immigration

An advise to all Haitians owning a property in the Little Haiti area in Miami, do not sell. There is a chance that your current property in Little Haiti will value much more in just a few years. According to the New York Times, signs of Little Haiti's impending transformation are everywhere. As the real estate market is exploding in Wynwood, the next neighborhood the artists are moving in for art and real estate is Little Haiti. In just a few years, rent has tripled in price in the Wynwood area. As the artists are being priced out, many have turned to Little Haiti. One particular point is that the artists are more interested in buying properties than renting. As Art Basel is scheduled for December, you can expect to see lots of activities in the Little Haiti neighborhood.

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Now many members of the Haitian community in Canada can breathe a sigh of relief over the recent announcement by the new Canadian Government of Trudeau. As per the announcement dated December 11, 2015, confirmed by the Canadian Minister of Immigration John McCallum, Canada has suspended the earlier announced deportation of Haitian and Zimbabwean nationals. The Government Trudeau has reinstated a moratorium on deportation of these two nations who were feared of being deported to their native lands.

We may recall that in last December (2014), the former federal Conservative government lifted the moratoria on removals to Haiti and Zimbabwe. Those who were affected by the withdrawal, were informed to submit an application to the Canadian Council for Refugees on humanitarian and compassionate grounds before June 1, 2015, otherwise they could face forced deportation. As per the announcement, it was further communicated that the susceptible immigrants would not be deported before the last date of application or while awaiting the decision on their H&C applications.

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Here is another first with the Haitian Diaspora in New York. Attorney Dweynie Esther Paul has become the first Haitian American to be elected as a civil court judge in the State of New York

What do you think?

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Trump's Proposed Immigration Plan could Cost up to $600 Billion

The international community has looked upon the Dominican Republic's (DR) immigration policy with disfavor. It has been deporting Haitian immigrants and their Dominican-born children, sending them to neighboring Haiti. The DR Supreme Court ruled in 2013 children of non-Dominican parentage, residing in the DR between 1929 and 2010, claim no residency rights and should be deported. The majority of non-Dominicans in the DR are Haitian.

The DR's actions have become a campaign topic for the U.S. Republican Party. Its presidential candidates want to re-amend the Constitution's 14th Amendment to strip the progeny of immigrants to the U.S. of citizenship. In particular, Republicans want immigrant women, who have given birth to babies on U.S. soil, to be deported.

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Haitian Immigrants Get Identification Documents in Ceremony at Haitian Embassy in Santo Domingo

The Dominican Republic's (DR) National Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE) expired back in June 2015. A small number of Haitian immigrants, among them sugar cane laborers, were fortunate enough to have registered for PNRE before the deadline. As a result the registrants have been given their birth certificates. The Haitian government issued the documents through its Identification and Documentation of Haitian Immigrants Program (PIDIH).

A ceremony at which the birth certificates were given out was held at the Santo Domingo Haitian Embassy. The event was presided over by Ambassador Magali Jeanty Magloire as well as Miousemme Celestin, also with the Embassy. Magloire pledged continued support from the Haitian government in helping Haitian nationals to obtain both identity cards and Haitian passports, the birth certificates being only the first--but important step--in achieving naturalization status in the DR.

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Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul opened the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean (AACCLA) on June 15th. The conference brought together 14 countries and almost 250 people to participate, centering on the theme "The Diaspora Investments in Latin America and the Caribbean". The focus at the conference was on how to funnel Diaspora investment to local businesses using best practices, and the economic initiatives to be developed to accomplish the goal.

Many foreign senior-level speakers joined ex-Bolivian President Jorge Fernando Quiroga in delivering opening remarks. They represented the American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.; George Washington University; Heineken Americas; Western Union Caribbean; and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

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The US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has extended Haiti's designation for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an additional 18 months. The extended designation will be effective on January 23, 2016, and will expire on July 22, 2017.

Since Haiti is a present TPS beneficiary, its eligible Haitians have to re-register during the 60-day mandatory period that runs from August 25, 2015, through October 26, 2015 as per U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rule. Haiti received the designation for TPS on January 21, 2010, following the 2010 earthquake.

The extension will permit eligible TPS Haitian beneficiaries to request work permits or to apply for a new Employment Authorization Documents (EAD). USCIS also states that some re-registrants may not receive their new EADs until after their current EADs expire. Thus, UCIS is automatically extending current TPS for Haiti EAD with January 22, 2016 expiration; they are now valid through July 22, 2016.

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The Dominican Republic doesn't want them. Now, according to the latest news, neither does Haiti. The Haitian Foreign Minister Lener Renauld announced that his country will not receive any immigrants who are not Haitians. This decision was taken following to counter the decision of the Dominican Republic to deport both Haitian nationals as well as some Dominicans with root to Haiti.

The Haitian government is currently in what some would call a diplomatic war with its neighbor over the immigration issue. Haitian Foreign Minister Lener Renauld had denounced some of the decisions adopted by the Dominican government, which did not include a protocol for an orderly repatriation of undocumented migrants.

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I don't know if you have been following the surge of Donald Trump in the poll for the Republican party in the united States. Whatever the reasons are, it seems like he has been connecting with the population more than the other Republican candidates. One of the issues that is of priority to him is immigration. Like many others, Donald Trump thinks the United States should abolish Birthright citizenship.

For us Haitian this issue is even more important as we are at this time dealing with the problem of Birthright. Our neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has decided to deport to Haiti not only those who have been emigrating illegally but also their children, whether or not they were born in the Dominican Republic. Dominicans of Haitian descent have been stripped of their citizenship rights.

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On Monday, May 25, 2015, about 30 members of Montreal's Haitian community gathered outside the Citizenship and Immigration office in Montreal to denounce a federal government decision to resume deportation of about 3,200 Haitians and 300 Zimbabwe nationals. In an earlier statement dated December 1, 2014, the Canadian Government has informed that in acknowledgment of improved conditions in Haiti and Zimbabwe, the Government of Canada will lift the temporary suspension of removals (TSR) to these two countries, unless the people from Haiti and Zimbabwe living in Canada for decades, fulfill the immigration criteria and apply for a permanent resident status before June 1, 2015. People without any legal status from these two countries in Canada will be removed.

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