PORT-AU-PRINCE — Hundreds of Haitians head to the only immigration office in Port-au-Prince every day to process passports, hoping to soon be selected to enter the country legally under the new immigration plan announced by the Joe Biden administration United States to live .
The crowd has been growing since the US President announced that the United States will take in 30,000 people from Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela each month. Those selected can work in the country for two years if they have sponsors and pass their background check.
Those who are selected need passports, which has led to a crush at the immigration office in the Haitian capital.
“I’m here because I want to leave Haiti, but I don’t want to risk it on a boat,” said Jennyfer Leonard, a 30-year-old teacher, referring to the large number of Haitians who have died aboard boats trying to get to the United States.
“It would be nice to go with my two children so they have a future, but I’m not willing to take the risk of them dying along the way,” she added.
So instead of joining the tens of thousands of Haitians who were intercepted and deported at the US-Mexico border, he chose the recently announced legal route.
On Wednesday, under the intense sun, a crowd gathered around the immigration office to apply for, collect or renew a passport or inquire about the status of their application.
“Is that my name? Is that my name?” people would ask whenever an officer approached the fence and called someone.
Garry Saint Paul, 25, was in the crowd waiting to collect his passport.
He previously worked as a hotel concierge in the neighboring Dominican Republic until his contract and passport expired, forcing him to return to Haiti where he remains unemployed.
“Haiti is under siege,” he said. “The gangs control everything. Why don’t I go if I get the chance?”