Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 25 janvier 2017

 Business Investments: The Dream of a Haitian Entrepreneur

The international development community learned decades ago that when relief organizations bring in donated goods that are distributed for free to people in need, one of the outcomes is often the death of local businesses that provided those goods. Why then are NGOs continuing to employ this model in Haiti, asks author, entrepreneur, investor and professor Daniel Jean-Louis.

Jean-Louis is based in Haiti. His firm, Bridge Capital provides small loans to businesses that otherwise don't qualify for loans from Haiti's conservative banking sector. His 100,000 jobs initiative is working across sectors with NGOs, governments and the private sector to create 100,000 jobs by 2020. He reports having helped to create more than 10,000 jobs so far, though he worries Hurricane Matthew may have destroyed some of those jobs when it destroyed so much else in Haiti.

Bridge Capital is small by almost any standard, with just $1 million in capital. In Haiti, where a $10,000 loan can have more impact, that represents the potential to help 100 companies. Jean-Louis hopes to triple the capital base in the coming year, allowing him to reach a level of profitability. Profits come from the 7 to 8 percent net interest margin on its loans.

Jude V. P. Tranquille, founder of Haiti Entrepreneurship Camp, about whom I've written previously, says, "Bridge Capital brings investment and the 100k jobs builds a network of businesses around the country. People are benefiting from business growth as jobs were being created, transforming lives and providing hope to families. I personally know some businesses they have funded, including Enersa Haiti, a company that provides solar energy."

Jean-Louis is a purpose-driven entrepreneur. "My vision is to curb unemployment. I have worked all of my adult life toward that. We want to solve the problem of unemployment in Haiti. I want to help my fellow Haitian friends and family."

Unemployment is a big problem in Haiti, he explains. "Unemployment has been a problem in Haiti as long as I can remember. A lot of people have something to do, a small micro business, but never a real job that can sustain their costs." He notes that 70 percent of people in Haiti lack a formal job.

Jean-Louis says the government is the root of the problem. "The Government has never provided a good atmosphere where businesses can start and grow. The World Bank has published a study over and over that shows that Haiti is one of the worst places in the world to start a business. It takes thousands of dollars and months of time to register a new corporation."

Illeus Papillon is the Grand Prize Winner of the Creole Award

Illéus Papillon, poet and academic, just left Haiti to study for a master's degree in Canada. While he was in transit in Miami, Dominique Batraville interviewed him regarding the Creole Award he has just received.

Numerous Haitian and foreign poets were considered. They were all contacted and chose either one of their albums or a collection of poems, Papillon explained.  “In my case, it was my first album of poetic texts: “Chimen Dekoupe.”

“I am very proud to have received this award, which I dedicate to the thousands of Haitian young people who could be in my shoes, but are unfortunately prevented due to the difficult conditions that we all know well.

Furthermore, a Creole poet who is honored in an international competition, it is the proof that our national language (Haitian Creole), like all other languages, has no boundaries. I owe this honor to all those who, like me, have fought for the full respect of the Haitian Creole language as full cultural expression of a people.”

The Chairman of BNC’s Board of Directors is interrogated by a judge

Invited to provide explanations regarding some confusion created on the account in gourdes or in dollars for Jovenel Moïse at the BNC, the Chairman of the Board of the BNC, Fernand Robert Pardo, appeared on Friday in the judge's chambers of Judge Bredy Fabien, to shed some light on this file.

Accompanied by his two lawyers, one of whom was Maurice Alexandre, Pardo answered the judge’s questions. The Chairman of the Board provided useful explanations to unveil the truth regarding the opened investigation on Jovenel Moïse. This hearing lasted approximately two hours. Having become the 58^th president of the Republic of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, according to the administrative report of the Central Processing Unit of Financial Information (UCREF), is under investigation for "possibly" manipulating funds which have nothing to do with his companies.

Neither the lawyers of the BNC nor the Chairman of the Board of the BNC wanted to answer the questions from journalists. Pardo, explained that the proceedings must be kept secret. There will be complete silence surrounding account # 0340 000 272, which belongs to Jovenel Moïse.

"At this stage, I can add nothing, because the BNC is a professional institution. The judge invited me to throw a little light, we did it. The instruction is secret, it is what I can add for the moment," he declared, before getting into his car. Shortly before Pardo’s appearance, two of Jovenel Moïse’s attorneys, Camille Leblanc and Reynold Georges, went to the judge’s chambers to inquire about the file.

"There are rumors that the judge had invited President Jovenel to the judge's chambers, we wanted to verify these unfounded assertions", explained Reynold Georges. He believes there is a contrived plot against Moises. Someone modified the account, in gourdes, into dollars. "The president-elect said those who responsible for this defamation will be punished," he exclaimed.

Moïse’s attorney asserted that his client has done nothing wrong. "Jovenel Moïse certainly does not want to run away from justice. He is prepared to cooperate with the justice system.

Preparations are underway for the Inauguration of Jovenel Moise on February 7^th - Yet the Budget for this Event is Unknown

The invitations were sent, the event schedule has been determined, important documents are being transferred, but the budget for this event remains nevertheless unknown …

The joint committee for the transfer of power of Jocelerme Privert to Jovenel Moïse is ready to get down to work. With about 15 days until the swearing-in of the new president, the principal private secretary of the outgoing president, Jean-Max Bellerive, confided to the Nouveliste that nobody yet knows how much the festivities are going to cost.

However, he assured that they were on schedule with the preparations. All the countries having diplomatic relations with Haiti were already invited to the swearing-in of the elected president. Besides the counterparts of Jovenel Moises, there are other personalities and national and international institutions to be invited.

As of now, France has already confirmed that it would send its Secretary of State of the Cooperation.

If the festivities marking Donald Trump's nomination as 45^th president of the United States cost approximately 200 million dollars, in Haiti, we still do not know still how much it will cost for Jovenel Moïse’s inauguration on February 7^th. The Tèt Kale transition team has not finalized its budget yet. However, it indicated that there is a budget for the security aspect with the national police force to assure the safety of the foreign dignitaries who will be in the country. There is a budget for protocol with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. There is a budget for the construction of stands near the national palace, and the organization of buffets, among others. There is as well a budget for the reception of delegations, the reception that the new Head of State will have to host. As of last Friday, figures for the total budget were not still available.

Wilson Laleau was questioned by investigating Judge Berge O. Surpris The former Minister of the Economy and Finances was questioned by investigating Judge Berger O. Surpris, on Friday, January 20^th, 2017. Wilson Laleau was interrogated regarding an investigation on "administrative waste, embezzlement and waste of the funds of the State", explained Government Commissioner Jean Danton Léger.

"He answered the judge’s questions because he received an invitation [to appear]. I have no other details", indicated ... a close friend of Wilson Laleau, who is now managing President-elect Jovenel Moïse’s transition, on February 7^th.

"It is up the Court’s Auditors to say if there was any administrative waste, or diversion of funds. There is no warrant against him," stressed this source.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 1 février 2017

 Haitians face deportation as 2010 quake reprieve expires

Leila MACOR

AFPJanuary 25, 2017

Miami (AFP) - Bernedy Prosper is afraid his 23-year-old son Harold will die if he is deported from the United States back to Haiti.

Prosper, 52, had hoped Harold could benefit from a special status granted to Haitian immigrants in 2010 after a devastating earthquake struck the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Instead, Harold is one of more than 4,000 Haitians awaiting deportation due to a sudden policy reversal late last year as then-president Barack Obama was preparing to leave office.

With President Donald Trump now in power, elected on a vow to build a wall on the Mexican border and halt illegal immigration, Harold's situation looks bleak.

"I ran away for my life and now my kid had to do the same," said a despairing Prosper as he stood in an immigration aid center in Little Haiti, the heart of the Haitian diaspora in dilapidated north Miami.

Prosper himself arrived in Florida on a boat without immigration documents in 2000 and obtained political asylum.

He tried to bring his son over to join him, but Harold got tired of waiting for the legal process to run its course, and decided to try his luck crossing the Mexican border illegally.

Instead he was caught in San Diego, California, just as deportations of Haitians are ramping up dramatically compared to last January when, according to government figures, only 267 Haitians were awaiting deportation.

"I believe that if he is put back to Haiti, I have no more son," said Prosper, his head down and voice a low monotone.

"I know they will kill him," he said.

- 'Haiti has improved' -

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and has not fully recovered from the earthquake -- some 55,000 people still live in temporary housing, most in appalling conditions.

But late last year, Obama decided Haitians no longer qualified for Temporary Protection Status (TPS), as the status reserved for victims of natural disasters is known.

"The situation in Haiti has improved sufficiently to permit the US government to remove Haitian nationals on a more regular basis, consistent with the practice for nationals from other nations," said then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in announcing the policy change September 22.

A few weeks later, on October 4, Hurricane Matthew tore through southwestern Haiti. The powerful Category 4 hurricane killed more than 500 people, left thousands homeless, and triggered a cholera outbreak.

US authorities halted deportations for a month, but in early November began to "significantly expand removal operations," Johnson said in a subsequent statement.

Randy McGrorty, an attorney with Catholic Legal Services -- a group that offers legal aid for immigrants -- says it is inhumane to deport Haitians to their storm-ravaged, earthquake-damaged country.

The TPS will remain in effect until July, and Haitians who are already protected do not risk deportation.

But since October more than 1,600 other Haitians have been deported.

"We get desperate phone calls from people. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do," said Steve Forester, who works for the non-profit Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

"It is simply wrong, insensitive, immoral, even obscene, to be deporting people now, knowing the suffering of the people there and that the government does not have the ability in Haiti to care for these people," he said.

- 600,000 Haitians in US -

Following the earthquake many Haitians migrated to Brazil. But as the South American giant's economy took a downward turn, they are picking up stakes and heading to Central America in hopes of making it to Mexico and then slipping across the border into the United States.

As of 2012, some 600,000 Haitian immigrants were in the United States, most of them in Florida, or about 1.5 percent of all foreigners in the country, according to the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute.

Forester believes that US treatment of Haitian migrants -- especially when compared to the benefits that Cuban immigrants have received since 1966 -- is essentially racist.

"Haitians are black. They do not have the political power of Hispanics in general in the US because they don’t have the numbers. They don't have the political power in Florida," said Forrester.

Now the fate of the Haitians is in the hands of Trump, who has vowed to deport as many as three million immigrants who are in the country illegally and have criminal records.

"I hope he will decide that it is wrong to deport anyone to Haiti now, that a strong and secure Haiti is in our national interest," said Forester.

California Just Threatened To Stop Paying Taxes If Trump Cuts Federal Funding Over Sanctuary City Status

The State of California’s elected officials are exploring ways to combat President Trump’s Executive Order cutting off funding to sanctuary cities. National legal experts say that Trump’s sanctuary cities order is unconstitutional because, at its core, the order is an attempt to commandeer state and local officials in violation of the 10th Amendment.

California’s Democratic leaders believe there are numerous federal programs receiving state funds as well, which they will seek to cut, to make up for anything Republicans siphon out of their budgets. San Francisco’s CBS affiliate reports that the federal government only spends 78 cents in California for every tax dollar sent from that state to Washington:

The state of California is studying ways to suspend financial transfers to Washington after the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal money from sanctuary cities, KPIX 5 has learned. “California could very well become an organized non-payer,” said Willie Brown, Jr, a former speaker of the state Assembly in an interview recorded Friday for KPIX 5’s Sunday morning news. “They could recommend non-compliance with the federal tax code.”

California’s two largest recipient cities San Francisco and Los Angeles together receive over $500 million dollars in federal funding annually, and according to Reuters, the top ten cities impacted will lose up to $2.27 billion dollars in funding per year. That doesn’t even include federal funding to law enforcement, which is excluded from the order.

California’s government has plenty of avenues to explore cutting funds to federal programs which get state funding because a non-partisan ranking says that the state is 46th most dependent on the federal government already. In fact, a 2014 study by The Atlantic found that California is one of the few states to get a negative return on investment by actually paying more federal taxes than receiving benefits in return.

If California succeeds in legislating a reversal of Trump’s federal funding mandates, it will mirror Mexico’s legislative efforts to fight Washington, DC’s Trump driven, suddenly bottomless desire to enact harmful policies.

The difference is that taking money away from Washington will further limit the Trump regime’s capacity to spend money in order to harm America as federal coffers suffer, and the red states who depend on help from blue states will see funds dry up.

Trudeau: Canada will welcome the refugees "independently of their faith"

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserted on Saturday the will of his country to welcome the refugees "Independently of their faith," after the decision of the White House to forbid entry to the United States by nationals of seven Muslim countries.

“To those who flee persecution, terror and war, know that Canada will welcome you...”

Sunrise Airways purchases an Airbus A320 jet

The Haitian company Sunrise Airways positioned itself for an aggressive expansion in 2017 by introducing a new plane Airbus A320 with a capacity of 180 seats. Run according to contract with Dominican Wings, a subsidiary of the Lithuanian specialist of the rent-service Express Plane, the Airbus A320 connects Cuba to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

"This jet represents an important forward for our company and for our invaluable customers," declared Philippe Bayard, President of Sunrise Airways." He added that “The capacity and the comfort of the A320 raises our intra-Caribbean service in Cuba to an unparalleled level on the market. At the same time, we are now strongly positioned for a strong expansion in all the Caribbean, as well as our first trips in North America."

For reservations and more information, visit the www.sunriseairways.net site / or call:

Haiti: 509-2811-2222/1100

The United States: 1-305-433-2707

Dominican Republic:  1-849-916-6666

Cuba: 53-2269-8791

Haiti built the biggest solar-powered hospital of the world

THE UNIVERSITAIE HOSPITAL OF MIRBALAIS

Seven years after the terrible earthquake of January 12^th, 2010, caused more than 220,000 victims, Haiti can be proud of having built the biggest solar-powered hospital in the world.

Situated in about fifty kilometers to the northeast of Port-au-Prince, more exactly in Mirebalais, this university center inaugurated in 2013 possesses 1,800 photovoltaic panels installed on its roof, to produce all the necessary energy for the medical care of more than 60,000 patients. As for the surplus energy, it is redistributed via the national network and benefits families in the area.

ZANMI LASANTE is the Haitian NGO (NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION) which built this magnificent hospital. For this project, it was seconded by its sister organization, the American NGO PIH.

Thanks to generous donors, free and quality care is lavished on the population, which come from all four corners of the country.

There we find among others health services, how to care for HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis, non-communicable diseases and prenatal care. Patients benefit from vaccines, dental care, and from treatments against malnutrition.

Mental health, emergency medicine and general and orthopedic surgery is also available. Health services to women including family planning, reproductive health and complete emergency obstetric care.

Today, the university hospital of Mirebalais is a resource for all the Haitian medical community, and the hope of an effective reconstruction of the country. With many young graduates leaving the country due to the lack of prospect for attractive career, ZANMI LASANTE hopes that the hospital of Mirebalais will contribute to lure them to stay and limit the "brain drain." That is why it operates in association with the State university of Haiti and the National School of Nurses, by offering them residences in medicine at HUM in several domains, among which the internal medicine, obstetrics, gynecology and surgery.

TWO HAITIAN FOUND DEAD RIDDLED WITH BALLS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Last Wednesday in the agricultural community of Ojeda, municipal section "Cerro in Medio" in the Dominican Republic, two Haitian national Betoni Anesa, 24, and Marc Dorisca, 23, were found dead with their bodies riddled with bullets.

According to his brother, Mark Dorisca left his house located the district of Caamaño together with Betoni Anesa to go to Ojeda where there were several charcoal ovens. Worried after seeing him not returning, Dorsica’s brother left to search for him. That is when he made the macabre discovery.

Members of the Dominican Department of the Criminal Investigations opened an investigation to try to identify the culprits and to clarify the circumstances of these crimes. The victims were transported to the morgue of the St. Bartholomew hospital, before being transferred to the Azur Institute for an autopsy.

It should be noted that the production of charcoal is an illegal activity in the Dominican Republic that is severely punished. Such clandestine activities, are generally under the control of smugglers' networks which act very often under the protection and with the complicity of certain corrupt Dominican servicemen.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 7 février 2017

 Haiti's Incoming President Foresees Personal Bond with Trump

Voice of America - WASHINGTON - The man poised to become Haiti’s president on February 7 draws a parallel between himself and the new chief executive of the United States, suggesting his desire to forge a personal bond between Port-au-Prince and Washington.

Like Donald Trump, Jovenel Moïse has a resume steeped in business, but no previous experience in public office. A successful banana exporter, Moïse earlier helped create a regional power company and ran a water distribution plant, among other pursuits.

"President Trump and I are entrepreneurs, and all an entrepreneur wants is results,” Moïse said in an interview last week with the Reuters news agency. “And therefore I hope we'll put everything in place to make sure we deliver for our peoples."

But the Haitian businessman, 48,faces lingering suspicions related to his financial dealings. Late last month, he spent four hours in a closed Port-au-Prince courtroom answering questions about purported money laundering. He has denied the allegation, claiming it’s politically motivated.

Moïse’s opponents are pressing for a decision by inauguration day on whether formal charges should be brought.

New president delayed

This Caribbean nation of 11 million people has suffered a protracted election cycle.

A first round of voting in 2015 was nullified after allegations of fraud. A second round, set for last October, was delayed after Hurricane Matthew struck, killing at least 1,000 people. Haiti was still struggling to recover from a massive 2010 earthquake that left at least 200,000 dead and the capital city in ruins.

Moïse, handpicked by former President Michel Martelly to represent his change-oriented Haiti Bald Headed Party,won nearly 56 percent of the November vote. Interim President Jocelerme Privert has led Haiti since Martelly’s five-year term ended a year ago.

Moïse has said as president he would govern inclusively. “We have to work together,” he told VOA in an interview in Haiti’s capital on the eve of his election victory.

Military plans?

Moïse told VOA he wants to resurrect a standing army, which Aristide disbanded upon returning to Haiti. But he acknowledged there’s no budget for an army in Haiti, where U.N. peacekeepers supplement civilian police in providing security.

State Department special coordinator for Haiti Kenneth Merten told VOA the United States wouldn’t support a Haitian army, with its history of coups d’etat.

“We’ve spent a lot of money so Haiti could have a police force that is competent and transparent,” Merten says.

Jobs

Moïse campaigned on economic expansion, saying Haiti would “use the people, the sun, the land and water.” The president-elect wants to improve agriculture and develop more tourism.

“Haiti should have four or five tourist destinations, just like the Dominican Republic,” he told VOA.

Pierre Marie Boisson, chief economist of Haiti’s Sogebank Group, predicted that installing a democratically elected president and filling vacant parliamentary seats will improve the economy and inspire broader confidence in the country’s prospects.

“We must expect a booming economy” in 2018, Boisson told VOA. He said the growth would be led in part by the apparel industry, which employs tens of thousands in Haiti.

Some Haitians have fled their impoverished country, including thousands massing just south of the U.S.-Mexico border while seeking entry to the United States. After the 2010 quake in Haiti, the United States granted asylum-seekers temporary work permits and shielded them from deportation.

That changed in September, with the Department of Homeland Security announcingrenewed strict enforcementin light of Haiti’s improving economy.

_{VOACreole Service’sJacquelin Belizaire and Jean-Pierre Leroy contributed to this report.}

Preparations underway for February 7^th, 2017

Planning for the transition of power in Haiti was well underway last week, according to Lucien Jura, spokesman of the Transition Commission.

Three separate events were planned for this special day.  The first was the traditional ceremony at the Parliament where newly-elected president Jovenel Moïse was to take the oath of office. The second ceremony was at National Palace with an official speech from the new president. The third was the meeting between the president and several international delegations, who attend the ceremonies, including Canada and the Dominican Republic.

In addition to the official events, street-based festivities were also planned for this day.

The commission, he explained, is studying other alternatives to see to what extent big screens televisions could be installed in provincial towns in order to allow the population of these communities to experience these events as well.

At the request of the president-elect the ceremonies for the transfer of power should not exceed one million dollar, while being in compliance with the requirements for a transfer of power. The expenses will be made by the national palace. The commission is there only to plan the ceremony and send back invoices to the national palace. According to the spokesman, the members of the commission receive no salary for this work. They are volunteers.

Haitian Native Céline Marti qualifies for the world ski championships

After the beautiful Raquel Pélissier came in first-runner-up in last week’s Miss Universe Pageant, another beautiful and talented Haitian woman will represent Haiti internationally.

This time, it will be in the world skiing where Céline Marti will compete under the colors of her country of origin.

Marti, 37, was adopted by a Swiss family when she was seven months old. She currently lives in Geneva with her family, including her adopted daughter, who is also originally from Haiti.

Marti is a police officer, a ski and snow-boarding instructor, and a volunteer fire-fighter. She has only gone back to Haiti once to visit. But she still feels a connection to her birth place.

Later this month, Marti will compete in the 2017 FIS Alpine World Ski Champtionship in St. Mortiz, Switzerland. She will be joined by two other Haitian male skiers who live near Paris, France and are also members of the Haitian Ski Federation.

Electronic signatures are now legal in Haiti

Last week, the Haitian Senate passed a bill concerning electronic signatures, which had already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies.

The concept of electronic signatures will soon be a reality in Haiti. During a session on Tuesday, January 31^st, the assembly of Senators voted on a bill about electronic signature.

The object of this bill is "to authorize electronic signatures and related services to authenticate data in communications and e-commerce."

With the development of new communication technologies, electronic transactions take more and more importance in the country in terms of promotion, sale and distribution of products. Electronic signatures are widely used in the banking sector worldwide. They allows to digitally sign remote documents.

Brazil withdrawing from the MINUSTAH

United for the stabilization in Haiti (Minustah) and intend to finish its withdrawal before April 15^th. It should be noted that Brazil, with its 979 blue berets in Haiti, is the biggest contributing country with 40 % of the staff of the Mission of the UN. In addition, Ajax Porto Pinheiro, Lieutenant-General of the Brazilian army, commands the military component of the Minustah.

Let us recall that the military participation of Brazil initially ended in October, 2016, but the mission was extended by six months, according to Resolution 2313 of the United Nations Security Council, on Thursday, October 13^th, 2016.

The Minustah wants to express its appreciation to the Brazilian military for its contribution to the mission of preserving peace in Haiti. The Brazilian contingent played a crucial role in the peace building in Haiti since the beginning of the Mission.

Amid pressure from the Canadian prime minister office, Fox News apologized for a tweet that inaccurately identified the suspect in Sunday night's (Jan. 29^th) Quebec mosque terror attack, as a man of Moroccan origin.

By Dylan Byers   @CNNMoney

"FoxNews.com initially corrected the misreported information with a tweet and an update to the story on Monday. The earlier tweets have now been deleted," Refet Kaplan, the managing director at FoxNews.com, said in a statement. "We regret the error."

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office called on Fox News to "either retract or update" the "false and misleading" tweet, noting that the suspect had been identified as a French Canadian, not someone of Moroccan origin.

Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, faces six counts of first-degree murder and five attempted murder charges in Sunday's shooting, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Quebec.

Authorities have not released a possible motive, but Trudeau denounced the attack as an act of terrorism.

"These tweets by Fox News dishonor the memory of the six victims and their families by spreading misinformation, playing identity politics, and perpetuating fear and division within our communities," Kate Purchase, the prime minister's director of communications, said in a statement.

"We need to remain focused on keeping our communities safe and united instead of trying to build walls and scapegoat communities," Purchase continued. "Muslims are predominantly the greatest victims of terrorist acts around the world. To paint terrorists with a broad brush that extends to all Muslims is not just ignorant -- it is irresponsible."

"If we allow individuals and organizations to succeed by scaring people, we do not actually end up any safer," she wrote. "Fear does not make us safer. It makes us weaker. Ramping up fear and closing our borders is not a solution. It distracts from the real issues that affect people's day to day life."

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 16 février 2017

 A judge whose parents are Haitian became an obstacle for the President of the United States 

According to New York Times:

A federal judge, of Haitian decent, has dealt another blow to President Trump’s executive order barring some foreigners from coming into the United States, in a ruling that added to the confusion over the legality of the immigration measure.

Birotte was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1966 to Haitian immigrants. Birotte graduated from Tufts University with a degree in psychology and received his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law.

Birotte was appointed to the United States Attorney's office by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in February 2010. On April 3, 2014, President Obama nominated Birotte to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.  On July 22, 2014 the Senate voted 100-0 to confirm Birotte. He received his federal judicial commission on August 8, 2014, and was sworn in the same day. Birotte has a wife and three children.

Using more sweeping language than previous court rulings, Judge André Birotte Jr. of United States District Court here issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday evening requiring the government to allow in people with valid immigrant visas from the seven majority-Muslim countries Mr. Trump sought to block.

The judge’s order affects only people who are seeking to live in the United States permanently and are taking the first steps to becoming a legal resident. This does not include tourists or students trying to enter the country.

The order came in response to a complaint filed on behalf of 28 people from Yemen — United States citizens and their family members who had remained in Yemen but later received immigrant visas. The visa holders have been stuck in an airport in Djibouti since President Trump issued his executive order last month, according to the complaint.

Like in other rulings in New York and Boston, Judge Birotte wrote that the plaintiffs would likely succeed in court on the merits and that they would also “likely suffer irreparable harm” without an injunction. Yemen is currently embroiled in a civil war with civilians in danger. But unlike some other cases, Judge Birotte’s ruling seemed to apply throughout the country, not just to Los Angeles International Airport. And while other orders had blocked the deportation of travelers, Judge Birotte explicitly wrote that the government could not detain them or block their entry into the country.

The ruling could affect hundreds of people who are in their home countries or stuck in airports in other countries, hoping that they would somehow be permitted to travel to the United States.

After Daring Voyage to U.S., Haitians' Dreams End in Deportation

ByREUTERSFEB. 10, 2017, 5:57 P.M. E.S.T.

PORT-AU-PRINCE — John Stevens Val borrowed $3,000 from friends and family and trekked through 10 countries to make his way to the United States, where he hoped life would be better than in Haiti, his impoverished homeland.

But in the end he landed in a U.S. immigration detention center and was deported back to Haiti, deep in debt and struggling to integrate, like so many other Haitians.

Val, 28, left home after a devastating 2010 earthquake that wrecked the economy of the Caribbean nation, the poorest in the Western hemisphere. He worked in Brazil at a supermarket for about two years until a crash in Latin America's biggest economy led him to pack his bags again.

After gathering the cash, he made his way via, plane, boat, three days of walking through forests, and a dozen buses before reaching Arizona.

For seven years after the quake, U.S. policy protected Haitians from deportation unless they were convicted of a serious crime or posed a national security threat. Encouraged by the policy, between October 2015 and December 2016, more than 13,500 Haitians like Val made the perilous trip, up from just a few hundred in the previous year.

In September, in response to the surge in Haitian immigrants, the United States restarted deportation flights for newly arrived Haitians who do not have a case for seeking asylum.

More Haitians arrived late last year, with more than 7,000 crossing the border between October and December alone, creating a backlog that will take months for the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to clear.

For Val, who was still en route through South America when the shift occurred, the new policy came as a huge shock.

"You lose all of your money and now you do not even succeed," said Val, sitting in the library of non-profit organization, the Jesuit Service for Migrants. Back in a country with 40 percent unemployment, Val was worried.

"It's not easy to live in Haiti. It's complicated. There is no aid; there is no organization that can help us in one way or the other. We're here. We live poorly," Val said.

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“They spent a lot of money. It's like a broken dream. They left thinking they would stay 20, 30, 40 years or never return,” said Adelson Lorgeat, the technical and research director for Haiti’s National Office of Migration. “They consider it to be a dishonor, a defeat.”

Lorgeat advises deportees at Port-au-Prince airport but said the office did not have funds to provide additional support.

In November, of some 40,000 people in immigration detention, more than 4,400 were Haitians, according to the then U.S. secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson.

Between October 2016 and Jan. 16, 2017, 1,513 Haitians were deported, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said. As of Jan. 16, 4,060 were in U.S. detention, an indication more are crossing from Mexico, where even more are massed on the border.

Val said he had not ruled out leaving Haiti once more for different shores, if he had the money.

“If I don’t have any opportunities, I’ll leave,” he said.

(

Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Leslie Adler)

U.N. Considering Removing Military Peacekeepers From Haiti: Official

ByREUTERSFEB. 9, 2017, 1:45 P.M. E.S.T.

PORT-AU-PRINCE — The United Nations is considering removing military personnel from its peacekeeping mission in Haiti, a U.N. official said on Thursday, indicating a possible scaling back of one of the body's longest-running and widely-criticized missions.

The U.N. mission in Haiti, often locally called by its French acronym MINUSTAH, has been in the country since 2004, when a rebellion led to the ouster and exile of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

It is the only U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Americas.

Haiti suffered a two-year political crisis until the recent election and inauguration of President Jovenel Moise. It has suffered major natural disasters, including an earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Matthew last year. But the impoverished country has not had an armed conflict in years.

Herve Ladsous, a U.N. deputy secretary-general, said the institution was encouraged by the recent successful completion of the elections, the inauguration of the president, and the development and building up of the police force.

"The security situation throughout the country cannot be compared with that of 10 years ago," Ladsous said.

"But I say to all who would be tempted to take advantage of this temporary period to return to illegality, commit crimes, violations of human rights, I say no, we will not accept that."

He said there would be a U.N. assessment mission to determine a "reconfiguration" of MINUSTAH, although he cautioned that the picture was not unequivocally rosy.

The mission has been criticized for sexual abuse allegations and its role in Haiti's cholera epidemic, which was started by U.N. peacekeepers after the earthquake.

"Re-evaluation is especially appropriate in light of MINUSTAH's slow, expensive and limited progress in its primary mission," said Brian Concannon, the head of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, a charity that has worked with cholera victims.

Concannon cited the introduction of cholera and sexual exploitation as areas of concern.

Last October, the U.N. Security Council, which approves the mandates of the various peacekeeping missions, renewed MINUSTAH for six months rather than the usual year, a signal to observers of possible changes for the mission.

The secretary-general will weigh in on any change by March 15, and the Security Council is expected to make its decision in April.

(Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Jonathan Oatis)

FEBRUARY 11, 2017 5:05 PM

Jovenel Moïse, Haiti’s new president, must break with nation’s corrupt past

Campaign poster for Jovenel Moïse, who was inaugurated Haiti’s president on Feb. 7.

MIAMI HERALD EDITORIAL BOARD

Haiti has a new president, democratically elected, poised to meet the gargantuan challenges the nation presents.

So why don’t we feel more optimistic?

For one thing, the people of Haiti themselves don’t seem to be a celebratory mood. As reported by Herald writer Jacqueline Charles, President Jovenel Moïse, inaugurated last week, was elected with the support of less than 10 percent of the Haiti’s 6.1 million registered voters, an election with one of the lowest turnouts ever there.

And Moïse’s victory was confirmed 15 months after voting took place. Fraud allegations stood in the way of declaring a new president and moving forward.

Worse, Moïse comes into office with the cloud of a money-laundering probe hovering over his head. That’s three strikes right there.

But there’s more: Moïse was backed, handpicked, really, by former President Michel Martelly, himself elected with great hope and optimism in 2011, only to end his tenure, for all intents and purposes, an autocrat. Whether Moïse will be a clear-eyed independent leader or a puppet of the past remains to be seen.

Haiti desperately needs the former if it is to transcend the plagues that have kept it and its citizens mired in poverty, unable to ably confront natural disasters or political ones.

Moïse ran as an outsider, an entrepreneur, not a politician. (Sound vaguely familiar?) He was a little-known banana farmer and auto-parts dealer before ascending to the presidency.

Now, he has the almost impossible task of making all the right moves to bring about political stability, a measure of economic prosperity and reliable healthcare and schools. These are the basic elements of a decent quality of life that have eluded Haitians time and again, no matter who was in office.

Whether Moïse can drain Haiti’s swamp of political corruption will depend upon the choices he makes. Already, some are worrisome.

Until January, former coup leader and senator-elect Guy Philippe was living comfortably in Haiti, eluding for a decade U.S. authorities seeking to prosecute him on drug-trafficking charges. During the past year, Moïse campaigned openly with Philippe, a disturbing relationship that the candidate didn’t hesitate to flaunt.

Haitian authorities arrested Philippe in Petionville last month, and he was brought to Miami, where he pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges in federal court.

This is not the way to drain Haiti’s swamp.

The bottom line is, Moïse has to deliver. The new president has to ensure that his talk of “law and order” means safety and security for Haitians, not a politicized police force that shuts down protests and terrorizes political foes. This is an imperative because U.N. peacekeepers are getting ready to leave. In the 1990s, when peacekeepers pulled out of the country, the police force simply ran amok.

Moïse must show that justice will be fair and impartial, that his administration will shun, and even root out, the political corruption that has hobbled progress except for a cunning few. He must push laws that facilitate business development and investment.

Haitians’ expectations are extremely low, and who can blame them for that? Democracy has not worked for them, but the alternative is worse. The new president should assure Haitians that they have every reason to be optimistic, and then prove it.

HAITI-ECONOMY: A NEW SUCCESS STORY IN THE DIASPORA

This week, Justin Viard, the General Consul of Haiti in Montreal, accompanied with representatives of the business and tourism sector as well as with the Communication and Cultural sector welcomed Naud Noël, at the consulate. Noël is a Haitian entrepreneur who works in the food industry (snacks, bakery, deli and pastries). He also owns the restaurant "Andréamise" which serves approximately 500 Haitian dishes a day, at a reasonable price, in the north of Montreal.

It should be reminded that Noël was a part of an economic mission which went to Haiti, in June, 2014. This allowed him to export to Florida and Montreal containers of fruits and vegetables produced in Haiti through partnerships with associations of farmers and local partners.

At the present time, initiatives are underway to open a branch of the restaurant "Andréamise" in the Dpartment of Artibonite. Efforts are also underway for larger-scale export on the international market of fruits and vegetables cultivated in Haiti. Naud Noël is also planning for a conversion factory in Gonaïves.

The Consul general of Haiti in Montreal applauded Noël for his success and encouraged him for his investment projects in Haiti.