US Offers Protected Status for Haitian Immigrants

[tekisui]

Source: NYT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Haitians living in the United States started applying Thursday for a government program offering qualified immigrants the chance to legally remain in the country and get work permits.

Under the temporary protected status program, or TPS, eligible participants have an 18-month reprieve during which they can work to send money back to Haiti and help family members struggling in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.

Immigrant rights groups, community centers and churches in Haitian communities from Miami to Newark, N.J., were inundated with inquiries about TPS on Thursday, the first day of the program.

Staff at Haitian Women of Miami were trying to cope with the overwhelming number of people seeking help with their TPS applications by making appointments. The small offices in the city's Little Haiti neighborhood opened over the weekend to schedule those appointments, which are booked through March, said Evelt Jeudy, the nonprofit's immigration policy adviser.

''I can't say we're getting calls on a daily basis. It's every second that we're getting calls about TPS,'' Jeudy said. He planned to see about 50 TPS applicants Thursday.

The small waiting room was filled with a mix of TPS applicants and frantic people seeking help getting medical aid to family members in Port-au-Prince.

''Haitians have paid a heavy price for TPS,'' said Soeurette Camille, 54. ''We have paid with our families' lives. I have lost my house (in Port-au-Prince).'' She has lived in Miami without legal documentation for the past two years after her appeal for political asylum was denied and other work permits expired.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/21/us/AP-US-Haiti-Earthquake-Immigration.html