29880: Hermantin(News)Congress is asked to let Haitians stay (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Fri, Jan. 19, 2007


HAITI
Congress is asked to let Haitians stay
Rep. Alcee Hastings is seeking an 18-month reprieve for Haitians living in this 
country illegally, so they can stay and work legally.
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com

Citing an ongoing wave of violence and kidnappings in Haiti, U.S. Rep. Alcee 
Hastings has filed a bill to temporarily protect thousands of undocumented 
Haitians from deportation.

The South Florida Democrat said his proposed Haitian Protection Act of 2007 is 
designed to give ''temporary protected status'' or TPS to an estimated 20,000 
Haitians living illegally in the United States. That would give them residence 
and work papers for up to 18 months.

SURGE IN VIOLENCE

The bill also would prevent the deportation of criminal detainees back to 
Haiti, where the government has blamed a surge in violence and kidnappings 
following the 2004 ouster of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on 
the U.S. government's long-standing deportation policy.

''The Haitian government and the Haitian people need to catch a break,'' 
Hastings said. ``There is no question violence is on the rise there, and 
tragically, kidnappings and more specifically child kidnappings are occuring in 
great numbers.''

Hastings' bill was welcomed by South Florida Haitian and immigration activists, 
who in recent months have stepped up their call for TPS despite successful 
elections in Haiti in the past year. The country continues to suffer from 
instability, they argue.

In December, The Miami Herald reported that schools in and around 
Port-au-Prince were forced to close days early following a spike in for-ransom 
kidnappings of Haitian kids. At least 48 such kidnappings were reported Nov. 
10-Dec. 15.

Though kidnappings appear to have decreased following joint operations by the 
National Police and the 9,000-strong U.N. stabilization force, insecurity 
remains as President René Préval and Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis 
struggle to return the country to stability. A recent update of a State 
Department travel warning on Haiti tells U.S. citizens that ``there is a 
chronic and growing danger of kidnappings.''

SUGGESTED REQUEST

Hastings, whose bill faces an uphill battle even in a Congress controlled by 
Democrats, said he has written to Préval asking him to make a formal request 
for TPS to help bolster the effort.

While Congress can pass legislation designating TPS, it is usually the 
Department of Homeland Security that decides if a country qualifies, based on 
criteria that include political strife and natural disasters.

Chris Bentley, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 
said that to the best of his knowledge, ``it only happened once before when 
[TPS] was created -- extending it to El Salvador. We know of no time since then 
Congress has actually designated TPS to another country.''

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