No one knows for sure why the Haitians who had been living in Canada after fleeing there some time ago to avoid deportation from the US are now re-entering the US. 115 have been caught so far. I’m guessing there is some misunderstanting about the Temporary Protected Status (hinted in this article) that Obama gave Haitians already in the US illegally when the Earthquake occurred in January.
From the Burlington Free Press:
Over the past two and a half months — ever since Haiti was devastated by a monstrous earthquake Jan. 12 — a growing number of Haitian expatriates have been trying to come back into the United States after departing the country just years earlier to avoid deportation.
As of late last week, the number of Haitians caught since the earthquake allegedly trying to enter the country illegally had topped 115, said Mark Henry, operations officer for the U.S. Border Patrol’s Swanton sector.
Of the 115, one was caught in New York and 114 were apprehended in Vermont, Henry said. The Swanton sector covers the border from New Hampshire through Vermont to Ogdensburg, N.Y.
Tristram Coffin, the U.S. Attorney for Vermont, said he would not speculate on why Vermont’s border was such a preferred option for the Haitians.
Betsy Horsman, a deputy U.S. Attorney who works on immigration cases out of Plattsburgh, N.Y., said she suspects the Haitians think they have a better shot of entering Vermont’s border undetected than they would in upstate New York.
“We’re known over here as being very aggressive,” she said. “I don’t know why they would choose Vermont unless there are a couple of places in Vermont they know about.”
Do they think Temporary Protected Status will work for them?
They also are coming back here hoping that an 18-month ban of deportations to Haiti put in place by the Obama administration after the quake might give them time to establish themselves in America and strengthen their case for permission to reside in the country permanently.
“I suspect this has a lot to do with the Temporary Protected Status policy because of the earthquake,” Henry said.
Church World Service involved?
Way back in 2007 we reported that a subcontractor of federal refugee contractor, Church World Service, was arrested for human trafficking in Canada. They were smuggling Haitians to Canada. Hope they are not involved in helping them back across the border now. Obviously someone suggested Vermont.