24046: Hermantin(pub)Immigration-Haitians renew call for work permit extension (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Sun-Sentinel

Haitians renew call for work permit extension



By Ruth Morris
Staff Writer

January 7, 2005

The government said Thursday it would extend the date on work permits and
protected status for about 250,000 Salvadorans residing in the United States
as their homeland crawls toward recovery from two deadly earthquakes -- a
decision that renewed calls for similar consideration for South Florida's
Haitian community.

Undocumented Salvadorans living in the United States were first awarded the
so-called Temporary Protected Status in 2001, after two earthquakes hit
their country, killing 1,200 people and leaving thousands more without
shelter or basic services. The designation allows foreign nationals to
remain here with valid work permits, but without a path to permanent
residence, if their countries of origin are suffering from natural disasters
or ongoing political unrest.

The United States has extended the length of the protected status to
Salvadorans twice before, and has awarded the protection to nationals from
two other Central American countries, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Haitians, though, have never found their way onto the list. Haitian
activists in South Florida insist their countrymen also deserve temporary
protected status and their appeals grew louder last year as Haiti suffered
deadly floods, armed revolt and a devastating hit by Tropical Storm Jeanne.

Street gangs continue to clash on city streets and members of the
U.S.-backed interim government have themselves said the country is in no
shape to receive deportees. Haiti is also the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere.

"All we're asking for is parity with other groups," said Jean-Robert
LaFortune, president of the Miami-based Haitian-American Grassroots
Coalition. While welcoming the extension for El Salvador, he said the
decision was a reminder of a "dual policy" that has blocked the Haitian
request. He added that U.S.-based Haitians send about $800 million home
annually in remittances, and that the best way to help reconstruction
efforts was to allow Haitians already in the United States to work.

Thursday's announcement extends the protection to Salvadorans by 18 months,
until September 2006.

El Salvador's consul general in Miami, Fernando Quiñonez-Meza, said money
sent home by U.S.-based Salvadorans had played a key role in reconstruction
efforts, injecting funds directly into families and discouraging further
flight to the United States.

Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4691.


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