A U.S. migration program unveiled this month that may help some individuals flee Haiti’s rising violence is also putting pressure on the nation’s diaspora and placing immense weight on Haitians living in the United States to assist relatives and friends.
After the Biden administration announced on January 5 that it was creating a new legal option for migrants from four countries, including Haiti, who had U.S. sponsors, Giubert St. Fort, a resident of South Florida and a native of Haiti, said he received a deluge of calls almost immediately.
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As a result of everyone anticipating a call from someone, St. Fort, a 59-year-old social worker who is already sponsoring members of his family, stated, “Things are very tense.”
“Many people, unfortunately, are not in a position to sponsor family members or friends back home, but they are receiving calls nonstop.”
According to community activists and immigration attorneys, Haitians who reside in the United States, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet, claim that everyone is trying to get in touch with them, from close relatives to distant acquaintances or neighbors they haven’t spoken to in years.
Haiti is in the midst of a political crisis and a violent upsurge that has increased the desire to flee the country. Most recently, a spate of police officer deaths sparked demonstrations from enraged officers who stormed the home of interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden has struggled to deal with an unprecedented number of migrants entering the country through Mexico, notably the landing of over 10,000 Haitians in southern Texas in September 2021. Despite protests from human rights organizations and a career diplomat from the United States who called it “inhumane,” many asylum applicants were deported back to Haiti or swiftly dismissed.
To quickly remove immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to Mexico, Biden extended pandemic-era limitations set in place by his Republican predecessor former President Donald Trump. By requesting humanitarian “parole,” his government also made it possible for up to 30,000 migrants from the same nations to enter the country by plane each month.
The parole program aims to persuade migrants to enter the country legally rather than risk life and limb in boats or on arduous land routes across Central America. According to American officials, the number of illicit crossings by the four nations has already sharply decreased.
Approximately 1,700 people from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua have entered the US recently under the program, according to a senior administration official, and many more have travel authorization.
However, many Haitians are having trouble finding suitable sponsors since many immigrants who are already living in the United States are worried they won’t be able to support others given the growing cost of living and skyrocketing rents, according to campaigners and attorneys.
After describing the humanitarian parole program in a radio broadcast, American attorney Tammy Rae, who practices in Haiti, received a deluge of calls from persons looking for sponsors.
She claimed that some of her clients had mentioned receiving threats and being forced to sponsor entire extended families. It’s true that this program will bring families together, Rae said.
An inquiry for comment was not answered by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the program.
Guerline Jozef, executive director of the non-profit immigration advocacy organization Haitian Bridge Alliance, which assists Haitians in finding sponsors, explained the situation.
People would frequently state, “I have more than one cousin I would like to sponsor, I’m only able to sponsor one of them,’” according to Jozef. He added, “And that creates a major issue because how do you choose which one to sponsor?” She opposes the deportation of Haitians and other migrants who arrive at the southwest border, many of whom are looking for refuge in the United States.
Jozef claimed that although supporters of immigrants have long advocated for policies like humanitarian parole, the program shouldn’t be linked to the routine deportation or expulsion of those who are seeking asylum.
“Unfortunately, it is attached to a lot of bad policies. It is being used to literally deter people from seeking protection at the U.S-Mexico border.”
