Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Canada Playbook | Follow Politico Canada Welcome to a week that could define Canada's economic future — or deepen its trade crisis. In today's edition of Canada Playbook: → As Canada hopes for an August deal, Trump is chasing trade wins elsewhere. → A midsummer dollop of news on interest rates and economic growth. → Why EU Ambassador GENEVIÈVE TUTS is hawkish on transatlantic bonds. Trade war SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER — Aug. 1 approaches, the day Canada and the U.S. are expected to strike a new economic and security deal — or not. Prime Minister MARK CARNEY and President DONALD TRUMP have recently sought to temper expectations. — He's just not that into you: The White House has informed Canada that it is not the priority at the moment, Playbook has learned. Trump, who is in Europe, is focused on securing agreements with other countries, like India. — Get in line: In Scotland on Sunday, Trump struck a trade deal with the European Union, locking in a 15 percent tariff. It follows his deal with Japan last week, though there are questions about that one. → Trump's Canada take: 'We haven't really had a lot of luck with Canada,' the president told reporters outside the White House on Friday. 'I think Canada could be one where they'll just pay tariffs, not really a negotiation,' he said. — State of play: The president is unpredictable, and Canadian officials don't often know what he's going to do until he does it. — For example: Trump caught Canada off guard when he paused negotiations over the digital services tax. He blindsided them again when he sent Carney a letter to say tariffs on Canadian goods would increase to 35 percent on Aug. 1. — The devil in the details: The White House is playing coy about whether the 35 percent tariff would exempt goods that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. While the U.S. has suggested that would be the case, the decision ultimately lies with Trump. Canada will view the lack of an exemption as a serious setback at the table. → Why it matters: That exemption would mean most Canadian businesses would retain tariff-free access to the U.S. market. 'The vast majority of Canadian goods and services are tariff-free,' Carney told reporters last week in Hamilton, Ontario. — In related news: The Globe's JASON KIRBY and MARK RENDELL explain why in a world of tariff pain, USMCA gives Canada an edge — for now. — But, but, but: Trump's tariffs are hammering four Canadian sectors: steel, aluminum, autos and lumber. Another could soon be hit: Trump said a new 50 percent tariff on imported copper will take effect Aug. 1. — Where we go from here: Canada is looking for certainty, so it can provide relief for impacted sectors and stability to investors. So far, officials have been dodging questions about further retaliation, but the Liberal government previously promised to match Trump's tariffs on aluminum if they don't reach a deal. — Worth noting: The Globe's NOJOUD AL MALLEES reports that the government collected about C$1.5 billion more in import duties in April and May over the same period last year, a 180 percent increase thanks to countertariffs. — Trump insists: He will negotiate with 'three or four other countries' before Aug. 1. Others will have just his letter. 'Most of the others are going to be a certain tariff and we're going to keep it as low as we can. They're generally smaller countries or countries we don't do much business with, but they've already received, to a large extent, they've received a letter,' Trump said Sunday. → Coming up: Trump said countries that don't get a deal will receive a confirmation letter this week. Commerce Secretary HOWARD LUTNICK said other countries can keep talking to Trump beyond that date. 'I mean, he's always willing to listen. And between now and then, I think the president's going to talk to a lot of people. Whether they can make him happy is another question,' Lutnick said on 'Fox News Sunday.' Negotiators on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border will keep talking. — In related reading from POLITICO: 'Donaldddddd': Foreign leaders schmooze Trump on his personal cell. THREE THINGS WE'RE WATCHING ECONOMIC INDICATORS This week's data could reinforce fears Canada is tipping into recession: — On Wednesday, interest rates: Most bank economists think TIFF MACKLEM will hold the Bank of Canada's policy rate steady at 2.75 percent. Macklem also stood pat in June and April announcements after seven consecutive cuts dating to 2024. 'At this point, there is a bit less than a 50% chance of even one cut priced in for the rest of 2025,' BMO's DOUG PORTER wrote in a lookahead note. In their own note, RBC's CLAIRE FAN and ABBEY XU sized up the impact of stubbornly high core inflation measures, a 'weakening but relatively resilient economic backdrop' and the potential for increased federal spending amid the threat of permanent tariffs. Their conclusion: 'We do not expect the [bank] will cut again in this cycle.' — On Thursday, GDP data: Most bank economists are projecting a slight turn to the negative for month-over-month May numbers. Porter raised the specter of an economy that shrinks in the second quarter of 2025. A decline in consecutive quarters meets the technical definition of recession. (But remember: Q1 GDP grew by 2.2 percent — exceeding expectations.) THE EPSTEIN CRISIS Scandal dominates U.S. newscycles as fallout continues: The president failed to move the news cycle past JEFFREY EPSTEIN last week, and the narrative shows no sign of fading. — In related reading: ANKUSH KHARDORI, a senior writer for POLITICO Magazine and a former federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice, annotates shifts in the Trump administration's rhetoric in response to the scandal. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO GAZA Canada continues to recalibrate its foreign policy: Foreign Affairs Minister ANITA ANAND is in New York today for a United Nations conference on achieving a Palestinian state, The Star reports. Prime Minister MARK CARNEY has called Israel's 'denial of humanitarian aid' in Gaza 'a violation of international law.' The PM has stopped short of following France, which will recognize a Palestinian state in September, the first G7 nation to do so. Trump is also due to meet with British PM KEIR STARMER today to talk about the need for a ceasefire in Gaza. THE ROOMS THAT MATTER — PM Carney will make an affordability announcement in Prince County, Prince Edward Island at 9:30 a.m. — Former PM STEPHEN HARPER will deliver a keynote at the Midwestern Legislative Conference annual meeting in Saskatoon at 9:30 a.m. local time. Topic: The importance and future of the Canada-U.S. relationship. PLAYBOOK'S ONE-ON-ONE 'NOT JUST … BLAH BLAH BLAH' — As the PM talks a big game about reducing Canada's dependence on the United States, the European Union's top envoy in Canada insists transatlantic bonds are tightening between Ottawa and Brussels. 'Something is happening now, very concretely, not just political blah blah blah,' GENEVIÈVE TUTS told Playbook in an interview in her office on Friday. — Seriously: Tuts described June's EU-Canada summit as 'not just symbolic,' but a 'crucial' and 'historic' moment for the longtime allies in the face of geopolitical uncertainty and global tariff tension. 'I felt a real commitment to deliver on very concrete topics.' — Once more, with feeling: 'This was not a show,' said Tuts, whose note-taking tic — we all have one — is repeatedly drawing circles around her scribbles. 'This was a strong willingness, and this was sincere.' — More trade, please: Tuts was hawkish on expanding business takeup on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement — Canada's free-trade deal with the EU first applied provisionally in 2017. 'It's good, but we could go from good to great,' she says. The 'main challenge' is making sure businesses that do trade are aware of CETA, Tuts said. She points to a new EU-Canada industrial policy dialogue, as well as nascent negotiations on a digital trade agreement, as opportunities to get the word out. → There's an app for that: Tuts nodded to creative solutions to 'matchmaking' companies on opposite sides of the Atlantic. 'I had a discussion in Brussels with one of my colleagues who was even talking about having an app, a sort of Tinder CETA, to organize this matchmaking process,' Tuts said. — Let's talk: Our colleagues in Europe have reported on formal talks between the European Commission and Canada, as well as Japan, to coordinate responses to Trump tariffs. → Well, d'uh: Tuts described those conversations as a no-brainer. 'This is not surprising that people facing the same challenges, people who are allies and friends, talk to each other,' she told us. 'The relationship between President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Carney is very good. They know each other. They speak the same language. They understand each other. And they talk to each other on a regular basis.' — ICYMI: HBD +2 to Tuts, who celebrated Saturday. MORNING MUST-CLICKS — 'There's no shortage of people in Ottawa trying to think big thoughts. I think if there's a problem it's at the service delivery,' author and scholar DONALD J. SAVOIE tells AMNA AHMAD in a National Post Q&A. — From AARON WHERRY over the weekend: Can Mark Carney move fast and not break things? — The NDP has released the rules for its leadership race. Via DAVID BAXTER of The Canadian Press: 'They're telling candidates they must gather specific numbers of signatures from supporters in diverse regional, racial and LGBTQ+ groups.' — Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President NATAN OBED told the Globe's EMILY HAWS that in the next decade Inuit are looking to build 79 projects, totaling about C$30 billion. — The PM sat with APTN's DENNIS WARD for a one-on-one interview. — In his latest missive, PAUL WELLS observes 'there is a notable droop to the once proudly waving Canadian elbow.' LOBBY WATCH Our daily check-in on federal lobbyist registrations and notable meetings around town: — Westport Fuel Systems, a fuel delivery component supplier, posted a July 24 meeting with PMO policy coordinator JOSHUA SWIFT. The company is advocating for federal programs that 'encourage the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles — specifically vehicles that use natural gas and/or hydrogen as a primary fuel.' PLAYBOOKERS Birthdays: HBD to MARCO MENDICINO, former Cabmin who served briefly as Carney's chief of staff. Greetings also to Sandstone Group senior associate, longtime Liberal staffer and Playbook trivia regular GEORGE YOUNG. Birthdays, gatherings, social notices for this community: Send them our way. Movers and shakers: NATAN OBED told the Globe he'll be seeking reelection as president at the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami's annual general meeting in September. Alberta MP HEATHER MCPHERSON says she is 'considering' entering the NDP leadership race. 'I've certainly had lots of folks ask me to.' ANDREW WING is now the executive assistant to Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister REBECCA CHARTRAND. Spotted: Retired teacher YOLAINE MUNTER, mother to Canadian Medical Association CEO ALEX MUNTER, scoring a shoutout from GABRIELA DABROWSKI as the Ottawa-born tennis star received a key to the city. 'There's no greater thrill for my mom Yolaine than to celebrate the success of former students,' Munter posted on social media. A visiting teenager, telling Playbook on Friday that he'd dreamed for years of visiting the House of Commons — and, when he finally took a tour, was overwhelmed enough that he nearly fainted on entering the chamber. Noted: AILISH CAMPBELL has wrapped up her time as Canada's EU ambassador. Manitoba Premier WAB KINEW has called a by-election in Spruce Woods for Aug. 26. Elections Canada deregistered the Edmonton Riverbend Green Party Association, effective July 31. Via DARREN MAJOR of CBC News: As of Sunday evening, 209 candidates had registered to run in the Battle River-Crowfoot by-election. BRUCE ANDERSON has returned to 'Good Talk' after stepping away from the pod during the federal election campaign. The Canadian Coast Guard isn't monitoring that Chinese research vessel, but the U.S. Coast Guard did. PROZONE For Pro subscribers, our latest policy newsletter. In other news for Pro readers: — Commerce triples anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber. — Tesla barred from offering autonomous rides in California. — USDA chief says potentially half of its DC staff may not relocate for reorganization. — EU plan to offshore climate action not grounded in analysis, commission admits. — Whale entanglements decline but still threaten survival. TRIVIA Friday's answer: In 2013, HULK HOGAN arm-wrestled then-Mayor ROB FORD to help promote the Fan Expo convention in Toronto. The other 1980s wrestler who challenged Ford to an arm wrestling match — but never got one — was the IRON SHEIK. (Thanks to DARREN MAJOR for the submission.) Props to PATRICK DION, DAVID GRANOVSKY, RAY DEL BIANCO, JEFFREY VALOIS, BOB GORDON, DARRYL DAMUDE, JOHN PEPPER, DAVE PENNER, AIDEN MUSCOVITCH, ELIZABETH BURN, CAMERON PENNER, MALCOLM MCKAY, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, AXEL RIOUX and ADAM SMITH. Today's question: In celebration of the birthday of CAMILLA, the royal family shared a portrait of the queen consort. What Canadian novel was she deep into reading in the photo? Send your answer to canadaplaybook@ Canada Playbook would not happen without: Canada Editor Sue Allan, editor Willa Plank and POLITICO's Grace Maalouf.
Forbes
19 minutes ago
- Forbes
The White House's AI Action Plan: A Wakeup And Shakeup Call For The Corporate Boardroom
The RMS Titanic on her maiden voyage. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group ... More via Getty Images) The White House's AI Action Plan was released last week. Ambitious and freewheeling, the goal of the WH AI Action Plan is to create a dynamic 'try-first' AI culture across American industry by removing regulatory friction while accelerating the development, use and adoption of AI. With the White House taking a light regulatory approach to AI that is focused on a desire to sail faster into the turbulent AI future, the burden of responsibly capitalizing on the opportunities of AI technologies while controlling their risks is in the hands of the private sector. This makes the corporate boardroom the defacto regulator of artificial intelligence systems and their use throughout the American economy. Ushering in an accelerated and unregulated pace of AI use and adoption, the White House AI Action Plan wants to create an AI fueled 'renaissance.' The action plan is focused on accelerating the use and adoption of AI to drive innovation, ensuring that the capacity and infrastructure exists to scale its development and enablement, and securing America with a first-mover AI leadership advantage globally. Indicating little to no federal regulation over AI use in the U.S., this elevates the corporate boardroom to the helm of AI governance as the primary, and only, front line leadership control with the authority to oversee the responsible use and adoption of AI throughout America's companies. This approach is in contrast to the EU, which recently affirmed that the implementation of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act will not be delayed. The EU AI Act is government regulation focused on ensuring that there is some standard level of transparency, accountability and trust in the creation and use of AI systems. It applies to both the providers of AI systems and their users, including potentially U.S. companies if the AI system's outputs are used in the EU. It is a risk-based regulation focused on the use of the AI system and requires there to be different controls in place centered on accountability, risk management, security and transparency, e.g., high-risk AI systems must have an established, implemented and documented risk management system in place throughout its lifecycle. Certain uses are prohibited outright. The EU AI Act forces policies and practices to be in place based upon different levels of risk relative to the use of an AI system. While the EU AI Act does not impose specific corporate governance requirements related to AI systems, the White House is not the only one putting the corporate boardroom on the spot with AI. Norway's US$2 trillion sovereign wealth fund has stated that, 'The board of directors is accountable for companies' responsible development and use of AI.' Activist investor Tulipshare submitted a 2025 shareholder proposal for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK: A; BRK. B) to create an AI Committee on their board. This signals a growing investor awareness and desire for boardroom accountability on how AI systems impact investments. While the Tulipshare proposal failed to pass, it did receive the most votes of all shareholder proposals during the Berkshire annual general meeting. Investors expect the corporate boardroom to be an active and effective leadership control and overseer of the journey into the AI future. Are corporate boards ready for this heightened AI expectation? If digital and cybersecurity governance is any indicator, many of America's corporate boardrooms may have a long way to go to rise to this AI boardroom leadership moment. However, evidence is showing that when they do, significant business value is being created. Recent MIT research on director AI expertise shows that U.S. boards that were digitally and AI savvy had average returns on equity almost 11 percentage points higher than industry averages. Moreover, research from Virginia Tech consistently shows that director cybersecurity expertise reduces real levels of cybersecurity risk. Many corporate boards in the U.S. and elsewhere continue to resist common sense boardroom transformation in the face of digital business disruption and increasing cybersecurity risks. Instead, relying on an accounting and financially centric status-quo governance model firmly anchored in the analog past born of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Many of America's boardrooms have shown themselves to be remarkably slow and stubborn in transforming themselves into an active and high-performing digital and cybersecurity governance control capable of overseeing the opportunities and risks of the digital future. The AI governance moment boardrooms are now facing is an even larger challenge that requires significant corporate governance transformation in director skills, board organization and in the active oversight of the unique and systemic risks of AI systems. While boardrooms in the EU will have to ensure their company's adapt to the risk adjusted compliance requirements of the EU AI Act, the White House AI Action Plan is imposing, by default, boardroom self-regulation as America's preferred AI oversight model. Recent research from Kiteworks highlights how much oversight is already needed over management's use and enablement of AI systems. Kiteworks findings show that only 17% of organizations have implemented AI-specific technical controls, such as data loss prevention (DLP) scanning tied to public AI usage. This means 83% of companies do not automatically prevent employees from uploading company data to public AI tools, posing significant risks. Tim Freeman, Kiteworks Chief Marketing Officer, succinctly states, 'AI adoption is accelerating, but oversight is not. Boards and executive teams are operating in the dark—without enforceable controls or real visibility into where private data is flowing. This is a systemic governance failure.' Kiteworks research indicates that 27% of organizations report that almost a third of the AI-bound data contains private information, e.g., customer records, employee data and trade secrets. The White House AI Action Plan wants to put the pedal to the metal and move even faster into the AI future. Recent survey data from Deloitte reveals a concerning global boardroom leadership gap that could foreshadow AI chaos rather than an AI renaissance: 66% of surveyed boards lack sufficient knowledge about AI, rendering them largely ineffective or merely symbolic in overseeing these disruptive technologies. While 40% of respondents indicated that boards are rethinking their composition to address this director competency gap, 53% also noted the need to accelerate their AI adoption journeys. Deloitte's Audit Committee 2025 report shows another lingering legacy governance problem, cybersecurity and AI are both Top 10 priorities of the audit committee in 2025, a leading bad corporate governance practice. Anchoring oversight responsibility of these issues within an audit committee misaligns the oversight agenda and director skills to the complex issues of AI, digital and cybersecurity transformation and risk. Accelerating AI-driven change without effective boardroom leadership and oversight creates a higher risk profile than many investors may be aware of or find acceptable, while also putting the White House AI Action Plan at risk. And it's not just relevant levels of director expertise that define boardroom effectiveness on AI, it's also how the board organizes itself and the reasonable system of oversight that the directors put in place and monitor over management's use and enablement of these technologies. Absent any regulatory guidance or guardrails transformational and structural reform is needed in the corporate boardroom over AI. The White House AI Action Plan is notably quiet on the role of the boardroom and corporate governance leadership in enabling the AI future. Not surprising as the SEC recently failed to strengthen the boardroom leadership control in cybersecurity when they eliminated the director cybersecurity expertise disclosure rules from their final cybersecurity rules that were issued in 2023. A petition was recently filed by a group of cybersecurity leaders requesting the SEC to reinstate this common sense and highly effective boardroom cybersecurity leadership control. Fortunately guidance for U.S. corporate directors exists on becoming AI boardroom effective. Digital Directors Network recently released The Definitive Corporate Director Guide on AI Boardroom Effectiveness: What Shareholders Want. This standards and AI risk management derived guidance operationalizes the core boardroom policies and procedures that corporate directors should be adopting to strengthen their ability to oversee AI systems and their use. America's regulators continue to underestimate the importance and critical role of expert boardroom leadership on AI, digital and cybersecurity issues to responsibly, securely and effectively enable their digital and AI ambitions. Investors and stakeholders deserve more from the corporate boardroom than the symbolic oversight of these technologies and their risks. With the U.S. federal government's preference for regulatory abdication on AI, America's boardrooms have the responsibility to step up and self-regulate. The boardrooms that are self-regulating through their own transformations are proving that effective boardroom leadership and oversight works to responsibly and securely create value. Fortunately, all boardrooms can self-regulate their own effectiveness on these issues, they don't need the government to impose rules for them. Absent America's corporate boardrooms being a strong control over the use and enablement of AI systems, the vision and potential of The White House AI Action Plan will be underrealized. Legacy U.S. corporate governance models need to be transformed to adapt to the AI and digitally enabled present and future. The early-adopters and boardroom leaders are already realizing the benefits of AI boardroom effectiveness. Effective AI corporate governance cannot be layered onto an analog and financially centric corporate governance approach — the technologies are too complex, their impacts are too far reaching, and their risks are too unique. The White House AI Action Plan wants to create a 'renaissance.' However without effective AI boardroom leadership and oversight, an 'AI Wild West' is more likely where risk runs rampant and negative unexpected consequences abound. The White House AI Action Plan wants to get America into the AI future fast and first. Come to think of it, that was the objective of the Titanic too.
CNN
19 minutes ago
- CNN
‘The risk of going back is practically death': Haitian immigrants fear Trump's efforts to send them back to a country in crisis
At eight months pregnant, 28-year-old Haitian immigrant Titi is terrified of being deported to her native country. Titi, who asked to be identified only by a pseudonym out of fear of being targeted by immigration authorities, came to the United States with her younger sister in 2024 after fleeing widespread gang violence in Haiti that made even routine activities, such as walking to a supermarket, dangerous. The sisters entered the US using the CBP One app — a system launched in 2020 designed primarily for commercial truck drivers and other industry users and expanded in 2023 to allow asylum seekers to schedule appointments at the southern border before entering the country. In November 2024, Titi and her sister applied for additional relief under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which has allowed Haitian immigrants to live and work in the US since a massive earthquake struck Haiti in 2010. Titi said they are still awaiting a decision. President Donald Trump's administration has since revoked the legal status of migrants who entered the country through CBP One, The Associated Press reported in April. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has sought to terminate TPS for Haitians on August 3, with an effective date of September 2. 'This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protected Status is actually temporary,' a DHS spokesperson said in June. 'The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.' The Trump administration's efforts to end TPS for Haitian immigrants have left Titi and hundreds of thousands of others worried they may be forced to return to a country that isn't safe. 'There is no safety and security in Haiti right now,' Titi told CNN in her native Creole through a translator. 'Instead, I would say that the situation has gotten worse since I left.' Earlier this month, a federal judge in Brooklyn blocked the Trump administration's attempt to rescind former President Joe Biden's 18-month extension of Haiti's TPS designation, which is set to end on February 3, 2026. The federal judge ruled Noem 'does not have statutory or inherent authority to partially vacate a country's TPS designation.' The legal fight over TPS comes as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on undocumented immigrants, conducting mass deportations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country, including in farming fields and courthouses. The administration has also moved to restrict other protections. CNN reported last month that Trump planned to dismiss asylum claims for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, making them deportable. The Justice Department has also called for the denaturalization of legal immigrants who commit violent crimes or 'pose a potential danger to national security.' Haitian immigrant advocates welcomed the judge's ruling blocking the early end to TPS, but say they expect the administration to appeal. 'We are not out of the woods,' said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance. 'We are not comfortable because we know of that possibility.' Jozef said more than 500,000 Haitian immigrants are currently living in the US under TPS, and forcing their return to Haiti would put them in grave danger, as much of the country is controlled by armed militias. Gangs have seized at least 85% of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. More than 5,600 people were killed in Haiti in 2024, and one million were left homeless because of the gang violence, according to The Associated Press. 'The risk of going back is practically death,' Jozef said. She believes the Trump administration's move to deport Haitian immigrants, despite listing the country under a Level 4 travel advisory, is a 'policy that is rooted in anti-Black racism and cruelty.' This is a 'ridiculous and false claim,' said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, adding it 'demonstrates a lack of even the most basic understanding of Temporary Protected Status – which is by definition, temporary.' Jackson said in a statement to CNN the 2010 earthquake, which allowed Haitians to receive TPS in the US, 'no longer poses a risk' to them. Haitian nationals, she said, can pursue legal status through other channels, such as asylum, if they are eligible. 'President Trump is keeping his promise to restore sanity to our immigration system and end the Biden Administration's exploitation of these temporary programs to encourage more illegal immigration,' Jackson said. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, said Haiti's TPS 'was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet that's how previous administrations have used it for decades.' The Department of State lists kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest and limited health care in Haiti as reasons for the travel advisory. 'Either Haiti is safe for everyone or it's not safe at all,' Jozef said. In Springfield, Ohio — which drew national attention during last year's presidential campaign when Trump falsely claimed Haitian immigrants were eating pets — anxiety over the potential loss of TPS is widespread. The community is home to about 15,000 Haitian immigrants, many of whom have TPS, said Carl Ruby, senior pastor of Central Christian Church. Ruby said thousands of Haitian immigrants moved to Springfield after word spread that it was a welcoming community with housing and jobs for their families. Meat and clothing factories, as well as Amazon fulfillment centers, have been popular employers for Haitian immigrants, local activists say. Ruby, who advocates for Haitian families, said there is a 'sense of limbo' in Springfield's Haitian community. 'They have bounced back and forth from being terrified to thinking it's going to be OK,' Ruby told CNN. Ruby said many Haitian immigrants are scrambling to apply for asylum and set up guardianship for their US-born children in case the parents get deported. Others are considering moving to other countries such as Canada. But returning to Haiti is not a safe option, Ruby said, adding that some families witnessed gruesome murders before fleeing the country. He also noted Haitians with certain chronic health conditions would not have access to life-saving medications in Haiti. 'Many Americans don't understand how serious the risk is,' Ruby said. 'I think there's a false impression that people come to the US because they want to benefit from our public services, but nothing could be further from the truth. They only came because their lives were in danger.' Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, said his organization helps Haitian immigrants transition into the community by assisting with job searches, housing applications, setting up utilities and providing legal advice. Haitian immigrants have made a positive impact on the local economy because most are dedicated workers in essential jobs, he said. Now, he said, they are living with 'fear, anxiety and uncertainty' with ICE raids and arrests occurring across the country and the Trump administration seeks to end TPS early. If the judge's ruling on the February end date for TPS stands without a successful appeal, Haitian migrants will have more time to make plans, Dorsainvil said. But if conditions in Haiti don't improve by next year, many immigrants will still face the same risks, he said. 'It should be a suicidal decision to go back to Haiti now,' Dorsainvil said. 'People living in Haiti now, they are not at peace.' Meanwhile, Titi says she is desperate to stay in the US, which she believes is much safer for raising her unborn child. Her sister was detained by ICE agents after an immigration court hearing in June and remains in custody, she said. Titi, who was studying to be a nurse before leaving Haiti, wants to learn English so she can get a job and earn an income in the US. She believes ICE hasn't come after her because she is pregnant. Once the baby is born, Titi said she doesn't know what she will do if there are no protections in place for Haitian immigrants. 'I have no escape plan,' Titi said. 'I don't have anywhere else to go.'
