On Friday, January 15th, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security announced that the Administration would grant temporary asylum to thousands of Haitians already living in the United States.
“As part of the Department’s ongoing efforts to assist Haiti following Tuesday’s devastating earthquake, I am announcing the designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals who were in the United States as of January 12, 2010, ” Napolitano said in a statement. “This is a disaster of historic proportions and this designation will allow eligible Haitian nationals in the United States to continue living and working in our country for the next 18 months.”
Napolitano said that at this time of major tragedy in Haiti, it is tempting to leave the earthquake ravished country to seek refuge elsewhere. However, she stressed that leaving now would only bring more hardship to the Haitian people and nation. In this connection, she reminded that TPS would only apply to those Haitians who were in the U.S. as of January 12th 2010. Those who attempted to travel to the U.S. after January 12, 2010 will be repatriated, the statement said.
Some 30,000 Haitians, without legal immigration status, are already in the U.S., most of whom live in South Florida. They would now be allowed to live and work in the U.S. for the next 18 months.
