Jesuit Refugee Service | USA | Briefing on U.S. Migration Policy Toward Haiti

Briefing on U.S. Migration Policy Toward Haiti
February 22, 2011

Experts from Catholic organizations who serve Haitians both in the United States and Haiti will identify the immediate migration-related policy steps the U.S. Catholic Church believes the Administration is morally obliged to take to alleviate in Haiti.

Haiti Briefing Flyer

(Washington, D.C.) February 22, 2011 — In a briefing this Thursday on Capitol Hill, experts from Catholic organizations who serve Haitians both in the United States and Haiti will outline the Administration’s current migration policy toward Haitians, discuss current conditions on the ground in Haiti, and identify the immediate migration-related policy steps the U.S. Catholic Church believes the Administration is morally obliged to take to alleviate, and not further deepen, the crisis in Haiti.

A year after the earthquake In Haiti, and in the midst of ongoing political turmoil and a public health crisis in Haiti, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made a closed-door decision to resume deportations to the stricken island nation. On January 20, 2011, DHS deported 27 Haitians.

Once in Haiti, the Haitian government incarcerated the deportees in local jails — which lack potable water, food, and medical care and are presently rife with cholera — to await family members to bribe their way out, as is custom practice by the Haitian government in contravention of its own laws. In a matter of only days, one deportee died of cholera-like symptoms. A diverse spectrum of faith-based, legal, and policy advocates decried this needless death.

When: Thursday, February 24, 2011, 2:00 pm -3:30 pm

Where: 2456 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Speakers:

Bill Canny, Director Emergency Operations
Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Shaina Aber, Associate Advocacy Director
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (JRS/USA)

Randy McGrorty, Director
Catholic Charities Legal Services of Miami (CCLS)

Allison Posner, Director of Advocacy
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)

Cynthia Smith, Immigration Policy Advisor
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)

Sponsor: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops