DAYS AFTER 'SHITHOLE' CONTROVERSY, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BANS HAITI FROM APPLYING FOR LOW-SKILLED WORK VISA
BY CHRISTINA ZHAOAND REUTERS ON 1/18/18
Following reports that President Donald Trump referred to several countries, including Haiti, as "shitholes" (reports the president partially denied), on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has now barred people from the Caribbean country from applying for low-skilled working visas.
DHS said in a regulatory filing that it was removing Haiti from a list of more than 80 countries whose citizens can be granted H-2A and H-2B visas, given to seasonal workers in agriculture and other industries.
It justified the decision by citing the “high levels of fraud and abuse” from Haitians on the program, and “a high rate of overstaying the terms” of their visas.
GETTY
Approximately 40 percent of Haitians overstayed on a variety of non-immigrant U.S. visas, including H-2As and H-2Bs, in the 2016 fiscal year, according to a DHS report.
Just a few dozen Haitians entered the United States on the visas each year since they were given permission to do so in 2012 by the Obama administration, according to DHS data.
Sixty-five Haitians entered the United States on H-2A visas, given for agricultural work, in the 2016 fiscal year, and 54 Haitians were granted H-2A visas by the State Department between March and November 2017. The number of Haitians entering in 2016 on H-2B visas, which are for non-agricultural seasonal work, was more than zero but too low to report, according to DHS.
Belize and Samoa were also removed from the lists, for risks stemming from human trafficking and not taking back nationals ordered removed from the United States, respectively.
Supporters of the visas say they gave Haitians a rare opportunity to work legally in the United States, contribute to the U.S. economy and help fund the recovery of Haiti after a major earthquake in 2010, which killed more than 200,000 people.
The announcement was made less than a week after President Donald Trump reportedly asked lawmakers “why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”—referring to El Salvador, Haiti and several African nations.
The controversial comment came during a heated discussion on the future of immigration policy between Republican and Democrat lawmakers in the Oval Office, where Trump questioned why the U.S. would continue to take in immigrants from poor countries. The president also reportedly wondered why the U.S. didn't have more immigrants from predominantly white and economically stable countries like Norway.
However, though Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said Trump used the slur, Republican lawmakers, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, said they could not recall the word being used. Trump defended his harsh language, but later denied using the language reported. He defended and his relationship with Haiti in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.
“I love the people. There’s a tremendous warmth. And they’re very hard-working people,” he said.
Curious by Trump’s words, Conan lands in Haiti
Port-au-Prince, Thursday, January 18th, 2018 ((rezonodwes.com)) - Promises are made to be kept! The famous TV personality, Conan O' Brien, visited Haiti for the shooting of his show, as he had announced just after the revelation of the offensive words by Donald Trump about Haiti, El Salvador and African countries.
The television host and American humorist, Conan O' Brien, walked early, on Thursday, January 18th, 2018, on Haitian soil for a stay that allowed him to shoot his show in a variety of settings to sell the country’s best attractions.
He was received by Minister of Tourism Madam Colombe Emily Jessy Menos in the diplomatic lounge of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport.
After being host of NBC’s Late Night with Conan O' Brien in his early days, he then replaced Jay Leno as host of the famous Tonight Show for less than one year from 2009 till 2010. He eventually resigned, and has since hosted the Conan O’Brien show on TBS.
Conan Christopher O' Brien grew up in a family of Irish origin in Boston. His father, Thomas O'Brien, is a doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard University. His mother, Ruth Reardon O' Brien, is a lawyer who worked for the firm Ropes and Gray of Boston.
His sister Jane is a scriptwriter and a producer. Awarded a diploma by Brookline High School, Conan O' Brien was accepted at Harvard University. During his four year stay at the prestigious school, he was a writer for the Harvard Lampoon, a humorous campus magazine. He was awarded a diploma by Harvard magna cum laude in 1985 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in American history.
Haiti-born West Point graduate explains tear-filled photo during graduation parade
2nd Lt. Idrache, originally from Haiti, graduated at the top of his class in physics and planned to attend an army aviation school at Fort Rucker, Alabama
A graduate of America’s West Point military academy in 2016, he has become a celebrated viral sensation after he was photographed crying with emotion during his graduation parade.
Second Lieutenant Alix Schoelcher Idrache, who was born in Haiti, graduated from the academy as the top-ranking physics student and aims to become a pilot.
“At this moment, I was overwhelmed with emotions. Three things came to mind and led to those tears,” 2nd Lt. Idrache explained in a comment on Instagram. “The first is where I started ... The second is where I am ... The third is my future.”
2nd Lt. Idrache went from speaking basic English in a poor area of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince to graduating from the country's most prestigious military academy in seven years.
In an army press release, 2nd Lt. Idrache is said to have begun working towards becoming a pilot after witnessing the US military conducting humanitarian missions in Haiti.
The press release quotes 2nd Lt. Idrache as saying: “People where I'm from don't grow up to be pilots right? Like they don't dream of flying a helicopter, that's not something you do.”
He added: “You don't just say I'm going to be a pilot and make it happen. There’re no aviation, there’re no helicopters, no flight schools. There’re none of that.”
Following his graduation he will enter the Amy Aviation Centre for Excellence in Fort Rucker, Alabama.
2nd Lt. Idrache came to the US in 2009 after his father had migrated in search of better prospects for his family. After joining his father, he enrolled in the Maryland National Guard before leaving to attend Westpoint.
In doing so 2nd Lt. Idrache became the Maryland Army National Guard’s first West Point graduate.
Sean Penn responds to Donald Trump
(An extract)
Within days of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, 29 American volunteers and I became quickly embedded with the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. Alongside our military mentors, our hands and souls touched the bodies of the dying and the dead. Our doctors tended the injured. Our educators moved swiftly to establish schools and normalcy for the youth, many of whom had been abruptly orphaned in the disaster that killed as many as 300,000 Haitians.
President Barack Obama deployed about 22,000 U.S. service men and women to Haiti, on one of the most extraordinary missions of support in humanitarian history. No other country in the world offered the generosity of support to the Haitian people that ours did — with our church groups and other NGOs, the money and supplies sent by average citizens. Perhaps most moving for those 30 of us was the extraordinary humanity, respect and commitment offered Haiti by our soldiers. On this pale blue dot Earth that we call home, the Haitian people are our neighbors, to whom our support is both the policy of a great America as it is a sacred duty.
While nothing could bring back those hundreds of thousands of lives and little could console their families, from day one there was not a broken street I could look upon from the ground without thinking, “This can be fixed. Or rather, I can fix this." But soon, I came to realize: Only the Haitians themselves could fix this. Our true sacred duty was to understand the support they may need in their effort.
The solution to our current divisiveness does not live in the White House. Instead, we will find unity only when we recognize that in our current president we have elected, perhaps for the first time in our history, an enemy of compassion. Indeed, we can be unified not only with each other but with Africa, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, the Middle East and beyond if we recognize President Donald Trump is an enemy of Americans, Republicans, Democrats, Independents and every new child born. An enemy of mankind. He is indeed an enemy of the state.
A Haitian school is among the finalists of the most prestigious classical ballet competition
The Institute of Dance Lynn William Rouzier made Haiti proud during the two semi-finals of the Philadelphia Youth America Grand Prix, which took place from January 4 – 7, 2018. Thanks to their great execution of a choreography titled "After the Shock," three young dancers from the school qualified to participate in the big finale planned for April 12 - 20 in New York. This competition is, according to several web sites, the most prestigious and biggest in the field of classical ballet worldwide.
Published 2018-01-16 ¦ Le Nouvelliste