Safe or not? The contradiction in U.S.-Haiti policy
The Trump administration recently ordered Haitian temporary residents to go home saying conditions have improved since a 2010 earthquake. Yet the State Department warns American tourists about traveling there. Something doesn't add up?
With beautiful, palm-lined beaches and fertile green hillsides, the island of Ile-a-Vache off Haiti's south coast ought to be a tourist mecca.
But the island's four hotels are struggling to make ends meet, in part due to a U.S. State Department warning which discourages Americans from risking the journey by road and a short boat ride to get there. Many Haitians complain the travel warning unjustly stigmatizes the country and hurts the economy, creating even deeper woes for the poorest nation in the hemisphere.
The decision last month by the Trump administration to end a temporary visa program for 60,000 Haitians in the U.S., makes the travel ban even more perplexing.
“The fact that the administration is sending 60,000 Haitians back to a country that our own State Department says is too dangerous for Americans to visit is ridiculous," Florida's U.S. Senator, Bill Nelson told Univision News. "There is no reason to send 60,000 Haitians back to a country that cannot provide for them. And I am strongly urging the administration to reconsider this disastrous decision,” he added.
"Sending them back to die."
Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean once described Ile-a-Vache to me as "Haiti's best kept secret." He wished more people could get to see its beauty.
Haitians who lose their TPS would be sent back "on a starve mission," he told Billboard magazine, "It's like you're sending them back to die."
STATE SENATOR DAPHNE CAMPBELL APPOINTED AS CHAIR OF THE HAITIAN TEMPORARY RELIEF TASK FORCE
TALLAHASSEE, FL –State Senator Daphne Campbell (D-Miami) has been appointed Chair of the Haitian Temporary Relief Task Force, an organization formed to advocate on behalf of tens of thousands of Haitian refugees in Florida who fled their native country but now face deportation in the near future.
The appointment of Senator Campbell was made earlier this week by Representative Kionne McGhee, who heads the Miami-Dade County Legislative Delegation.
Her selection comes on the heels of the decision rendered by the Trump Administration last month regarding Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status. Concerned with the expiring sanctuary date and uncertainty with the Trump Administration, Senator Campbell has been advocating on behalf of the Haiti Temporary Protected Status by filing Senate Memorial 442 Haiti Temporary Protected Status and SM 888 ESPERER Act of 2017. She has also attempted to raise public awareness and garner additional support for the refugees’ plight by holding press conferences, and traveling to Washington, DC to speak with elected officials such as Senator Bill Nelson, Congressman Carlos Curbelo, Congressman Alcee Hastings and a host of other prominent officials.
In addition, she also held meetings with Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director to the White House, Billy Kirkland, and Special Advisor for Western Hemisphere & Global Economics- Office of the Vice President, Landon Loomis as well as Omarosa Manigualt, Assistant to the President and Director of Communications Office of Public Liaison. On November 17, 2017, the Friday before the decision was rendered, the Senator spoke with Acting Assistant Secretary Simon Henshaw and Deputy Secretary Ken Merton both with the Department of State. The morning of the decision, November 20, 2017, Senator Campbell held a telephone conversation with Acting Assistant Secretary John Barsa, Department of Homeland Security.
Senator Campbell advocated that Haiti TPS be extended for an additional 18 months as it was scheduled to expire on January 22, 2018 causing some 60,000 Haitians to be forcibly returned back to Haiti. Despite multiple campaign promises that he would be their “biggest champion,” President Trump’s administration agreed to allow them to remain in the USA only until July 22, 2019.
Jovenel Moïse, the next chair of CARICOM
The news was just published on the site of the Community of the Caribbean (CARICOM) last Friday. The presidency of this supranational organization will be assured by the Republic of Haiti at the beginning of next year, starting in February.
A news release tells that the General Secretary of CARICOM, Irwin LaRocque, spoke to President Jovenel Moise last Thursday with the aim of "giving his usual briefing to the new president."
The Haitian president is going to succeed Dr. Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada who just spent six months as president of this common market grouping 15 States of the Caribbean region. This act falls within the framework of a system of rotation predefined within the organization.
It is also mentioned that Haiti will host the 29th intersession meeting of heads of government of CARICOM in February, 2018. As a result, the preparations have already begun between representatives of the Haitian government and the Secretarial department of CARICOM based in Guiana.
Sunrise Airways connect Haiti to Curaco
After having served customers in the Dominican République, Cuba and Chile, the company Sunrise Airways is spreading its wings in Curaçao. On Tuesday, November 28th, before government officials, business representatives, and journalists, the company launched its inaugural flight to Willemstad in Curaçao
More than a hundred passengers were received at the International Airport of Wilemstad. They were welcomed aboard the flight of the airbus 320 with a warm welcome from the crew.
AG Racine Wins Judgment for More Than $425K From Company Running Student Loan Debt Relief Scam
Court Orders Student Aid Center to Pay Full Restitution to Borrowers, $233K in Penalties
WASHINGTON, D. C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine announced today that his office obtained a judgment for more than $425,000 in restitution and civil penalties from a company that deceived student borrowers into paying fees for services they could have obtained for free. The Superior Court of the District of Columbia ordered the company, Student Aid Center, Inc., to repay 233 District consumers for all fees the company had unlawfully collected, which total $192,824.95. The court also permanently barred the company from misleading consumers and charging up-front fees for student loan debt relief services.
In addition, the court also ordered Student Aid Center to pay $233,000 as a civil penalty.
Attorney General Racine previously won a judgment against Student Aid Center, Inc. and the company’s owners, Ramiro Fernandez-Moris and Damien Alvarez, for unlawfully marketing student debt relief services to District consumers — including services that borrowers can get for free from the U.S. Department of Education. The court found the company and its owners liable for misrepresenting the company’s services and unlawfully charging fees of between $600 and $1,000 in advance, while consumers received little in return.
A copy of the final judgment is attached. Student Aid Center, Inc. has also been sued by the attorneys general of Florida, Kentucky and Washington state, and by the Federal Trade Commission.
Student Loan Resources
Borrowers with questions about their student loans should visit the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) Student Loan Resource Page. It provides District residents with free resources about repayment options and up-to-date information about how to manage student loan debt – including information about how to avoid student loan scams. OAG’s Student Loan Resource Page is available at oag.dc.gov/studentloans.
Consumers with complaints against Student Aid Center, other debt-relief scams, or any other consumer issue can contact our Office of Consumer Protection at (202) 442-9828, by sending an e-mail to
President Jovenel Moïse laid the first stone for the construction of the micro-industrial park of Moreau / Camp-Perrin
President Jovenel Moise, in the presence of the Vincent Dégert, head of the delegation of the European Union in Haiti, and several members of the minister's personal staff, proceeded, last Friday with the laying of the first stone of the building of the micro-industrial park of Moreau / Camp-Perrin. This is part of Moise’s vision to support local companies and to create more jobs to revitalize the economy of the country.
In his speech, the Head of State was anxious to greet the partnership between the Republic of Haiti and the European Union which allowed the launch of this vast construction project, which will eventually result into 42 micro-industrial parks.
He used the opportunity to announce the construction of 40 kilometers of road that will connect the municipality of Moreau with the city of Les Cayes. This initiative will help considerably improve the living conditions of the inhabitants and restore the dignity of the citizens of this region whom for a long time have been isolated. Furthermore, the «Ravine Sèche » whose floods constantly threaten the population of Moreau, will be cleaned out within the framework of the actions of the Caravan of Change in the Grand Sud.
For his part, Vincent Dégert, head of the delegation of the European Union in Haiti, an important partner for this project initiated under the presidency of Michel Joseph Martelly, said he noticed that the South has found its vitality following the devastating passage of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti in October, 2016. He believes that the initiative of the Administration Moïse-Lafontant to revitalize the national production and decentralize the economy, will help to recover lost networks and find openings on the overseas markets.
National day of organ transplant
The Haitian Transplant Center tries to make kidney transplants accessible
At the initiative of the Haitian Transplant Center, a ceremony was organized last Thursday, at the Montana Hotel. On this occasion, the director of the center, Jacques Maurice Jeudy, confided that the Haitian Transplant Center developed a partnership with the Transplant Center of the University of Miami, to allow patients to have access to kidney transplants in Haiti.
According to Dr. Jacques Maurice Jeudy, there is between 15,000 and 20,000 Haitians who suffer from renal failure in the country. High blood pressure, diabetes, energy drinks and anti-inflammatory medicine are, according to him, the main causes of this disease.
The director of the Haitian center of transplant, informs that eight kidney transplants were already done in the country. "At least eight renal transplants were performed in the country from 2009 till 2017, says the surgeon, who, on November 30th, 2009, performed the first kidney transplant in Haiti. Two others are planned for this month."