'Haiti Emergency Relief Act' Would Let Recent Arrivals Stay In The Country

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives this month by Flatbush Congresswoman Yvette Clarke would permit Haitians who arrived in the U.S. before Nov. 4, 2016 to stay in the country for an additional 18 months, while also working and sending money back to their family members on the island nation. Flatbush has a large Caribbean population, including many people from Haiti.

Clarke's bill, the Haiti Emergency Relief Act of 2017, had 18 co-sponsors in the House as of Wednesday, but had yet to begin the process of advancing through the legislative body.

Through a series of past actions, the U.S. granted and extended "Temporary Protected Status" (TPS) to Haitian immigrants who arrived in the country before 2011.

The TPS designation let those individuals stay and work in the U.S. while also sending home money (or "remittances"), accounting for 25 percent of Haiti's gross domestic product, according to Clarke.

That cash flow is all the more important in the wake of recent disasters that have befallen Haiti. A 2010 earthquake there may have killed as many as 300,000 people while injuring hundreds of thousands more. More recently, the nation has dealt with a deadly cholera outbreak, as well as Hurricane Matthew, which struck last October.

In August 2015, the U.S. once again extended its TPS designation for Haitians, this time until July 22, 2017. However, that decision only applied to those who arrived here before 2011, as past TPS extensions did. Clarke's act, however, would grant a TPS status to anyone from Haiti who arrived in the U.S. before Nov. 4.

According to the Congresswoman, without the bill, the Department of Homeland Security will continue moving ahead with previously announced plans to "commence expedited removal proceedings" for those not covered by a TPS designation.

"Sending Haitians back to Haiti at this time hinders the recovery process in Haiti by preventing the flow of remittances," Clarke wrote in a letter to her colleagues on Capitol Hill. "It also endangers the lives of Haitians sent back to their country by potentially exposing them to cholera and other water borne diseases. I urge you to raise your voice on behalf of the people of Haiti."

Pictured at top: Rep. Yvette Clarke. Photo by John V. Santore