PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Hundreds of Haitians flock to the only immigration office in Port-au-Prince every day and huddle against the light blue gate while straining to hear their name called, hoping that it will will soon be selected to reside legally in the United States under a new immigration plan.
Crowds have been growing since US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday the 5th that the US would take in 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela. The selected individuals are eligible to serve for two years if they have suitable sponsors and pass background checks.
The chosen ones also need a passport, prompting the daily rush to immigration services in Haiti’s capital.
“I’m here to leave Haiti, but I don’t want to risk my life on a boat,” said Jennyfer Leonard, a 30-year-old teacher, referring to how dozens of Haitian migrants smuggled aboard boats lately died attempts to reach the US
“It would be nice to go away with my two kids so they have a future, but I’m not willing to take the risk of them dying along the way,” she said.
Therefore, like hundreds of other Haitians in recent days, she chose the recently announced legal route to the US rather than join the tens of thousands of Haitians who were intercepted and deported at the US-Mexico border.
On Wednesday, an aggressive crowd gathered at the immigration office under a brutal sun to apply for a passport, pick it up, renew an existing one or check the status of an application.
“Is that my name? Is that my name?” People shouted whenever a government official approached the gate and called out to someone.
Garry Saint Paul, 25, was among those waiting to collect his passport.
He previously worked as a hotel janitor 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. “Gangs are taking over. Why don’t you go if you get the chance?”
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Gangs control an estimated 60% of Port-au-Prince and have become increasingly powerful and violent since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse at his private residence in July 2021. The number of reported kidnappings rose to more than 1,200 last year, double the previous year’s figure, and 280 killings were reported in November, a monthly record according to the UN
“Life is really difficult,” said Leonard, the teacher whose brother is a truck driver in Philadelphia and has agreed to be her financial sponsor.
Violence is also a big problem for Salomon Jean-Pierre, a 22-year-old accounting student who stood in line next to Leonard.
“The only thing Haiti promises you is death,” he said.
Jean-Pierre doesn’t have a financial sponsor yet, but he has contacted his aunt in Atlanta, who said she would speak to his cousin there and see if he could help.
“I’ll get my papers ready just in case,” said Jean-Pierre. “I hope for the best that Haiti will change, but I see no future. … If that works for me, Atlanta, then I’m coming!”
Poverty and hunger are worsening in Haiti, a country of more than 11 million people where more than 60% earn less than $2 a day. Inflation has risen by double digits while Haiti becomes more politically unstable as its last democratically elected institution – the Senate – expires on Tuesday.
Promises of holding parliamentary and general elections have yet to materialize amid concerns about mounting violence.
As the situation worsens, Saint Paul is hoping his brother-in-law in Texas will help him financially for two years. He then plans to remain in the United States after his stay expires.
“There’s no way I’m coming back,” he said, adding that he expects the US to renew or extend the humanitarian parole plan. “I know that immigrants are the ones who built America. America will always need immigrants.”
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Associated Press writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.