Article Information

• ARTICLE_POSTED_BY: Haiti NGOs
• ARTICLE_POSTED_ON: Feb 13, 2015
• Views : 302
• Category : Other
• Description : FEBRUARY 16, 2010 | POLICY BEAT | By Muzaffar Chishti, Claire Bergeron

Overview

• Two Haitian immigrants in Miami's Little Haiti. Florida is home to nearly half of the country's Haitian-born population.
  As the world community responds to the devastation caused by the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti — which left an estimated 200,000 people dead and 1.5 million homeless — the role of immigration policy has emerged as a central consideration of the relief and reconstruction efforts.
  
  A number of policy proposals emerged quickly after the disaster, including measures aimed at temporarily halting the repatriation of unauthorized Haitians and proposals to increase the flow of Haitian immigrants to countries such as the United States and Canada. In the United States in particular, the discussion over immigration relief for Haitians has rekindled larger debates over the role of immigration in economic development, and the impact of humanitarian crises on existing immigration laws.
  
  The United States is home to approximately 535,000 Haitian immigrants, the largest concentration of Haitians in any country outside of Haiti. A day after the earthquake, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the United States would temporarily suspend all deportations to Haiti in light of the country's widespread destruction.
  
  On January 15, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would grant certain Haitian nationals in the United States temporary legal status and permission to work, a designation known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Since 1990, the United States has granted TPS to certain immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries as a result of armed conflict or environmental disaster.
  
  As the status is granted only in the context of a severe humanitarian crisis, and is thus intended to be temporary, TPS does not provide a pathway to permanent resident status. In addition to Haiti, five other countries are currently designated for TPS: El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, and Sudan.
  
  To qualify for the Haitian TPS, an applicant must show that he or she is a Haitian national who was residing in the United States as of January 12, 2010. DHS will grant TPS to both unauthorized Haitians and to Haitians whose authorized status in the United States is about to expire. Haitians who were not present in the United States as of the date of the earthquake are not eligible. Potential applicants who have been convicted of one felony or two misdemeanor offenses are disqualified.
  
  Recipients of TPS will receive work permits valid for 18 months, as well as temporary protection against deportation. They will also be able to request permission to travel abroad and return to the United States. In order to expedite the process, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has indicated that it will place Haitian TPS applications on a fast track, issuing work permits to applicants within 90 days, and that it will waive the $470 filing fee for applicants who are unable to pay. DHS estimates that between 100,000 and 200,000 Haitians are eligible to apply for TPS, although some experts estimate a significantly lower number, somewhere in the neighborhood of 70,000.
  
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