On January 25, 2012, the Committee on Immigration of the New York City Council held a hearing on Resolution 1096 calling upon the Department of Homeland Security to create a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program. The Resolution, introduced by Haitian-American Councilor Mathieu Eugene, would benefit Haitians recovering from the January 12, 2010 earthquake by allowing Haitians with approved family-sponsored immigrant visa petitions to come to the United States.

Following is the statement that was delivered at the hearing on behalf of the Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP)

My name is Jocelyn McCalla and I am pleased to testify today before this Committee on Resolution No. 1096, on behalf of the Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP).

HAUP was founded 37 years ago by Haitian-American community leaders and advocates to help resettle and integrate Haitian asylum-seekers and immigrants in New York City. These leaders included the Most Rev. Guy Sansaricq, auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn and Ms. Carolle Berotte Joseph who is currently serving as President of Bronx Community College.

HAUP is located in Cambria Heights which is home to the largest Haitian-American enclave outside of Brooklyn. While HAUP began as a volunteer-based organization focused initially on responding to the needs of Haitian immigrants and refugees, it has since expanded and offers its multitude of services to newcomers and citizens alike. Under the leadership of Executive Director Elsie Saint-Louis, HAUP has risen to serve annually some 15,000 people who come to us from Cambria Heights proper as well as from Queens Village, Jamaica, Springfield Gardens and Laurelton. We provide services to clients in Brooklyn through our ambulatory programs. Residents of Elmont and Hempstead on Long Island also seek our services and support, since we are located so close to the border with Nassau County.

Regarding Resolution 1096

The Obama Administration responded remarkably fast and aggressively to the major catastrophe that hit Haiti some two years ago on January 12, 2010. The United States deployed thousands of troops to support the actions of a government that had literally collapsed, and to facilitate the relief and recovery response that poured from all over the world into Haiti. Stateside, it promptly granted Temporary Protected Status to Haitian non-immigrants who were in the United States at the time. Last year, the Administration extended TPS for this class and broadened it to include Haitians who had hurriedly joined their relatives after the earthquake because their livelihood had been destroyed. Most recently, the Administration has decided to allow Haitians to take part in the guest worker programs that U.S. growers and farmers use to ensure that they have sufficient legal labor to bring in the harvest.

Yet there’s one more step that the Administration could have taken and which – as Res. 1096 notes – it has not taken: it has not speeded up the family reunification process for Haitian immigrants who are already in the pipeline. These Haitians could be paroled and safely reunited with their relative sponsors in the United States while awaiting their final immigrant visa interviews. Such a program already exists for Cuban nationals. Failure to establish it for Haitians raises issues of double-standards.

HAUP supports the Resolution and urges the Committee on Immigration and the entire NY City Council to approve it. Such an action would send a very strong signal to the Obama Administration that this great city – which has one of the most diverse and productive immigrant populations in the United States – supports a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program

Haitian Reality Today

Haiti’s recovery barely got off the ground in 2010, in spite of the close to $10 billion pledged at the March 2010 International Donors Conference, and the commitment to hasten efforts to build Haiti back better. As time went by, frustrations with political management of Haitian affairs and of the recovery efforts led both Haitians and their international allies to turn to electoral politics. These turned out to be highly controversial; a disaster was only averted by heavy-handed management of the process by the US and its key allies. Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, remains home to more than half a million internally displaced earthquake refugees. Many have returned to homes that are unsafe.

While the United States and its allies have done much in the past year to support Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction, economic growth and political stability remain a dream deferred. We hope that Haiti’s new President and legislature will provide the leadership necessary to allow for growth and prosperity. Most observers however agree that real economic progress is years away. Meanwhile, Haiti remains vulnerable to the vagaries of nature (floods, tropical storms, hurricanes) and societal misfortunes (health emergencies such as cholera outbreaks, malnutrition, increased commodities and food costs due to world price fluctuations).

Conclusion

Haitian-Americans United for Progress resolutely supports the adoption of Res. 1096. We are prepared to offer support to the beneficiaries of a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program once it is promulgated. We can help ease resettlement woes for the newcomers, and assist their relatives who are either resident or citizens with the inevitable questions that arise in such situations. In short, we believe that this is the right thing to do and we urge the Committee and the Council to adopt the resolution unanimously.

In the last three weeks, while attending to the concerns of our constituents, providing accurate information and reassurances when possible, we have taken pain to inform public opinion and welcome the many gestures of care and solidarity of friends and neighbors.

On January 18, The local Asian American leadership, joined by local black, white and Hispanic leaders, welcomed Elsie Accilien, executive director of Haitian Americans United for Progress, a Cambria Heights nonprofit aimed at helping New York City’s Haitian-American and other immigrant communities, to the event by donating more than $3,000 to charities working to help the people of Haiti. You can read the rest of the story here.

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2010/01/21/queens/queenspiirwks01202010.txt

On January 27 and 28, Ms. Accilien provided answers to questions posed by the readers of the New York Times. The questions and answers can can be found here through this link: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/answers-about-new-yorks-response-to-haitis-earthquake/

NY1 broadcast a story on a Haitian orphanage supported by HAUP.  You can read the story here http://www.ny1.com/8-queens-news-content/top_stories/112356/orphanage-director-plans-return-to-haiti

Accilien was quoted in “Three Steps to Making Smart Haiti Donations,” an article published by the NYT about the right way to help Haiti. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/nyregion/24critic.html 

We would appreciate your feedback on the actions we have taken and the guidance we have  provided so far. Please do not hesitate to get in touch.

HAUP will hold a Haiti Relief Service Fair at Sacred Heart School in Cambria Heights, NY.  The 6 hour fair which starts at 10 AM and ends at 4 PM will address the concerns of community residents.

There will be free counseling to Haitians on applying for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a benefit which the Obama administration triggered in response to the quake, as well as other immigration counseling. Questions regarding adoptions, entitlements, and available community resources will be handled by trained and qualified personnel at the fair. For children, there will be a fun zone where they can play.

Sacred Heart School is located at 115-50 221st street in Cambria Heights. Please call 718.527.3776 ext 17 to speak to Warren or Sophia for additional information.

Statement of Haitian-Americans United for Progress

New York, January 14, 2009 – Haiti suffered a major blow when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, the capital city and several other cities to south and west late Tuesday afternoon. The death toll is not yet known but the images coming out of Haiti foretell of the need for reconstruction efforts that will test the will and generosity of people the world over.

HAUP has taken several steps to respond to the immediate emergency. The non-profit organization has joined forces with New York City and New York State elected officials to build support for the relief efforts. We are urging all people of good will to provide monetary support to charities that have proven themselves in Haiti emergency responses in the past as well as in other similar emergencies. These charities include the International Red Cross and World Relief. We do not and will not collect food, clothing and other similar donations. Monetary donations are the only donations that we will allow at this point in time.

Moreover, we are very much aware that beyond the immediate emergency the rebuilding efforts will take time and will require of Haitian-Americans and of friends of Haiti a sustained commitment. Such commitments can and should take the form of volunteering time and expertise as well as providing monetary support. HAUP will plan for such efforts and urges all people of good will, and in particular Haitian-Americans to commit to such efforts.

Through years of facing natural and man-made calamity, Haitians have shown a remarkable resilience. We expect that this time will not be different. Though the loss of lives may be much greater and the emotional and physical aftershocks live with them for quite a long time, we believe that a renewed and stronger Haiti can and will emerge in the not-too-distant future. Key to Haiti’s revival however will be the support of individuals and groups to these efforts.

HAUP will take steps to take part in the rebuilding effort, including managing, training and deploying volunteers, offering tangible assistance and working with lawmakers and policymakers stateside to ensure that these efforts are a success. We look forward to working with the leaders of the NY City Council and the NY State Legislature, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and with the Obama Administration to make the dream of building Haiti back better a reality.