Washington Update
May 2004

Urge Bush Administration to Protect Haitians
By Lynette Engelhardt Stott, LIRS Director for Government Relations

The United States has two very disparate policies toward Haiti. On one hand we counsel U.S. citizens not to travel to Haiti, and on the other we force some Haitians in the United States to travel to Haiti by deporting them. Haitians who flee their strife-torn homeland hoping to reach safety on U.S. shores are also sent back. According to a March 11 Department of State travel warning, “The security situation in Haiti remains dangerous and unpredictable. U.S. citizens are warned to defer travel to Haiti until the situation stabilizes.” Forcibly sending people back to an unstable nation is an embarrassment to the United States, and undermines our leadership in other international humanitarian crises.

Recognizing the instability in Haiti, the United States has nearly 2,000 Marines on the ground in the troubled Caribbean nation as part of an international peace keeping force. Conditions inside Haiti remain extremely volatile, with basic security not yet established throughout the country. A rmed gangs continue to control many areas of the nation. S erious human rights abuses, political violence and killings have escalated to the level of a humanitarian crisis.

Relief agencies are struggling to provide urgently needed food to hundreds of thousands of people. The United Nations has requested $35 million to fund emergency operations.

An Amnesty International 15-day mission to Haiti found that Haitians across the political and social spectrum felt “a profound sense of insecurity and fear for their own safety.”

In light of these conditions, the United States should take two immediate actions to protect the dignity and safety of Haitians currently in the United States:

• Suspend the deportations of Haitians in the United States to Haiti, pending a peaceful resolution of the current crisis; and
• Grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS), for a period of 18 months to Haitians in the United States. TPS is a temporary immigration status for nationals of countries where ongoing armed conflict makes it unsafe for them to return home.

It is unconscionable to deport people to violence. The United States should be ashamed of this policy and suspend it immediately. Clearly, the conditions in Haiti qualify Haitians for TPS protection, but government designation is required.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the power to stop the deportations and grant TPS. It is therefore important that DHS Secretary Tom Ridge hear from concerned people in the United States. Please write to Secretary Ridge, asking him to affirm the United States’ tradition of caring for and protecting persons in vulnerable situations by immediately suspending the deportation of Haitians and granting them TPS for 18 months. Copy your letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell and your two senators and your representative.

A sample letter is available to use as a guide in your letter writing. For quickest delivery of your letter, fax it to Secretary Ridge's office at 202/282-8401.

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