U.S. immigration authorities have ordered 30,000 Haitians to leave the country, but officials in Haiti are refusing to issue the travel documents needed for the deportations. They say the Caribbean nation needs time to recover from last year's devastating hurricanes and cannot handle the return of its citizens. The action has clogged U.S. immigration detention centers. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says about 600 Haitian deportees are in detention centers and another 240 are under house arrest.
The U.S. government halted deportations to Haiti for three months last year, starting in September, after back-to-back storms killed nearly 500 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
Soon after resuming flights in December, the administration of then President George W. Bush denied Haiti's request for temporary protected status. The designation would have allowed Haitians living in the United States illegally to stay and work temporarily.
How can a country refuse to accept their own citizens back? This sets a troubling precident if allowed to continue uncheck. The State Dept should IMMEDIATLY suspend all visas of Haitians and not allow any inbound Haitian citizens to enter the U.S for any reason.No H1B or any other visa application should be accepted from any citizen of Haiti till this situation is resolved!
ReplyDelete