Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 21 novembre 2017

 A new bill would allow all TPS recipients to apply for permanent residency

BY ALEX DAUGHERTY

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WASHINGTON 

As the Trump administration weighs whether to end Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Haitians and Salvadorans, three members of Congress are preparing legislation that would allow every TPS recipient to apply for permanent residency.

The bill, dubbed the ASPIRE Act, would let every person covered by TPS on Jan. 1, 2017, apply for permanent residency by proving before a judge that they would face extreme hardship if forced to return home.

“The Temporary Protected Status program was created with bipartisan support to protect human life,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who plans to introduce the legislation with Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal. “It advances American interests and values and we must work in a bipartisan manner to do the right thing and protect hardworking immigrants from being sent back to countries where their physical well being could be cast into doubt.”

The bill also creates a new form of “protected status” for TPS recipients who have been in the U.S. for at least five years. Instead of waiting for renewal or revocation of their status every 18 months, current TPS recipients would be able to stay in the U.S. for a renewable six-year period, though they would not be eligible for permanent residency if they cannot prove extreme hardship.

Clarke’s proposal is more expansive than a bill sponsored by Miami Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo that would provide a path to permanent residency for TPS recipients from Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras who arrived in the U.S. before Jan. 13, 2011. Ros-Lehtinen and Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart have signed on to Curbelo’s bill.

The ASPIRE Act would also correct what Clarke’s office calls an “error” in existing law that requires TPS recipients who arrived in the U.S. illegally to leave the U.S. and reenter to adjust their status. Instead, a TPS designation would be enough of a reason to apply for permanent residency without having to leave the country.

Last week, the Trump administration announced that TPS for about 2,000 Nicaraguans will end in January 2019, while about 60,000 Hondurans will get a six-month TPS extension until July 2018 instead of the typical 18 months. The Department of Homeland Security did not announce a decision for Haiti and El Salvador. A decision on Haiti must be made by Thanksgiving.

Clarke’s office said her bill could attract Republican support because it does not automatically give TPS recipients a path to permanent residency. A judge must find that a TPS recipient would face extreme hardship if they return home.

“We’re not handing out green

ADVERTISING

Case file: Girls kidnapped to serve as sex slaves:

The children were discovered in a public beach - Kaliko Beach. It was a Kalico patron who alerted the police about the presence of these minors in one of the rooms. 

The police investigated and made several arrests. Among the suspects involved in this scandal were Haitian nationals, but also foreigners.

The public learned that those arrested for this case of human trafficking, were later released by four substitutes of the Justice Department, without any form of prosecution.

These four substitutes of the Public Prosecutor's department of Port-au-Prince have since been dismissed by the Minister of Justice and Law and Order. The dismissal letters, signed by Secretary Heidi Fortune, were approved by Prime Minister Jacques Guy Lafontant.

The four substitutes who allowed the release of the human trafficking suspects are: Jean Abner Emile, Jean Louis Elysée, Berthol Toussaint and Kenzy Joseph.

Péguy Jean, journalist

Haiti police accused of executing civilians

The deaths of multiple civilians in a police operation in Port-au-Prince has shocked local residents as the government battles gangs in the wake of UN peacekeeper’s  departure one month ago.

A police operation that ended in a school in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, has left at least seven civilians dead.

Residents say the number of deceased is higher, and some were coldly executed by the police.

The accusations of rights abuses come as Haiti re-establishes its armed forces after the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers.

Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo reports from Port-au-Prince.

Deporting 50,000 Haitians would hurt both Haiti and  the United States

Orlando Sentinel, Nov. 20, 2017 - As most people in America look forward to Thanksgiving next week, some 50,000 Haitians in this country — including more than 3,000 in Central Florida — are worrying about whether they’ll soon be sent back to a country still reeling from a series of disasters.

A textbook case for TPS

The Obama administration first granted Temporary Protected Status to Haitians, allowing them to live and work legally in the United States, after a massive earthquake hit their country in 2010. It killed 300,000 people, destroyed much of Haiti’s infrastructure, and left more than 1.5 million homeless. It was a textbook case for TPS, which gives the secretary of homeland security authority to protect foreign nationals in the United States from deportation, and allow them to obtain work permits, when circumstances in their home country — wars, natural disasters, epidemics or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions” — would cast doubt on their safe return, or prevent their country from successfully reintegrating them. TPS is not a pathway to permanent legal status or citizenship.

TPS was limited to Haitians in this country who arrived by January 2011. These are not undocumented immigrants. They are living — and more than 80 percent are working — in the United States with the federal government’s explicit permission. They are law-abiding; any Haitian convicted of a felony or even a pair of misdemeanors is ineligible for TPS. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they are an important part of the work force repairing hurricane damage in Texas and Florida.

TPS has been extended several times for this group since 2011 as Haiti, not fully recovered from the earthquake, has suffered more calamities. A cholera epidemic imported by United Nations troops has killed more than 9,000 people and infected more than 800,000, overwhelming the country’s limited medical resources. Last year the worst storm to hit Haiti in 52 years, Hurricane Matthew, killed more than 1,000 people, displaced 175,000 and caused more than $1 billion in damage. And after the Trump administration decided earlier this year to grant another six-month TPS extension for Haitians, Hurricane Irma roared past the island and delivered yet another blow to its infrastructure as well as its farms and food supply.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has argued that conditions have improved in Haiti enough to end TPS for Haitians, but his own department in September warned its employees not to travel to some parts of the country because of security problems persisting in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.

‘Integral members of our neighborhoods, workplaces ...’

TPS for Haitians is set to expire on Jan. 22, but the deadline for extending it is next week. The legal authority to do so rests with the acting homeland security secretary, Elaine Duke. Last week 41 U.S. mayors, including Orlando’s Buddy Dyer and five others from Florida, wrote to Duke to plead for an 18-month extension. They argued convincingly that their communities and economies would be harmed without an extension. “Haitian TPS recipients are integral members of our neighborhoods, workplaces, religious communities, schools, and health care institutions,” the mayors wrote.

In September, Florida’s two U.S. senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio, and eight U.S. House members from the state — five Democrats and threeRepublicans — also wrote to Duke to request an 18-month extension. “The Haitian people, and now their government, continue to work diligently to rebuild the country after the earthquake, cholera outbreak and Hurricane Matthew,” the lawmakers wrote. “This work will be made more difficult if the country must also welcome back over 50,000 Haitian nationals at once.” This week Nelson and GOP Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami met with Duke to deliver their appeal in person.

Haiti doesn’t have enough jobs, food, shelter and services to meet the needs of its current population, let alone 50,000 more people. They would face unemployment, malnutrition, homelessness and poverty. Deporting these Haitians also would deprive their desperately poor country of the money they have been sending back home from their U.S. earnings. Ironically, sending them back to a country not ready for them could trigger a fresh exodus of refugees who would head for the United States.

The deadline for a decision from the Trump administration on TPS for Haitians is Thanksgiving. The only verdict that makes sense is to extend TPS, ideally for the 18 months that the mayors and Florida’s members of Congress have requested. Both the United States and Haiti could be truly thankful for that outcome.

Haiti 2016’s Worst Weather Victim

By

 Regional Editor

 -BONN, GERMANY – Haiti, which was hit last year by its strongest hurricane in 50 years, has been ranked the country worst-affected by extreme weather in 2016, in an index published Thursday.It will be interesting to see next November who takes the 2017 top spot.

Zimbabwe, which suffered severe drought followed by floods, came second. Fiji, recovering from the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the island nation, was ranked third in the Climate Risk Index published annually by research group Germanwatch.qui

Fiji is president of this year’s U.N. climate talks, where small island states are pushing for urgent action to curb planet-warming emissions, which are expected to bring worse storms, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

‘When Tropical Cyclone Winston hit Fiji, more than half our population was displaced and disturbed,’ said Joshua Wycliffe, Fiji’s permanent secretary for local government, housing and environment.

‘And there’s not been a day when we’ve gone to work not knowing when another cyclone is happening,’ he said on the sidelines of the November 6-17 Bonn talks.

When a storm can severely impact the economy and health of a relatively large island state like Fiji, ‘you can imagine the devastation it can do to a smaller island nation’, he added.

Between 1997 and 2016, more than 520,000 people died in more than 11,000 extreme weather events including storms, floods and heat waves worldwide, the index said. The economic damages amounted to about $3.16 trillion, according to Germanwatch.

Nine of the ten worst-affected nations in that period were developing countries, with Honduras, Haiti and Myanmar suffering most, the index showed.

‘But industrialized nations must also do more to address climate impacts that they are beginning to feel at home,’ said David Eckstein of Germanwatch, one of the authors of the index.

The United States, for example, ranks 10th in the index for 2016, with 267 deaths and $47.7 billion in damages caused by extreme weather, he said.

The index does not take into account slow-onset climate risks such as rising sea levels or mts elting glaciers.

Some countries like Haiti, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are repeatedly hit by extreme weather and have no time to recover fully, Germanwatch noted.

‘Especially in smaller states, the consequences are hardly bearable,’ said Eckstein. Those losses underline how important it is to help poor countries adapt to climate change and deal with the damage caused by extreme weather, he said.

‘Especially at a climate summit under Fijian presidency, these issues have to receive the highest priority,’ he added.

Olivier Noël receives the help of a billionaire for his project

Olivier Noël, presented his company, Simple DNA, to the U.S. broadcast television show Shark Tank recently. Shark Tank is a show about entrepreneurship. It is one of the most popular TV shows in the United States.

The concept is simple: entrepreneurs alternately present their product or business ideas to investors. These investors decide whether to finance the company according to the relevance of the pitch.

On Sunday, November 12^th, Olivier Noël presented his company in front of the 5 million television viewers who watch Shark Tank every week. Simple DNA charmed the investors.

After having described the concept of "Simple DNA," Olivier Noel reached an agreement with the billionaire Mark Cuban. In spite of the initial offer of the British billionaire Richard Branson for 25 % of the company, Olivier preferred the much more interesting offer of 200,000-dollar by Mark Cuban for 20 % of the company. The famous owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team is according to the Forbes Magazine the 211^th richest in the world with a wealth estimated at 2.6 billion dollars.

Simple DNA can enlarge its operations with Cuban's investment, and therefore accelerate its growth. Two new partners, Olivier and Mark, reached an agreement that seemed to delight both parties.

Simple DNA offers a service a saliva donation which allows donors to contribute to scientific research while earning money on the supplied samples. The system is simple. The donor performs a questionnaire after having completed a profile on the company’s Web site.

The researchers working with Simple DNA formulate a specific request. The team selects the donors compatible with the request to pair them.

Once accepted, Simple DNA sends a kit and a device which allows it to share DNA and forward it to the researchers.

The participant is entitled to a compensation which he can pocket or share with an organization of his choice.

The company has a simple and clear ambition: create a platform which allows to help scientific research while making money.

Olivier Noel had the idea to create DNA Simple following the difficulties that he had as a researcher to find samples of DNA in rural areas. Simple DNA helps to solve this problem, which many researchers in the United States face.

Olivier Noel is an alumnus of the Institution Saint-Louis of Gonzague, and spent his childhood in Haiti. He attended Queens College, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry and an honorary research in biomedical sciences.

In 2011, he continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a doctorate degree in biochemistry and in molecular genetics.

He is a member of the prestigious Forbes Magazine’s prestigious list “30 Under 30,” which honors young people under thirty in the field of science.

A presidential decree appoints Jodel Lesage as the head of the new military body in charge of rebuilding the Haitian Army

President Jovenel Moise chose a former colonel of the FAD' H - Jodel Lesage, to manage the team whose responsibility will be the reconstitution of Haiti’s armed forces.

Jodel Lesage, according to colleagues at of former Armed forces, was a model officer who was disciplined, competent and honest in the ranks.

Due to his qualifications, in 2004, the Prime Minister Gérard Latortue chose him as head of the very first office of management for displaced servicemen. Also, in 2007, he was a member of the security team set up by former president René Préval.

Jodel Lesage is part of the class ‘74 of the military academy. For his new mission, which will last two years, Jodel Lesage will be accompanied by a team of five to seven former officers of Haiti’s defunct Armed forces.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 1 décembre 2017

 Trump’s visit to Florida met with protests over immigration decision for Haitians

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES, JULIE BROWN AND LANCE DIXON

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South Florida community leaders Tuesday decried the Trump administration’s decision to return nearly 60,000 Haitians to their quake-ravaged homeland, calling it “heartbreaking” and “shameful” while vowing that their fight has just begun.

“We all know that Haiti is not ready to absorb so many of its children,” said Gepsie Metellus, executive director of Sant La, the Haitian Neighborhood Center in Miami. “This is a sad day, a very shameful day, a depressing day especially on a Thanksgiving eve where a nation of immigrants would be rebuking immigrants.”

The outrage spread to Palm Beach, too. Hundreds of Florida hospitality workers came by the busload from across the state to protest at President Donald Trump’s private beach club, Mar-a-Lago, where he was scheduled to arrive Tuesday for the Thanksgiving holiday. The union workers from Unite Here waved flags and marched in the searing sun on a bridge overlooking the resort, chanting “Shut it down.”

Their message to the president: If you deport us, many of the resorts, theme parks and hotels, like yours, won’t be able to operate.

“I have six children. My mom and dad were killed in the earthquake. My country is nothing now,’’ said Marie Partait, who immigrated fromHaiti15 years ago.

2) Carvalho: Over my dead body shall anybody remove any child from the sanctity of our classrooms

Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools says "Over my dead body shall anybody remove any child from the sanctity of our classrooms, from the sanctuaries that schools represent in our community," during a news conference with U.S. Representative Frederica Wilson and faith-based and community leaders who support extending Temporary Protected Status on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017.

Al DiazMiami Herald

A $9-an-hour dishwasher at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Partait has been living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS — the immigration status that protected her from deportation and that the Trump administration announced Monday will end on July 22, 2019. If Haitians choose to stay after that, they would face possible detention and deportation.

The decision by Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke came two weeks after she also ended the status for 2,500 Nicaraguans. She put on hold a similar decision for 57,000 Hondurans, triggering an automatic six-month extension.

But it was the decision about Haiti that incensed South Florida members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.

“This announcement will just give us more fight power,” U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, who represents one of the largest constituents of Haitian-American voters in the United States, said during a Tuesday morning press conference in front of the Miami-Dade School Board. “We will continue to advocate.”

3) Haitian student pleads for TPS extension

Marlene Bastien of the Haitian Women of Miami and other local leaders are host a press conference condemning the Trump administration's decision to end TPS for thousands of Haitians.

Charles Trainor Jr.Miami Herald

Supporters of TPS in Congress have introduced at least three bills in Congress, including the bipartisanExtending Status Protection for Eligible Refugees with Established Residency Act, or ESPERER, which spells hope in French. With Miami Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo as the chief sponsor,it would provide a path to permanent residency and American citizenship for immigrants currently living in the U.S. under TPS.

Wilson, who is a co-sponsor of Curbelo’s bill and another TPS-related bill by New York Democratic Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, said she plans to file her own legislation in the coming days. Her bill, she said, will be exclusively focused on the estimated 59,000 Haitians with TPS who meet certain requirements to adjust their status to legal permanent resident within three years of the bill’s passage.

Similar to TPS’ current provisions, the Wilson proposal will allow Haitians to legally live and work in the U.S. while their immigration application is being processed. Her office was still working on the wording of the bill Tuesday.

“It’s the only solution we can come up with to make sure that these people are not deported back to Haiti,” she said.

Immigration attorney Ira Kurzban said he’s preparing a lawsuit against DHS, which determined that the “extraordinary but temporary conditions caused by the 2010 earthquake... no longer exist.” The Obama administration granted TPS for Haitians after the quake.

“The conditions are now 10 times worse. We’ve had the cholera epidemic. You had two hurricanes,” said Kurzban, arguing that DHS failed to follow the law in determining why Haiti’s TPS should not be extended, basing its decision on ideology rather than facts. “They didn’t consider all of the factors they were supposed to consider.”

Kurzban noted that prior to extending Haitians’ TPS designation for only six months in May, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which administers the TPS program, had madeinquiries into the Haitian community’s criminal history.

“We think it’s... part of the long pattern of discrimination and racism against Haitians,” he said.

But whether by lawsuit or law, many Haitian TPS holders Tuesday continued to hold out hope that Monday’s decision to cancel the protection in 18 months would be reversed.

“Maybe it’s just the beginning for Congress to work harder with DHS to fulfill our dream,” Yolnick Jeune, 45, a TPS holder said during a press conference at Haitian Women of Miami on Tuesday afternoon. “Our dream is not to go back in a country that is not in a stable condition.”

Another TPS recipient, Ronyde Ponthieux, urged Trump to think about how the decision impacts families that have invested in the country. He was joined by his 10-year-old daughter Christina, a youth leader with Haitian Women of Miami, a group that also denounced the decision.

“I have a home here. I have a house here, but I don’t have anything in Haiti,” Ponthieux said. “We all know Haiti is not ready to receive those people.”

His daughter asked the president to consider the 27,000 U.S.-born children of Haitian TPS-holders and others with TPS — particularly as the holiday season approaches.

“Before you go to sleep at night, think about what you’re doing,” she said, wearing a hall monitor sash and school uniform. “What am I going to give thanks about on Thanksgiving Day?”

Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who organized the Tuesday morning press conference in Miami with Father Reginald Jean-Mary of Notre Dame d’Haiti Catholic Church in Little Haiti, said the decision will divide mothers from sons, fathers from daughters.

“I cannot be a superintendent of schools. I cannot be a father, I cannot be an immigrant, citizen of this nation if I did not stand with the 12,000 K-12 children impacted by TPS and the 5,700 adult learners currently enrolled in our school system equally impacted by TPS,” Carvalho said. “This is a matter of decency. This is a matter of common sense. This is matter of respect. This is a matter of compassion for those in greatest need.”

DHS has said only Congress can — and should— provide a permanent fix.

Curbelo, touting his legislation as a solution that could be much better than the TPS program for Haitians, Hondurans, Nicaraguans and Salvadorans, said he is united with other members of the South Florida congressional delegation on the issue.

“Today, while we have heavy hearts, we still have hope and we will continue working together until this gets down because we are a welcoming community, a community that appreciates immigrants,” he said. “This is only a tragedy if Congress fails to act.”

Légende sous la photo
Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, along with faith-based and community leaders hold a news conference to announce support for extending Temporary Protected Status on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017. On Monday, the Trump administration said it was extending TPS for about 60,000 Haitians for 18 months until July 22, 2019 and then permanently ending the program for Haiti. AL DIAZ Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.

ECONOMY WILL SUFFER IF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEPORTS IMMIGRANTS FLEEING CRISES, ADVOCATES SAY

BY NICOLE RODRIGUEZON 11/9/17 AT 12:34 PM

The U.S. economy would take a huge hit if the Trump administration decides to stop offering Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to thousands of immigrants who have fled natural disasters, political persecution and pandemics, immigration advocacy groups and lawmakers said.

More than 300,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti have been granted TPS, and its elimination would result in the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) taking a $164 billion hit over the next decade, according to the Center for American Progress. It would also result in a $6.9 billion reduction to Social Security and Medicare contributions over a decade, the Immigrant Legal Resource Centersaid.

More than 80 percent of TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti are believed to be employed, and if they could no longer perform their jobs, American employers would have to spend $967 million in hiring and training new employees, ILRC estimated.

 “TPS holders are essential contributors to the U.S. economy and society, and provide critical financial support to assist recovery and stability in their home countries—both things the Trump administration should consider as it decides the future of TPS,” the Center for American Progress said.

Deadlines to renew TPS for immigrants from El Salvador and Haiti are looming. At least 60 days before TPS is set to expire, the Homeland Security secretary must review the conditions for the TPS designation and decide if protection is still warranted.

Acting Secretary Elaine Duke this month ended TPS for 2,500 recipients displaced from Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch in 1999. The formerly protected immigrants have about a year to leave the U.S.

Duke is weighing the status for 57,000 Hondurans, having extended the expiration date by six months (it had been January 5). According to The Washington Post, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly pressured Duke to expel the Hondurans, but she refused.

A decision for 50,000 Haitians, whose TPS is set to expire January 22, is expected around Thanksgiving. TPS for 195,000 recipients from El Salvador expires March 9.

Haitians received TPS in 2010 after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake shook the island, killing 220,000 people. Salvadorans received TPS in 2001 after a series of earthquakes left tens of thousands homeless.

The Homeland Security secretary can designate countries for temporary TPS in cases of war, famine, epidemics or natural disasters. TPS currently is granted to recipients from 13 foreign countries.

The majority of both Salvadoran and Honduran TPS holders have lived in the United States for at least 20 years, and at least 16 percent of Haitian TPS holders have lived in the U.S. for at least two decades. TPS holders from the three countries have 273,000 American-born children, according to the American Immigration Council.

Losing TPS would be devastating to those children, immigrant advocacy groups say.

“They would either face separation from their parents or be forced to relocate to a country foreign to them,” the Center for American Progress said. “Even the fear of family separation or deportation of parents has been found to have detrimental effects on children’s cognitive and psychological well-being.”

Job sectors anticipated to suffer the most from elimination of TPS are the construction, restaurant and food services, landscaping, child care, hospitality and grocery industries—all of which employ high rates of TPS holders.

Florida lawmakers have been particularly vocal in demanding Congress grant permanent residency to TPS holders from the three countries. The state stands to lose an estimated 72,000 TPS holders if protection is revoked.

Four Florida lawmakers late last month introduced bipartisan legislation to grant legal permanent resident status to more than 300,000 qualified Nicaraguan, Honduran, Salvadoran and Haitian migrants.

“The continued short-term extensions of TPS have created anxiety and uncertainty not only for these migrants and their families, but also for their employers and neighbors whose prosperity also depends on them,” Republican U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo said in an October 31 statement. “While I will continue to support extensions for Temporary Protected Status, this bipartisan legislation would give these migrants the peace of mind to continue giving back to their communities, contributing to our economy and supporting their families.”

Release Date:

November 20, 2017

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

Acting Secretary Elaine Duke Announcement

On Temporary Protected Status For Haiti

WASHINGTON— Today, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke announced her decision to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Haiti with a delayed effective date of 18 months to allow for an orderly transition before the designation terminates on July 22, 2019. This decision follows then-Secretary Kelly’s announcement in May 2017 that Haiti had made considerable progress, and that the country’s designation will likely not be extended past six months.

The decision to terminate TPS for Haiti was made after a review of the conditions upon which the country’s original designation were based and whether those extraordinary but temporary conditions prevented Haiti from adequately handling the return of their nationals, as required by statute. Based on all available information, including recommendations received as part of an inter-agency consultation process, Acting Secretary Duke determined that those extraordinary but temporary conditions caused by the 2010 earthquake no longer exist. Thus, under the applicable statute, the current TPS designation must be terminated.

Acting Secretary Duke met with Haitian Foreign Minister Antonio Rodrigue and Haitian Ambassador to the United States Paul Altidor recently in Washington to discuss the issue.

In 2017 alone, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducted extensive outreach to the Haitian communities throughout the country. These include but are not limited to community forums on TPS, panel discussions with Haitian community organizers, stakeholder teleconferences, regular meetings with TPS beneficiaries, news releases to the Haitian community, meetings with Haitian government officials, meetings at local churches, and listening sessions.

Since the 2010 earthquake, the number of displaced people in Haiti has decreased by 97 percent. Significant steps have been taken to improve the stability and quality of life for Haitian citizens, and Haiti is able to safely receive traditional levels of returned citizens. Haiti has also demonstrated a commitment to adequately prepare for when the country’s TPS designation is terminated.

In May 2017, then-Secretary Kelly announced a limited extension for Haiti’s TPS designation, stating that he believed there were indications that Haiti – if its recovery from the 2010 earthquake continued at pace – may not warrant further TPS extension past January 2018. At the time, then-Secretary Kelly stated that his six-month extension should give Haitian TPS recipients living in the United States time to attain travel documents and make other necessary arrangements for their ultimate departure from the United States, and should also provide the Haitian government with the time it needs to prepare for the future repatriation of all current TPS recipients.

To allow for an orderly transition, the effective date of the termination of TPS for Haiti will be delayed 18 months. This will provide time for individuals with TPS to arrange for their departure or to seek an alternative lawful immigration status in the United States, if eligible. It will also provide time for Haiti to prepare for the return and reintegration of their citizens. During this timeframe, USCIS will work with the State Department, other DHS components and the Government of Haiti to help educate relevant stakeholders and facilitate an orderly transition.

Haitians with TPS will be required to reapply for Employment Authorization Documents in order to legally work in the United States until the end of the respective termination or extension periods. Further details about this termination for TPS will appear in a Federal Register notice.

Source: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/11/20/acting-secretary-elaine-duke-announcement-temporary-protected-status-haiti

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Date: November 23, 2017 at 10:38:56 AM EST
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Earthquakes could get worse in 2018 due to Earth's slowing rotation

Every so often, Earth's rotation slows down or speeds up by a few microseconds. While the changes don't affect us directly, some scientists think recent slowdowns could be a sign of big earthquakes to come. 

In a new study, researchers looked at every earthquake since 1900 that registered a magnitude of 7 or larger and saw an uptick in the number of big quakes about every 32 years. They also noticed an unusual pattern: Earth's rotation would slow about five years before every cluster of earthquakes.

The scientists can't explain for sure how the slower rotations led to more severe earthquakes yet. They suggest the small changes between Earth's crust and liquid core might be the culprit.

But considering Earth's most recent slowing period started more than four years ago, researchers say 2018 is ripe for severe earthquakes.

It's unclear just how many more there'll be, but one of the study's authors told The Guardian, "We could easily have 20 a year starting in 2018." That's more than three times the number of significant magnitude 7 or higher earthquakes so far in 2017.

Contractor for Puerto Rico Power Suspends Work, Citing Unpaid Bills

By FRANCES ROBLESNOV. 21, 2017

• With less than half the power on Puerto Rico restored two months after a deadly hurricane hit the island, the company hired to help bring back the electricity is “standing down,” it said, because it is owed tens of millions of dollars for weeks of work.

Whitefish Energy Holdings had already been fired last month by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority after widespread criticism and multiple investigations of a $300 million contract it received to help repair the island’s power grid. Even with the cancellation of the contentious contract, the company and its 500 workers were supposed to stay on the job until the end of the month.

Puerto Rico’s bankrupt electric company, known as Prepa, is behind in its payments and Whitefish cannot continue fronting the cash needed to hire subcontracted workers, Whitefish said. Dozens of line workers from Florida have already begun heading home, because the utilities they work for are nervous about payment, the company said in a letter to Prepa. It added that it hoped to resume work once the payment issue was resolved.

According to the Whitefish letter, the company has billed about $103 million — and $83 million is still outstanding.

The billing dispute comes as the amount of power generation in Puerto Rico has actually declined in the past week. More than eight weeks after Hurricane Maria swept through the island, toppling power poles, transmission lines and towers, the grid is performing at just 49.4 percent of its capacity. Prepa had reached 50 percent last Wednesday, before several power failures knocked out service to many communities that had seen electricity restored.

Thousands of businesses remain closed and millions of people are in the dark.

The payment dispute underscores the chaotic atmosphere at Prepa, which is $9 billion in debt and in search of a new chief executive after the last bosswas forced out on Friday.

“It may have not been the best business decision coming to work for a bankrupt island,” Whitefish’s chief executive, Andy Techmanski, told CNN.

He said the company had been assured it would be reimbursed for its work by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But FEMA distanced itselfwhen curious clauses in the contract saying it had been approved by the federal government and could not be audited were made public. FEMA’s director has vowed not to commit “one dollar” to the contract, and it is unclear whether Prepa has enough money to pay the bills itself.

A spokesman for Prepa said that the utility had stopped making payments after one of the subcontracted companies Whitefish had hired complained that it had not been paid. The subcontractor, Prepa said, asked for a freeze on Whitefish’s payments.

“Faced with this claim, Prepa had to stop the pending payments to Whitefish until the situation with the Whitefish subcontractor is clarified,” the company said in a statement. The statement did not name the subcontractor.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 7 décembre 2017

 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 29^th 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 28^th, 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 Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser., or online using our Consumer Complaint Form.

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 30^th, 2009, performed the first kidney transplant in Haiti. Two others are planned for this month."

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 13 décembre 2017

 Haitian folk singer who had sharp words for politicians dies in Miami Beach

BY GLENN GARVIN

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Joseph Emmanuel “Manno” Charlemagne, whose acerbic folk songs about Haitian politics kept him in exile — often in South Florida — for much of his life, died Sunday in a Miami Beach hospital where he was being treated for cancer.

The death of Charlemagne, 69, prompted Haitian President Jovenel Moïse to pause in an official visit to Europe to tweet that the demise of “the committed singer Manno Charlemagne is a great loss for the country and for the cultural sector in particular. My sympathies to the family and loved ones of this patriot who loved his country with passion. Haiti is grateful to him.”

That was a significant departure from the way most of Haitian officialdom regarded Charlemagne throughout his life. Rare was the Haitian politician who didn’t feel the sting of Charlemagne’s pungent lyrics, which were anything but subtle.

His songs portrayed the various members of the Duvalier dynasty, which ruled Haiti for three decades beginning in the 1950s, as enthusiastic consumers of feces.

In recent years, Charlemagne had largely disdained politics and gone back to music. He was a frequent performer at the Miami Beach restaurant Tap Tap, even after his diagnosis with multiple forms of cancer at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Miami Herald staff writer Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report.

Jovenel Moise travels to Europe with a Haitian Business delegation by Rezo Nodwes

President Moise was scheduled to meet, among others, French President Emmanuel Macron and King Philippe of Belgium. The Office of Communication of the Presidency informed the population that Haitian President, Jovenel Moise, accompanied with First Lady, Martine Moise and a delegation of entrepreneurs, was to begin an official European tour in Europe from December 9 to 15 with stops in Paris, France and Brussel, Belgium.

In the French capital, on December 12, the President was scheduled to participate at the summit on financing of the Climatic Action (One Planet), which was to gather several heads of state and of government. Outside the summit, the Haitian President was to speak to his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron and discuss bilateral cooperation between France and Haiti.

He was also scheduled to meet the Managing Director of the French Agency of Development (AFD), Rémy Rioux, the General Secretary of the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF), Michaelle Jean and the Chief Executive Officer of the UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.

The Head of State was to introduce members of Haiti’s private sector to representatives of France’s business community during a meeting with the association of French Entrepreneurs (MEDEF).

Before ending his French tour, President Jovenel Moise will also travel to Normandy, in the Northwest of France, where he will tour the Water Agency, an important institution which "finances the works and the actions which contribute to protecting water resources and fighting against pollutions."

On Wednesday, December 13th, the President was scheduled to travel to Belgium where a busy itinerary was awaiting him. First, the Haitian Head of State and the members of the Haitian private sector were to speak to representatives of the Chamber of Commerce of Brussels and Antwerp. He was then to attend lunch with Secretary-President of Wallonia / Brussels, Rudy Demotte.

Then, the President was to travel to offices of the European Union (EU) where he was to have an interview with Madam Frederica Mogherini, the second Vice-president of the European Commission and the High representative of the Union for the Foreign Affairs and the Safety policy.

Shortly after, the Head of State was to meet Pim Van Ballekom, Vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB)((BEI),(EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK)).

On Thursday, December 14th, the President was to speak with Neven Mimica, European Commissioner for the international cooperation of development before ending his Belgian tour by a meeting at the royal palace where he was invited by their majesties King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium.

President Jovenel Moise was scheduled to return to Haiti on Saturday, December 16, 2017. 

Note from the U.S. State Department

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of traveling to Haiti due to its current security environment and lack of adequate medical facilities and response. This is an update to the Travel Warning issued on September 12, 2017.

Kidnapping remains a threat, and armed robberies and violent assaults reported by U.S. citizens have risen in recent years. Do not share specific travel plans with strangers. Be aware that newly arrived travelers are targeted. Arrange to have your host or organization meet you at the airport upon arrival or pre-arranged airport to hotel transfers. Embassy personnel are prohibited from visiting public banks and ATMs, which are often targeted by criminals.

Fewer incidents of crime are reported outside of Port-au-Prince, but Haitian authorities' ability to respond to emergencies is limited and in some areas nonexistent. U.S. Embassy employees are discouraged from walking in city neighborhoods, including in Petionville, during daylight, and are prohibited from walking in city neighborhoods, including Petionville, after dark. Visit only establishments with secured parking lots. U.S. Embassy personnel are under a curfew from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Embassy personnel must receive permission from the Embassy security officer to travel to some areas of Port-au-Prince, thus limiting the Embassy's ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens.

Protests, including tire burning and road blockages, are frequent and often spontaneous. Avoid all demonstrations. The Haitian National Police's ability to assist U.S. citizens during disturbances is limited. Have your own plans for quickly exiting the country if necessary;

Medical care infrastructure, ambulances, and other emergency services are limited throughout Haiti. Check that your organization has reliable infrastructure, evacuation, and medical support in place. Comprehensive medical evacuation insurance is strongly advised for all travelers.

For further information:

See the State Department's travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Haiti's Country Specific Information.

Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.

Contact the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, located at Boulevard du October, Route de Tabarre telephone: 509-2229-8000; after hours emergency telephone: 509-2229-8000;fax: 509-2229-8027; e-mail:Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.; web page:http://ht.usembassy.gov.

Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Missionary in US custody on charges he abused Haitian boys

BALTIMORE – A Christian missionary who allegedly told a counselor in Virginia that he had sexual contact with minors in Haiti has been arrested and is in federal custody, authorities said Friday.

If the allegations are proven, James Arbaugh, formerly of the Virginia town of Stuarts Draft, would be only the latest missionary to take advantage of Haiti's extensive poverty and anemic rule of law to abuse vulnerable youngsters. He lived in Haiti for at least a decade and described himself on a personal blog as a missionary with a group called "Walking Together for Christ Haiti."

A federal affidavit filed by a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations says a counselor in Virginia reported Arbaugh to authorities in September after he allegedly disclosed sexual contact with boys. The affidavit alleges he told investigators in subsequent interviews that he "groomed" or had sexual contact including oral sex with at least 21 boys. One 5-year-old boy he allegedly molested was the son of a pastor in Jeremie, a city devastated last year by Hurricane Matthew.

"Arbaugh described sexual acts that took place with at least 15 minors which would be considered illicit sexual conduct," special agent Tami Ketcham wrote in the affidavit.

Carissa Cutrell, a spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Arbaugh is in federal custody. Authorities have 30 days to indict Arbaugh, ask a judge for an extension or dismiss the charges, according to Brian McGinn, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the western district of Virginia. It wasn't immediately clear if Arbaugh has a lawyer.

Teams of missionaries are a very common sight on U.S. flights to Haiti. For decades, they have done vital work running a network of hospitals, orphanages, schools and food-distribution sites in the hemisphere's poorest country. But over the years, some foreign missionaries have been arrested for sexually abusing children. Some have worked in Haiti's poorly regulated orphanages, where many youths are not orphans at all, but sent by parents who can't support them.

"I expect that what we're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg," said Brian Concannon, executive director of the Boston-based advocacy group Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

Concannon said the Haitian government needs to do a far better job of protecting its most vulnerable citizens, but the first line of defense against sexual predators preying on children should be the church groups that send missionaries overseas in the first place.

"They need to step up to ensure they are not supporting child abusers," he said.

On his blog, Harbaugh has photo galleries that show him lying on what appears to be a beach with naked or half-naked children. He described himself as an evangelist and religious film producer.

The affidavit, which was published by The News Leader newspaper, alleges that he would swim naked with Haitian youngsters while traveling around the country, "and at times genital skin-to-skin touching would take place beneath the water."

A spokesman for the Haitian National Police could not be contacted for comment. A website for the group "Walking Together for Christ Haiti" was not functional.

David McFadden on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dmcfadd