The Latest on Haitian Deportations

According to immigration officials, the U.S. government will deport 700 Haitians this year. After the catastrophic earthquake that hit the country in January of last year, deportations to the island stopped and many Haitians were granted Temporary Protection Status (TPS) by the U.S. immigration authorities.

In December of last year, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made it known that deportations would resume, and this past January, twenty-seven Haitians were removed from the U.S. and sent back to their home country, all of which had criminal records. This caused many to express their concern since the area affected by the natural disaster is still largely covered in rubble and people are homeless all the while there still appears to be a great degree of lawlessness that is still to be dealt with. Now, ICE announces that the U.S. State Department has worked in collaboration with Haitian authorities to make sure that the deportations can be conducted safely and humanely, and without jeopardizing the Haitian rebuilding efforts.

According to immigration authorities, there are currently 31,000 Haitians in the U.S. who have been ordered to leave the country. Those to be removed this year fall in line with ICE policy of prioritizing the deportations of criminal immigrants who, according to ICE officials, pose the greatest threat to public safety in the U.S. And although those who are currently under the TPS program will have their status expire in July, officials in the U.S. have said that those who have been granted it will not be deported. This, of course, is great news for those who qualified and is sure to shed a ray of hope for their future prospects in this country.