Gwen Graham: “seven years ago, I introduced the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (HRIFA). I introduced HRIFA after…”

“seven years ago, I introduced the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (HRIFA). I introduced HRIFA after Congress enacted the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA). NACARA enabled Nicaraguans and Cubans to become permanent residents and permitted many unsuccessful Central American and Eastern European asylum applicants to seek another form of immigration relief. At the time, Haitians were suffering brutal and widespread political persecution by a ruthless dictatorship. Yet lawmakers opted to exclude Haitian asylum seekers from the NACARA legislation. HRIFA became law with bipartisan support and reversed this grave inequity in U.S. immigration law. It allowed Haitians who had fled political turmoil in their country an opportunity to adjust their status like the opportunity we granted to refuges from other countries. The legislation has been beneficial and nearly 11,000 Haitians have adjusted their status and become legal permanent residents of the United States. However HRIFA contained several flaws that undermine the original intent of the legislation. That is why today I am introducing the HRIFA Improvement Act of 2004.”