immigration - Haiti Observer Blog

The latest scandal in the Haitian Parliament concerns the citizenship status of now-resigned Minister of the Diaspora (MOD), Bernice Fidélia. Ms. Fidélia recently submitted her resignation letter to Prime Minister Lamothe, and he has been reluctant to make public that document. His office gave a terse statement to the press that omitted the reasons she resigned.

Senate member John Joel Joseph claimed at a meeting of Parliament and the Prime Minister on June 4th that Ms. Fidélia is an American citizen. Within days of that meeting, she tendered her resignation in a letter to Lamothe. Since then, more senators believe Joseph's claims, or else why her sudden leave-taking?

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Effective June 5th, 2013, United States Consul reported that renewal applications for a U.S. non-immigrant Visa will be automatically approved. The Embassy still reserves itself the right of convening any applicant whose case require an interview.

This is translated as such: any one holding a U.S. nonimmigrant visa for a duration of 5 years that was obtained in Port-au-Prince will be able to renew that non-immigrant Visas automatically. Here is how you do that:

1) Go online to get form DS-160

2) Take the completed form to the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

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Haiti's own version of Martin Luther King Jr., rector, catholic priest and liberation theologian Pere Gérard Jean-Juste, left an indelible mark after his passing in May of 2009. The twice arrested Lavalas party supporter was not afraid to speak his mind about all aspects of life in Haiti, including those topics bound to stir up heated debates and even more serious trouble.

Hailing from Cavaillon, Pere Gérard was born on the 7th of February, 1946 and studied at a seminary in Canada before being the first ordained Haitian. His subsequent service in a parish church established his future dedication to assisting those in need.

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In a blatant disregard of human rights, several hundred repatriated Haitian seasonal workers were abandoned at the Haitian Customs Office in the Dominican Republic in May. Human rights agency Siské Jano Border Network (SJBN) investigated and discovered not one of the workers employed as sugarcane cutters for Barahona Sugar Mill Consortium (BSMC) possessed a visa, required to work in the Dominican Republic (DR) where BSMC is located.

The Haitian Directorate General of Immigration (DGI) is responsible for issuing visas, but apparently made concessions to BSMC, so BSMC could avoid the cost of providing workers' documentation. And it seems DGI didn't want to absorb the cost either. The Haitian Customs Office could not process the repatriates without a record of their immigration status. But they are also at fault for not alerting the DGM, according to that office.

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History of Haitian migration is pretty old. While millions cross the borders to become permanent residents of other countries, there are millions others who ride the same ferry but only to return after some time. Millions of Haitian people migrate and settle in Bahamas, Montreal in Canada, Cancun and Mexico City in Mexico, Cuba, United States and Dominican Republic. Other countries like French Guiana, French Antilles, France, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Chile, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos and Jamaica also have vast numbers of Haitian diaspora.

As of date, it is estimated that around 1.2 million Haitian people live in U.S. with proper documents while there are many others that have entered U.S. borders illegally. Canada is reported to have 200,000 Haitians while Dominican Republic is estimated to have 2 million Haitians. Bahamas accounts for 80,000 Haitians while the reported figure for France is 90,000.

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Since its start in 2009, the program, established to dissuade migrants from the Northwestern coast of Haiti, who seek escape to neighboring countries like the United States, Cuba, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas, has helped in giving aid to some 22,000 returning people intercepted at sea who are often worse for wear during the taxing journeys.

Having given assistance to thousands of people since its inception with help from local businesses, fund and awareness raising efforts, the program has garnered the attention of the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) who work assiduously to keep the rise of irregular migration into US shores under control. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has thus received a donation of $100,000 to be used to improve the program and give 300 assistance packages to detained migrants.

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Over 900 residency and work visas were issued to Haitians who entered Acre, Brazil illegally. The visas were issued by the Federal Task Force that was sent to Acre to deal with rising illegal immigration. State of Emergency was declared by Acre in the second week of April when more than 1,700 people illegally entered Acre within a fortnight. Though most of these illegal immigrants were Haitian, there were Africans and Asians too who entered the state through the route that has dense vegetation as a result of which, the border forces of Brazil cannot patrol the area properly.

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It has been years since Haitians have tried fleeing from their troubled country. Of late, there has been a new destination that Haitians have chosen - Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico takes them closer to the United States. In fact getting to Puerto Rico now means getting to New York, Boston or Miami. Though Haitians do not require a passport to move from Puerto Rico to one of these cities in the United States, they definitely require some kind of identification. This proof of identification could be something like a driver's license.

Fake driver's licenses and passports have been on the rise for quite some time. A huge number of Haitians, who are trying to migrate into Puerto Rico, have been caught by authorities for providing fake licenses as a means of documentation. Over 350 Haitians have been arrested in the last six months for such acts. What used to be just a handful of illegal immigrants last year has now risen up to about 400!

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The repertoire of award-winning author Edwidge Danticat includes an entry to Oprah's book club as well as critically acclaimed autobiographical epics. Whether she's written a novel or a short story collection, readers are bound to get a story that deals with the difficulties and tensions of living life in a foreign land.

In the memoir 'Brother, I'm Dying' Danticat presented the story of her life and those of the two men she loved the most, her father and his older brother, who both died in a year that brought life's complexities starkly to her mind as, while dealing with death, she also welcomed life with the birth of her daughter.

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Amazon State of Acre declared a 'state of social emergency' on the wake of uncontrolled Haitian immigration. It was declared on April 9, 2013 by Tiao Viana, governor of Acre. The declaration of social emergency by the governor came with the hope that the Federal Government will help to contain the massive human trafficking that has plagued Acre of late. However, the Acre government did declare through its website that those who have already entered Brazil will be given the necessary aid.

While signing the decree, the governor said that the declaration formally recognizes the seriousness of the problem and that Acre alone is not capable of dealing with the situation and hence, it is looking for external help to contain the situation.

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