The Haitians were aboard a 25-foot vessel that was spotted 22 miles off the coast of Delray Beach. A Coast Guard crew stopped the boat, which carried the five Haitian migrants as well as two Jamaican migrants and one smuggling suspect, officials said.

The Haitians were repatriated to Cap Haitien, Haiti, on Tuesday August 31, 2010. Officials said the two Jamaicans and the smuggling suspect were transferred to the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

It said the number of Haitians trying to enter illegally has been increasing over the last six months and in particular during the last two weeks.

Eviction notices were issued because a new owner took over the 5-acre (2-hectare) property on Abaco Island that has housed the Haitian community for more than 30 years.

The community is a mix of permanent residents, naturalized citizens and migrants who may or may not have work permits, said Jetta Baptiste, president of the Bahamas’ Haitian Society. Many are waiting for immigration officials to process their paperwork, she said.

The 500-home settlement, known as Pigeon Pea, borders an even larger Haitian settlement called “The Mud” that was built on state land. It is home to more than 2,000 Haitian families who live just yards (meters) away from the immigration department in Marsh Harbor.

The densely packed community of overcrowded wooden homes, churches and businesses has angered Bahamians for decades.

Local government representative Roscoe Thompson III helped hand out eviction notices this week and said he hopes the action will spur the government to also evict those living in “The Mud.”

Immigration Director Jack Thompson said he expects the government will need to launch a multi-agency approach to handle the eviction of Pigeon Pea residents in November.

But Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who represents North Abaco in Parliament, has not said what role, if any, the government will play. He said he hopes the local government will find new homes for those displaced.

Some 100 Haitians held in the Bahamas at the time of the January 2010 quake were released and granted temporary protected status for six months. Repatriations of other Haitians resumed in early April.

On Monday, authorities detained a group of 56 men, 14 women and 13 children near the Exuma island chain and expect to send them back to Haiti.

A mass immigration is what concerns Dominican authorities, according to whom there are more than a million Haitians living illegally in the Dominican Republic. A delay in the solution of Haiti’s problems and the terrible quake consequences could significantly damage the Dominican society, the adviser said. He also spoke about the problems in arranging the world financial aid to Haiti and the slow pace of the rebuilding programs, issues to be discussed in a conference set for next June in Santo Domingo.

The Dominican media have expressed worries about the Haitian presence which they consider an unsustainable load for the economy, already damaged by the world economic crisis, underdevelopment, and the precarious condition of health and education. However, illegal Haitians are the main source of the non-skilled cheap labor in rural areas and in the cities they do what Dominicans scorn.

source: http://www.prensa-latina.cu/

Jean Ping, the African Union (AU) chairman, told African leaders at the body’s annual summit that it would discuss the proposal during the three-day event in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. “It is out of a sense of duty and memory and solidarity that we can further the proposal to create in Africa the conditions for the return of Haitians who wish to return after the effect of the disaster that ravaged Haiti,” Ping said.

“What happened to Haiti is a tragedy that transcends borders. We have attachment and links to that country. “The first black republic in 1804, that carried high the flame of liberation and freedom for the black people and has paid a heavy price for so doing”.

‘Naturalization’ proposed

Wade said Senegal and other African states should naturalize any Haitians who sought new nationality following the quake, which is thought to have killed about 170,000 people and left one million homeless. He also called for a mass adoption programme across the continent for children who had been made orphans in the wake of the January 12 disaster.

The idea for a new state is reminiscent of the 19th century creation of the West African state of Liberia for freed US slaves. The AU commission has already opened a special account for Haiti at the African Development Bank. Attending the summit in Addis Ababa, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, thanked the regional body “for reaching out to Haiti in this time of need”.

“The nation of Haiti is an ocean away, yet I know it is close to every African heart,” he said. “Today the Haitian people are enduring one of the greatest humanitarian challenges in recent years and loss of life on an unimaginable scale.”

source: AlJazeera

Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Time: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Location: Griffing Adult Center, 12220 Griffing Blvd North Miami, Florida

Haitian Lawyers Association members and volunteers will be available to help eligible Haitian Nationals seeking TPS to complete the required applications. To be granted TPS, the following requirements must be met:Be a national of Haiti- Arrived into the United States on or before January 12,10- Have continuously resided in the U.S. since arrival – Have not been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors in the United States. For more information please call 305-895-9815 or 305-895-9818

“The Haitians need a country where they can live long term, but I think it must consider what might be done in terms of humanitarian access, and what criteria, for stays of short term,” said Steny Hoyer, leader of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

This ally of President Barack Obama but added later that there was “no specific proposal at this stage” and warned it would “not prejudge the action to be undertaken.

On short term measures, “there is something to implement, but we must estimate the number” of people who would be affected, he said to reporters.
Washington granted a temporary asylum on humanitarian grounds, to Haitians who were without valid papers in the United States at the time of the earthquake, January 12, to enable them to work.

But this measure does not apply to any refugees arriving after January 12, including the Minister of Internal Security, Janet Napolitano, warned they would be repatriated.

The proper forms needed to apply for TPS are:

* I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status
* I-765, Application for Employment Authorization

Both forms are required even if you don’t want the employment authorization. Lets get real here, who would be in a TPS qualified situation and be crazy not to file the employment authorization.  Based on my experiences in the past, without the employment authorization, you can’t get a driver’s license.

Get your application in now.  Application reviews will be put on the fast track and federal immigration officials are predicting that up to 200,000 Haitians could apply for Temporary Protected Status, which would keep them from being deported.  Haitians approved will be allowed to stay in the United States for 18 months.

As with anything dealing with immigration, most Haitians who apply will likely be approved unless they’ve committed a serious crime.

We ask that persons planning to apply for a visa to leave the embassy until we are able to accept applications.

We work for the resumption of services to a new place soon and we will provide information about the place where you can submit a request or ask questions.

The immigration measures recently announced special apply only to spouses, children, parents, grandparents and children adopted by citizens and permanent residents. The family member must sponsor the Canadian request.

Currently, applicants must not submit to the embassy, but rather communicate with their sponsor in Canada, who are requested to notify the CIC by phone at 1-888-242-2100 ( Canada only from 7 pm to 19 pm [EST] Monday through Friday) or by email at question-Haiti@cic.gc.ca.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano estimated that there are 100,000 to 200,000 Haitian nationals currently in the country illegally. – ABC News

Haiti now joins El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Sudan on the list of countries whose citizens have temporary protected status in the U.S.