Washington has decided to allow Haitians in the United States to stay there for another 18 months because of the crises Haiti is going through.
President Jovenel Moïse has governed by decree since the postponement of legislative elections scheduled for 2018 and following disputes over the end of his own term.
AFP
Haitians present in the United States and threatened with deportation are allowed to stay there for another 18 months because of the crises their country is going through, the American authorities announced on Saturday.
“After careful consideration, we have decided that we must do our best to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so that they can return home safely,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
“Haiti is currently experiencing serious security problems, social unrest, increased human rights violations, endemic poverty and a lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic,” explained Alejandro Mayorkas . This “would prevent nationals from returning safely” to Haiti, which leads it to determine a new authorization “for 18 months”.
Political crisis
The legal status of Haitian immigrants has been in the dark since the announcement in 2017 by former President Donald Trump of the removal of the status protecting their stay on American soil, a decision that has sparked a fierce legal battle, still ongoing. This status is granted by the US authorities to people from countries facing armed conflicts, environmental disasters or extraordinary and temporary situations, preventing them from being effectively deported.
Haitians benefited from this status following a decision by former President Barack Obama in the wake of the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people on the island and destroyed much of it. the capital, Port-au-Prince. Some 60,000 Haitians had taken refuge in the United States after the quake, and their status had been extended several times, until the Trump administration’s decision in 2017.
The poorest country in the Americas, facing a strong wave of Covid-19 contamination, is also plunged into a political crisis. President Jovenel Moïse has governed by decree since the postponement of legislative elections scheduled for 2018 and following disputes over the end of his own term.
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