'Grateful': Haitian TPS holders rush to renew driver's licenses before March deadline

Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald on Feb 26, 2026

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MIAMI — A steady stream of Haitians with temporary protected status poured into a Broward County library parking lot Wednesday morning, not for books but for a much-needed lifeline: the chance to renew their driver’s license.

After a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration could not end immigration protections for Haitians — for now — and allowed for Haitian TPS holders to renew their driver’s licenses, local elected officials in Broward organized two events this week — one Monday in Pembroke Pines and another Wednesday in West Park — for community members to renew expired licenses.

On Wednesday, dozens of people at a time waited patiently in line to step into the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles bus, a mobile DMV office, parked at the Carver Ranches Library to receive the help they need before the deadline. Haitian TPS holders only have until March 15 or when a court makes a decision in the ongoing appeal filed by the Trump administration to renew their license. So it’s a race against time.

In South Florida, where public transportation is notoriously unreliable and residents often commute long distances for work, obtaining a valid driver’s license is a necessity for many. By 10 a.m., just 30 minutes after the event started, 36 people had signed up for help. An aide and volunteer for Florida Rep. Marie Woodson, who organized the event, signed people in and handed them a number to wait their turn.

“Everyone will be served!” said Robert Woodson, the representative’s husband, to the crowd of people in the parking lot. “If you were over there (at the DMV office), you’d be waiting for five hours!”

The judge’s order brought much needed relief for Haitian TPS recipients who stopped driving out of fear of getting pulled over by police and detained by U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement. Due to the Trump administration’s harsh immigration crackdown, many of the people who came to renew their driver’s license were not comfortable having their photos taken or providing their full names to the Miami Herald.

Michele S., a 42-year-old TPS recipient who has lived in the U.S. for 18 years, said the event was very helpful for her. After she got her license renewed on the DMV bus, she was able to rush back to work.

“I’m just grateful,” she said. “Even though it’s only for two weeks, we still need it. We don’t have to ask someone to drive us somewhere or pay for an Uber.”

Max, a Haitian TPS recipient who lives nearby, said the ability to renew his license gave him a sense of freedom again. Without a valid driver’s license, it would take him an hour riding several buses to get to work. Driving only takes 20 minutes.

He didn’t mind waiting a few hours in a parking lot Wednesday to get his driver’s license renewed. “When you need something, you make sacrifice,” he said.

Like many Haitians, Max loves his home country but fled in 2019 to the Dominican Republic to escape violence. He came to the U.S. in 2023, under the Biden administration. At this point, Max said he has become accustomed to the legal battles and uncertainty surrounding TPS. Though the constant change sometimes makes his day-to-day life more challenging, he said he wants to follow the law.

“When you’re an immigrant, your life has to be like that,” Max said. “Other people can say bad things about that, but I understand I am not in my country.”

Even American citizens came to the library to easily renew their driver’s license, like Nicholson Kelly, who is Haitian American. Kelly, 46, said it would have taken all day to renew his license at the DMV, where people usually camp out just to get in line.

“If the information and the help is available, take advantage of it as much as possible because just like that, it’ll be gone,” Kelly said, encouraging TPS holders to renew their driver’s license soon. “Like this bus won’t be here tomorrow.”