Speech #1030102542

As a result of a backlog of cases. antiquated facilities. a shortage of officers and the closure of the United States consulate office in Haiti for a year after the coup that deposed President JeanBertrand Aristide. numerous children of legal United States residents and United States citizens are being stranded in Haiti. Most of the children have lived in the United States for years and were summoned to the consulate for routine interviews. the final step in becoming a legal resident. In all of the cases the petitions for these children have been approved by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Usually approval is automatic. as long as parents can prove they can support the children without public assistance. But consular officers are denying these children the necessary visas to return to the only home they know. requiring more documentation. Even when the necessary proof has been received. children are forced to remain in Haiti for months separated from their families. friends. and schoolsfor a new appointment at an already overburdened consular office. As a result. many of the children are having to miss school and oftentimes live with strangers. costing their parents thousands of dollars to support them in Haiti. Too many of them are having to stay in poor neighborhoods which are subjected to constant gunfire by the militarybacked thugs. Mr. Speaker. it is negligent of us to send these children back to Haiti for what is usually a 1day interview in other countries to determine if these children actually were the offspring of people who were granted amnesty by the 1986 Immigration and Nationality Act. There is something terribly wrong with immigration policies and procedures that disrupt lives and break up the families of legal Haitian residents. If Haiti is not safe enough for armed soldiers to land there. it certainly is not safe for children to be there.