“Those needs have increased since Haiti suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Matthew last year, when hundreds of people were killed and thousands of families were displaced,” Clarke said. “Congress must act.”
According to The Observer,
Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke—co-chairwoman of the House Caribbean Caucus—has put forward legislation to protect undocumented Haitians from deportation in the aftermath of President Donald Trump‘s executive orders aimed at expelling millions of immigrants.
The Haiti Emergency Relief Act of 2017 would significantly expand the Temporary Protected Status program—which shields refugees from being deported to dangerous homelands—to include all Haitian nationals who were in the United States before November 4, 2016. Clarke pointed to extreme weather events on the island nation as reason to grant 18 months of TPS to every eligible individual.
“Those needs have increased since Haiti suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Matthew last year, when hundreds of people were killed and thousands of families were displaced,” Clarke said. “Congress must act.”
After the 2010 earthquake, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services established Temporary Protected Status for Haitians living in the United States to enable Haiti to commence recovery and provide support in the form of remittances to family members there. But those who arrived later than 2011 found themselves ineligible. Clarke noted that if Congress passes the legislation, Haitians would be able to continue remitting money back to their homeland—money that makes up roughly 25 percent of the country’s gross domestic product—which Clarke argued is crucial to the continuing recovery process.
“I urge my colleagues in Congress to work together to aid the people of Haiti at this crucial time,” Clarke,, herself the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, continued. – Continue Reading Here
