The Jubilee ActJubilee USA Net­work is orga­niz­ing Jubilee Act sup­port­ers in Okla­homa; let us know if you can pitch in on that effort.

The tem­po­rary good news for Hait­ian vis­i­tors in the U.S. is that the U.S. Immi­gra­tion and Cus­toms Enforce­ment announced a tem­po­rary halt to depor­ta­tions to Haiti, because of the hur­ri­cane dev­as­ta­tion. This is a good first step, but it is no sub­sti­tute for Tem­po­rary Pro­tected Sta­tus (TPS), which would allow non-resident Haitians liv­ing in the U.S. to remain in the coun­try, work, and send money back to needy rel­a­tives in Haiti.

Rep. Max­ine Waters has called for $300 mil­lion in emer­gency assis­tance for Haiti. She is not ask­ing for grass­roots sup­port for the bill at the time, but we will issue an alert if appropriate.

There is more durable good news– for nation­als of Hon­duras, El Sal­vador and Nicaragua. TPS was extended for those three coun­triesU.S. Cit­i­zen­ship and Immi­gra­tion Ser­vices

mem­bers of the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives, the Miami Her­ald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, reli­gious lead­ers, and the Orga­ni­za­tion of Amer­i­can Statesclick here

Act­ing Director

U.S. Cit­i­zen­ship and Immi­gra­tion Services

U.S. Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­rity
Wash­ing­ton, DC 20528

Re: Tem­po­rary Pro­tected Sta­tus for Haitians in the U.S.

Dear Act­ing Direc­tor Scharfen:

I am writ­ing to thank you for extend­ing a tem­po­rary halt to depor­ta­tions to Haiti because of the dev­as­ta­tion there from the recent cyclones, and to urge you to grant Tem­po­rary Pro­tected Sta­tus to Hait­ian nation­als cur­rently in the U.S.

Sin­cerely,

For more infor­ma­tion about the Half-Hour For Haiti pro­gram, the Insti­tute for Jus­tice & Democ­racy in Haiti (IJDH) or human rights in Haiti, see our web­site, www.HaitiJustice.org. To receive Half-Hour for Haiti Action Alerts (about 2 per month), send an email to HalfHour4Haiti@ijdh.org.