New US law grants legal status to orphaned Haitian children

TIMES INT'L

United States immigration authorities say a new law has gone into effect, granting lawful permanent resident status to certain orphaned children from Haiti.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the Help Haitian Adoptees Immediately To Integrate Act of 2010 (Help HAITI Act of 2010) gives authority to grant Green Cards to Haitian orphans who were evacuated to the United States under the Haitian Orphan Parole Programme after last year’s earthquake.

President Barack Obama signed the bill into law last month.

Nebraska Republican Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, the primary sponsor of the bill, said the legislation provides “legal certainty to the more-than 1,000 Haitian orphans who were evacuated to the United States after the earthquake.

Following the massive earthquake, Fortenberry said, the Haitian orphans were evacuated to American soil by the US Department of Homeland Security, with the Haitian government’s permission, before their adoptions could be finalised in Haitian courts.

However, due to a technicality in the law, Fortenberry said, these Haitian children, on establishing a legal relationship with their adoptive U.S. parents, would have had to wait two years before they may become legal permanent residents.  (CMC)

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