In Port-au-Prince, there is only one immigration office, and hundreds of Haitians go there every day, pressing up against the brilliant blue fence and straining to hear whether their names are called. They are expecting to be selected soon to live lawfully in the US under a new immigration scheme.
Since US President Joe Biden stated on Thursday, May 5, that the US will welcome 30,000 migrants each month from Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela, the gathering has grown. If the chosen candidates have appropriate sponsors and pass background checks, they will be permitted to work for two years.
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The daily congestion at the immigration office in the nation’s capital is brought on by the fact that those chosen will also require passports for travel.
Jennyfer Leonard, a 30-year-old teacher, stated, “I’m here to leave Haiti, but I don’t want to risk my life via a boat.” Jennyfer was referring to the recent deaths of several Haitian migrants who had been smuggled aboard boats and were trying to get to the US.
She stated, “I would like to go with my two kids so they may have a future, but I’m not prepared to accept the chance of them passing away along the road.”
She decided to take the recently revealed legal way to the US instead of joining the tens of thousands of Haitians who have been stopped and deported at the US-Mexico border, much like hundreds of other Haitians in recent days.
An aggressive throng gathered on Wednesday under a scorching heat at the immigration office to submit applications, pick up passports, renew expired ones, or check the status of existing ones.
“Is my name there? “Is that my name?” individuals yelled whenever a government official approached the gate and called on someone.
25-year-old Garry Saint Paul was among those awaiting the arrival of their passports.
He had previously worked as a hotel janitor in the neighboring Dominican Republic, but his contract and passport ran out and he was forced to return to Haiti, where he is now jobless.
He declared, “Haiti is under siege.” “Gangs are in charge. If you have the chance to escape, why not?
According to estimates, gangs dominate 60% of Port-au-Prince and have become increasingly vicious and powerful since President Jovenel Mose was slain in July 2021 at his home. According to the UN, there were 280 recorded deaths in November, a monthly high, and reported kidnappings increased to more than 1,200 last year, more than double from the year before.
The instructor Leonard, whose brother works as a truck driver in Philadelphia and has agreed to sponsor her financially, stated, “Life is really difficult.”
