A crowd of South Florida Haitians protest for improved immigration policy for their loved ones. COURTESY OF FANM
A new program flaunts promise to the large population of Haitians living in South Florida, but leaves many with pressing concerns, some with bad intentions and others with hope.
Maggy hasn’t seen her daughter for seven years – years she’s spent trying to bring her ailing daughter into the country. She didn’t want to provide her last name for fear of endangering or delaying her daughter’s entrance into the U.S. For Maggy, her daughter’s photo is the only thing that keeps her memory.
“I have not been to Haiti since 2007 so I don’t remember any special moment; but when she was born, it was the happiest day of my life,” Maggy said. “Sometimes when I think about her, I look at her picture and I cry.”
Her daughter was approved for a residency visa, or green card, back in 2007. But even after three tries, Maggy hasn’t successfully obtained the clearance for her daughter to enter the country. Separated between the U.S. and Haiti, the two share a fear of never being reconnected.
“She is alone in Haiti without my support [and] now in the hospital. When I call her on the phone, she cries [because] she fears that she’ll die without seeing me,” said Maggy.
But a program for separated Haitian families offers Maggy a glimmer of hope. Last month, President Barack Obama introduced the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, an immigration plan to benefit Haitians who have been approved for residency visas through the Department of Homeland Security.
The announcement comes almost five years after the 2010 earthquake and seven years since Maggy’s daughter was approved for a green card. The program means the mother may be reunited with her child as early as 2015.
“When she came to FANM after hearing the news, she was ecstatic,” said Marleine Bastien, executive director of FANM, a Haitian women’s group.” She has been suffering for being separated from her daughter for many years.”
FANM has been helping Haitian families in South Florida for more than a decade. Since the introduction of the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, Bastien has heard from many concerned mothers, sisters and aunts with questions and others with pressing concerns.
“We’ve had some families trickling in very slowly because there are so many details missing,” said Bastien. “They want to know when, how soon, how long will it last. They want to know should [they] go back to Haiti and wait.”
Bastien said Haitians should not travel back to the island nation. The Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program only grants entrance into the U.S. to those currently living in Haiti, like Maggy’s daughter.
The program skirts an immigration policy that placed a hefty limit on the number of Haitians legally invited into the country each year. But stipulations to the program narrow the bridge it created to connect Haitian family members.
That’s because out of the pool of approved applicants – estimated to be about 109,000 Haitians – only those who were going to receive visas in the next two years will be invited into the U.S.
The two-year requirement is one of the most crucial details of the visa program. It also sets apart the Haitian program from its Cuban equivalent, the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program. The program for hopeful migrants promised to invite a minimum of 20,000 approved Cuban nationals into the U.S. every year.
Bastien led FANM while it pressed President Obama to act on the behalf of Haitian families by lifting the annual limit on granted residency visas.
She is grateful for the new Haitian program, but is calling foul.
“For this measure it almost took five years and even after they approved it, they added restrictions, which don’t exist for Cubans. It makes you wonder,” she said. “Haitians are still feeling the brunt of discrimination no matter who’s in power.”
Bastien said the new program presents another threat: a way for scam artists to defraud people.
“We know for a fact that there are a lot of fake notaries making them believe they can actually apply right now and they cannot,” she said. “We know that scam artists are planning to take advantage, but that’s why getting the information out is so important.”
Bastien warns Haitian families not to give their money to agents who could be pretending to help. They will have to pay fees in the reunification program, but should wait for more information.
One other concern still looms. Some worry that privileged Haitians will corrupt the system by somehow paying for preference in the program.
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson backed the program, calling it a courageous act by the president. But she said once the program begins she will monitor its progress to make sure it’s “geared toward people who really need it and not just something rich people can buy.”
The group of people expected to have priority in the program are children, Wilson said. As a part of the application process, families will also have to prove they can accommodate additional members. But for now, qualifying families have to wait a little bit longer for the start of the program in 2015.
“It will be a great New Year’s present for the Haitian community and for South Florida,” Wilson said.
Back in Haiti, some do without the support of family. Maggy hopes her daughter will make the cut since her green card was approved years ago. She said she feels time is running out but will keep her faith.
“Her only support is the church,” said Maggy. “If it were not for God, she would have died already. I leave everything in God’s hand.”
Chloe Herring 