Many Haitians in US still afraid to seek amnesty

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Suze Lubin spent five years in hiding, unable to apply for most jobs or even a
driver’s license, and in constant fear of being deported to Haiti, where her son had once been kidnapped.

Then the earthquake that devastated her homeland on Jan. 12, 2010, transformed her life in North Lauderdale, Fla.

Citing humanitarian reasons, President Barack Obama allowed undocumented Haitians already here to apply for Temporary
Protected Status, as long as they have no criminal background. The
program is reserved for selected undocumented migrants from countries
disrupted by natural disasters, armed conflicts or other emergencies.

“Everything is OK now,” said Lubin, 40, whose family
embraced the long-sought amnesty, which allows TPS recipients to live
and work here legally until July and possibly longer with extensions.
So far, about 60,000 Haitians have applied nationwide for the program,
said Ana Santiago, a spokeswoman with U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services. But that’s far fewer than
the100,000 believed to be eligible, and the deadline to apply is Jan. 18.

Advocates list several reasons for the low numbers: a fear of letting authorities know where they are; the $470
cost to apply and the hope that more comprehensive immigration changes
may eventually be approved. The decision last month to resume the
deportations of those with criminal backgrounds is also expected to
dampen a last-minute push to get people to apply.

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement have preyed on the Haitian community in the past, by picking up families at 3 and 4 a.m. and deporting parents,” said Ellison Toussaint, of Miami, a local community organizer. “A lot of people still don’t trust immigration.”

After the earthquake killed a government-estimated
300,000 and left more than 1 million people homeless, advocates pushed
for TPS, saying it would help the rebuilding of Haiti. With work permits, undocumented immigrants could earn a better living and help family members in Haiti, they said.

South Florida in particular has been a lifeline for Haitians, with a significant share of remittances to Haiti coming from this region, according to experts. Remittances account for one-fifth of Haiti’s economy.

Anti-immigration groups blasted TPS, claiming it would prompt an exodus of people from Haiti. About a year later, however, the U.S. Coast Guard said that did not happen. Crews in 2010 intercepted 1,377 Haitian migrants at sea, down from1,782 in 2009.

Then there was concern over the cost to taxpayers.

According to Hiram Ruiz, director of refugee services for the Florida Department of Children & Families, “there is no cost to the department, or the state, or the country” because TPS recipients are not eligible for Medicaid and Social Security benefits.

Undocumented immigrants are already entitled by law
to free K-12 public school education and emergency health care. “The
benefit (of TPS) is that they’re working legally and maintaining their
families,” Ruiz said.

But it does widen the number of job seekers at a time when Florida is facing about 11 percent unemployment.

“Government costs don’t rise only because someone is getting a welfare check,” said David North, of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C.,
which is calling for lower immigration levels. “There is also the
indirect cost of depressing the labor market by expanding the number of
low-skilled workers.”

Minority Development and Empowerment Inc., a social service agency in Fort Lauderdale, is planning job preparation workshops for TPS recipients later this month.

“Our main focus is to teach them successful interviewing skills,” said CEO Francois Leconte.

Lisa Wilson, CEO of the Lake Worth Resource Center, said her group has found its Haitian clients jobs in landscaping, administrative assistance and hospitality.

Job placement is their prime goal, but many are
using their new status to become more engaged in the community. “Our
English classes have tripled,” Wilson said.

About half of all Haitian TPS applicants live in Florida,
Santiago said. The government doesn’t maintain a database of applicants
by age or time in the U.S., but community organizers said both run the
gamut.

Randy McGrorty, director of Catholic Legal Services, said he fears some who are still eligible will be scared off by the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement decision to resume deportations of those with criminal convictions.

Shane O’Mare, an attorney with Legal Aid of Palm Beach County, said that after an initial rush to get applications in, the momentum has slowed to a trickle.

In Lubin’s household, four people — herself, her
mother, her teenage son and her cousin — applied for TPS. She said she
scraped together savings to pay the application fee. Because of the
high cost, they staggered their applications.

Lubin, who also has a young U.S.-born son, said she
feels like she’s finally building a life in this country. She takes two
buses to her full-time job as a cook, where she earns enough to send
money to her sister in Haiti.

She is looking forward to getting a car now that she
can get a driver’s license. It’s the little things, like having her
electric bill in her name, that make a difference, she said.

And she no longer has to worry when there is an unexpected knock at her door.

“Some people really don’t understand TPS,” said attorney Clarel Cyriaque, of Miami, who said they think that by applying for TPS they won’t be eligible for permanent residence, which is not true.

“I tell people while they may have something else coming, think of TPS as temporary insurance.”

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