Immigration

The Biden Administration Should Promptly Restart and Improve the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program Campaigning in Miami on October 5, 2020, President Biden promised to protect and reinstate the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program (HFRP), which former President Trump had effectively crippled on taking office in 2017 by not having the National Visa Center (NVC) issue any new invitations to apply for it, as the program requires.  This strangled HFRP by restricting it to completion of the processing of beneficiaries whose petitioners had applied for the program on receiving NVC invitations during the Obama administration.  Soon the number of such beneficiaries still in the pipeline dwindled as they were eventually approved or rejected. President Biden should promptly restart the program by having the NVC issue a new batch of invitations to eligible petitioners to apply for it, and he should improve the program in the following ways:  USCIS should expand HFRP by permitting […]

Haiti TPS Documents Now Automatically Valid to October, 4, 2021 by Operation of Law If you are a Haitian with currently valid TPS, your TPS documents are now legally valid through October 4, 2021.  Employers and state DMVs must honor them as legally valid through that date.  This is because on December 9, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), as it has done three times previously, published a new Federal Register Notice (“the Notice”) automatically extending the validity of your TPS documentation, this time through October 4, 2021. The Federal Register is the official publication of the U.S. Government; its notices have the force of law.  Importantly, no one with TPS needs to file, do, or pay anything at all, to anyone, to benefit from this extension, which is automatic!  Again, Haitians with TPS do NOT need to re-register; they do not […]

82 FL-Based Leaders’ October 13 Letter to VP Biden and Senator Harris on Ten Haitian American Community Policy Priorities October 13, 2020 The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Democratic Candidate for President of the United States The Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Democratic Candidate for Vice President of the United States Dear Vice President Biden and Senator Harris: Congratulations on your nomination and thank you for your service to our nation.   As Florida-based leaders and organizations active in the Haitian American community, we strongly believe that U.S. policies should help to make life safer and more just for Haitians here and in Haiti.  We appreciate your statement that “[i]nvesting in Haiti’s prosperity and security is in the national security interest of the United States.”  We also appreciate your support for a path to citizenship for immigrants who have long paid taxes, owned […]

On November 4, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published a new Federal Register Notice (“FRN”), extending the validity of Haiti TPS work permits and documents again, this time to January 4, 2021. xxx The Federal Register is the U.S. Government’s official publication; its notices have the force of law.  Importantly, no Haitian with TPS needs to pay or do anything to benefit from this extension, which is automatic.  You do NOT need to re-register or file anything; just inform your employer or the DMV about this new FRN. xxx As it states, “DHS is automatically extending the validity of TPS-related documentation for beneficiaries under the TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan, as specified in this notice. Such TPS-related documentation will remain in effect through January 4, 2021, from the current expiration dates of […]

Find more the latest on TPS here See Also: Haiti TPS Documents Automatically Valid to January 4, 2021 At Least!   Saget v. Trump plaintiff, Gerald Michaud, attended the State of the Union address on February 6, 2019, speaking for 300,ooo TPS holders. Gerald shares his experience below in the New York Times. Original article can be found here As President Trump delivered his State of the Union address on Tuesday, two guests sitting in the gallery and listening closely were immigrants he has long known. They cleaned Mr. Trump’s cottage at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., despite lacking legal status in the United States. Victorina Morales and Sandra Diaz were among some 20 immigrants, many of them facing possible deportation, on the list of guests seated in the secure gallery for the annual address. Even as the president wrapped […]

Video Updates from Bea: Media Coverage: Canaan: Haiti’s Promised Land, Allison Shelley, Jacob Kushner, Mark Fahey, Pulitzer Center, January 13, 2015 Temporary Protected Status: An Overview, American Immigration Council, August 1, 2018 Flee or hide: Haitian immigrants face difficult decisions under Trump, Alexandra Villarreal, The Guardian, October 30, 2018 Trial to Begin in Fight to Challenge Trump Haiti TPS Decision, Naeisha Rose, Haitian Times, January 4, 2019 Haitian Immigrants & Allies Decry Trump Termination of TPS at Opening of Federal Trial, NIPNLG, IJDH, 32BJ SEIU, BAJI, UndocuBLACK, NYIC, January 4, 2019 Outside Federal Court, Haitian Immigrants and Allies Decry “Racist” Trump End of TPS at Start of Federal Trial to Halt Possible Deportations, NIPNLG, IJDH, 32BJ SEIU, BAJI, UndocuBLACK, NYIC, January 7, 2019 Bklyn Trial Begins to Halt Trump’s Move to End TPS for Haitians, Andrea Leonhardt, BK Reader, January […]