Haitians Arrested Trying to Sneak into the USA - April 6, 2010

This past weekend, the US Border Patrol arrested 8 Haitians who had been attempting to illegally enter the US.  This brings the total number of arrests to 120 since the earthquake in that Caribbean country.

In each case, the Haitians have tried to enter Vermont from Quebec, home to Canada’s largest Haitian community.  US officials believe that the Haitians have been aided by organized rings of human traffickers.  This means that not only are the Haitians facing jail time and deportation, but have put themselves at financial risk, having had to pay the traffickers to help them get across the border.

The rise in the number of cases coincides with a decision by the Obama administration following the earthquake to grant temporary protected status to Haitians living in the country illegally.  What the traffickers fail to explain to the Haitians in Canada is that the status only applies to those who were living in the US at that time.  Many of the Haitians who have been arrested were without status in Canada, and therefore unable to sponsor family members to join them.  Driven by a desire to be reunited with family members, many of whom are living in the US, they are prepared to take such drastic measures as illegally entering the country.

The US Attorney’s office has discretion about prosecuting such cases, but with the unusually high number of incidents involving Haitians lately, it is likely that many cases will make it to court.  According to the US Attorney for Vermont Tristram Coffin, “Having this scale of individuals from one nationality [Haitian] over a short period of time is unusual.  It’s an issue that requires us to respond with a significant message of deterrence. We have laws against illegal immigration.”

What further exacerbates the situation is that a number of those arrested have previously lived in the US.  They had fled to Canada after having been ordered deported back to Haiti.  They saw the recent events as the chance to be reunited with the large Haitian communities in Miami and New York.

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