CNN Wire Staff

Miami, Florida (CNN) — Reg­is­tra­tion for the tem­po­rary pro­tected sta­tus pro­gram to help Haitians liv­ing in the United States has been extended for six months, a fed­eral offi­cial announced Monday.

U.S. Cit­i­zen­ship and Immi­gra­tion Ser­vices Direc­tor Ale­jan­dro May­orkas announced the exten­sion at a town hall meet­ing in Miami six months after the Jan­u­ary 12 earth­quake that killed more than 220,000 people.

“Since the earth­quake, [U.S. Cit­i­zen­ship and Immi­gra­tion Ser­vices] has main­tained an ongo­ing dia­logue with Hait­ian com­mu­nity lead­ers and advo­cates, and we have heard that many Haitians need more time to apply” for tem­po­rary pro­tected sta­tus, May­orkas said in a news release announc­ing the exten­sion. “Extend­ing the reg­is­tra­tion period will afford more eli­gi­ble indi­vid­u­als a chance to remain safely in the United States at this time of cri­sis and dev­as­ta­tion in Haiti.”

The dead­line for Haitians to reg­is­ter for the pro­gram, which had been July 20, has been extended to Jan­u­ary 18, 2011, he said.

Home­land Secu­rity Sec­re­tary Janet Napoli­tano announced the pro­gram in Jan­u­ary, in the imme­di­ate after­math of the earth­quake. It des­ig­nates Haitians for tem­po­rary pro­tected sta­tus for an 18-month period begin­ning Jan­u­ary 21, 2010.

The sta­tus allows eli­gi­ble Haitians to con­tinue liv­ing in the United States for the dura­tion of the pro­gram and to obtain work autho­riza­tion for the dura­tion of the program.

“Pro­vid­ing a tem­po­rary refuge for Hait­ian nation­als who are cur­rently in the United States and whose per­sonal safety would be endan­gered by return­ing to Haiti is part of this administration’s con­tin­u­ing efforts to sup­port Haiti’s recov­ery,” Napoli­tano said in a state­ment in January.

The des­ig­na­tion applies to those Haitians who have lived con­tin­u­ously in the United States since the Jan­u­ary 12 earth­quake; those Hait­ian nation­als who first entered the United States after that date are not eligible.

The fil­ing fee for most peo­ple ages 14 to 64 who apply for a work per­mit is $470, but more than 90 per­cent of appli­ca­tions to waive reg­is­tra­tion fees are being granted, May­orkas said.

“We and lots of other advo­cates had been ask­ing for this,” said Susanna Bar­ciela, pol­icy direc­tor at the Florida Immi­grant Advo­cacy Center.

Just 44,500 appli­ca­tions had been filed as of April 9, accord­ing to the USCIS web­site. Bar­ciela esti­mated the num­ber of peo­ple eli­gi­ble to file under the pro­gram at 70,000 to 100,000.

“Many are afraid that this is a trick and that once the gov­ern­ment has their address, they will be deported,” Bar­ciela said. “Extend­ing the appli­ca­tion period will give advo­cates like us more time to reach out and talk to the com­mu­nity about the ben­e­fits of TPS, which will allow more Haitians to make a better-informed decision.”

The pro­gram helps by allow­ing those who are in the United States to earn money that they can then send to their rel­a­tives in Haiti, she said.

“If you have peo­ple here who are pro­vid­ing remit­tances, it’s very help­ful to Haiti; it’s people-to-people help.”

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/07/12/florida.haiti.immigration/?hpt=T2&fbid=Y-71bcd4Kwi