Press Release on Haitian Parole

Cite as “AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 14102340 (posted Oct. 23, 2014)”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 23, 2014

Washington, DC- Leslie A. Holman, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) responded to the recent decision by the Obama Administration to implement a Haitian Family Reunification Parole (HFRP) Program in early 2015:

“The HFRP Program will grant humanitarian parole to eligible Haitian relatives of American citizens and lawful permanent residents who have already taken steps to lawfully immigrate. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be able to offer some relatives who already have an approved family-based immigrant visa petition the chance to come over to the U.S. sooner.

“This change will ease the pain of family separation and alleviate hardships that they suffer in a country still struggling to recover from devastating natural disaster. These are families who have been separated for years already because of the long waits for quotas to become current.

“For those wondering if they are eligible: please don’t let scammers take advantage of this news. Be aware that the program is not yet accepting applications and full details aren’t yet available. If you have an approved petition, early next year the Department of State should be reaching out to you to offer you the chance to apply to the program. This is not something that will allow you to bypass any channels now; if someone promises you immediate action, they are lying.

“While I was delighted to hear this news and commend USCIS for taking this compassionate action, this is not a panacea for the still broken immigration system that our nation is forced to deal with every day. This is a small step forward, and while it will mean so much to the families affected, there are many more changes the President has the authority to make – changes that could help our businesses and economy, while bringing our families and communities together. I urge the President to continue moving forward on those parts of the system that the executive branch has the authority to fix.”