Miami—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on July 28 replied replied to Congresswoman Frederica Wilson’s April 28 letter to the President urging creation of a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program to save lives and speed Haiti’s recovery.
“We have taken your request for the creation of a family reunification parole program for Haitians under advisement and are actively reviewing this proposal,” wrote Deputy Secretary Mayorkas.
In her July 31 letter to community leaders conveying this reply, Rep. Wilson wrote, “I will continue to fight for the establishment of this important program.”
“We strongly applaud Rep. Wilson for her continuing engagement and advocacy on behalf of these families,” said Haitian American Grassroots Coalition (HAGC) chairman Jean Robert Lafortune. Added Haitian Women of Miami Executive Director Marleine Bastien, “Frederica’s support is key to winning creation of this program to finally help our loved ones, who have been neglected far too long.”
“Rep. Wilson represents the largest Haitian American constituency of any congressional district Her dedication to this goal is and will be enormously important to its achievement and is greatly appreciated,” said IJDH Immigration Policy Coordinator Steven Forester.
About 100 U.S. congresspersons of both parties and chambers, joined by Haitian diaspora groups and leaders and political and religious leaders nationwide, have since Haiti’s 2010 earthquake urged the President to create this program to more speedily bring to the United States thousands of beneficiaries of DHS-approved family-based visa petitions who remain on years-long wait lists in Haiti.
