USCIS has officially implemented the Help HAITI Act of 2010. This new
law will give USCIS the power to grant lawful permanent resident status
to certain orphaned children from Haiti, who came to the U.S. under the
Haitian Orphan Parole Program after Haiti’s devastating earthquake on
January 12, 2010. The public is invited to comment on interim guidance
until January 14, 2011.
The Haitian Orphan Parole Program, introduced on January 18, 2010, was
a humanitarian policy that allowed orphaned children from Haiti to
temporarily enter the U.S. to ensure they received the care they
needed. Children legally confirmed as orphans eligible for intercountry
adoption by the Haitian government and in the process of being adopted
by Americans prior to the earthquake and those that were matched to
prospective American adoptive parents were allowed to apply for the
parole program, as long as other eligibility requirements were met.
