Last week, troubling details emerged concerning the Obama administration's recent decision to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians present in the United States as of January 12, 2010 - the date a tragic earthquake struck the Caribbean nation. (See FAIR's Legislative Update, January 19, 2010). The TPS designation will allow Haitian nationals to remain in the United States for at least 18 months and grants these aliens work authorization, regardless of their immigration status. (See FAIR's TPS Issue Brief, January 2010). Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano has stated that the administration is expecting as many as 200,000 Haitians to apply for TPS. (The Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2010).
To receive TPS, a Haitian national will be required to prove that he or she (1) is a Haitian citizen; (2) was present in the United States prior to January 12, 2010; and (3) had not been convicted of certain serious crimes. (USCIS Fact Sheet) Typically, the TPS application process takes about six months to complete - a necessity to ensure that applicants have satisfied the requisite criteria. However, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas indicated last week that his agency will fast-track the screening process for Haitian TPS applicants, with the ultimate goal of delivering work permits to applicants within 90 days. (Miami Herald, January 20, 2010). This decision to rubberstamp TPS applications will almost certainly make the program more susceptible to fraud. Mr. Mayorkas has also announced that USCIS is likely to waive TPS application fees for "financially vulnerable" Haitian nationals. (Id.). A single TPS application typically totals about $470 in fees. (USCIS Fact Sheet). If USCIS waives the application fees for even 100,000 applicants, it would cost American taxpayers nearly $50 million.
In addition to fast-tracking TPS applications and waiving fees, USCIS also indicated last week that it will not ask applicants about their immigration status. According to USCIS district director Andrea Quarantillo, a TPS applicant's immigration status "is really of no interest to us." (The New York Times, January 20, 2010). Moreover, Quarantillo indicated that DHS would not rush to remove deportable Haitians who apply but fail to qualify for TPS, unless they are found to have committed serious crimes. (Id.). By failing to determine the immigration status of TPS applicants, DHS has effectively admitted that it has no plans to remove illegal Haitian aliens who benefit from TPS once the designation is lifted - if it is lifted at all. As FAIR President Dan Stein has said: "The intent of TPS was to allow people who were legally present in the U.S. to remain under circumstances where their return home is impossible. In the case of illegal aliens, they never had any intention to return home even before the earthquake struck. While deportations should be temporarily suspended, there is no reason why people who are in the country illegally should gain legal status as a result of this disaster." (See FAIR's Press Release).
Recent public polling indicates that more Americans oppose to inviting Haitian refugees into the United States than support such a move. According to Rasmussen Reports, 46 percent of Americans say that Haitian refugees should not be invited to live in the United States. 31 percent of Americans believe that the refugees should be invited to live here, while another 22% remain undecided. (Rasmussen Reports, January 21, 2010).
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