Earlier this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that
the U.S. may allow an increase in Haitian immigration to the United
States, in the wake of the devastation caused by the recent earthquake
in that country. While the Secretary of State did not announce an
official change in immigration policy, she did imply that the U.S.
would be open to accepting greater amounts of immigrants from Haiti.
“We are certainly looking at that and will have more to say later,”
Clinton recently said at a news conference on the effects of the
earthquake in Haiti.
One potential proposal, according to Lavinia Limon, the president of
the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, would be to speed up
the cases of people currently approved to enter the U.S., enabling them
to legally and safely enter the U.S. and escape their circumstances in
their native country.
Presently, very recent changes in immigration legislation, including
the extension of temporary legal status to Haitians currently in the
U.S. has led to the suspension of deportation of certain Haitians. More
changes may be imminent in the near future.
