African-American Baptists Pressure Obama for Faster Visa Processing

A coalition of African-American Baptist associations is calling on President Obama to order the Department of Homeland Security (DOHS) to automate the Haitian reunification program so immigrants can live with their families in the U.S. Presidents of the Baptist bloc sent a letter in early September to the White House. The signatories included Nehemiah Davis, Gregory Moss, James Perkins, Julius Scruggs, and Samuel Tolbert.

ADVERTISEMENT


In their letter to Obama the leaders impressed upon him the disintegration of the Haitian family unit, caused by January 2010's earthquake. They desire Obama take steps at the earliest time available to develop the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program (HFRPP). If put into action, HFRRP would automate the visa-granting process for Haitians petitioning to live with their families in the U.S. Once put into effect, HFRRP would permit immigrants to reside with their families while applying for permanent resident status.

HFRRP needs to become a reality. Because as it stands, 110,000 Haitians are on a wait list, requiring them to languish 12 years before being granted a visa. The point the Baptist coalition wants to make with Obama is ". . . that such an expedited system is already in place for Cubans." They argue HFRRP is beneficial for Haitian communities back home because remittances coming from families in the U.S. to Haiti would contribute to Haiti's economic growth. Currently Haitian immigrants with jobs in the U.S. remit almost $2 billion a year to families back home.

Reply to this article

Read more: visa, United States

« U. S. Embassy New Policy for Visa Appointments in Haiti | Main | Haiti, One of the Countries with Highest U.S. Visa Fraud Cases »

Return to Articles List

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

E-mail (required, will not be published)

Subject: African-American Baptists Pressure Obama for Faster Visa Processing edit

» »

Our objective is to share with you news and information about Haiti and the people of Haiti. Traditions, habits and the way we were  or  grew are alive in this site. We highly recommend that you Subscribe to our Newsletter and also share with us some of the things that are memorable and made us unique people.