Yvette Clarke: “I rise today as a proud cosponsor of H.R. 5283, the Help HAITI Act of 2010, introduced by my colleague, Congressman Jeff…”

“I rise today as a proud cosponsor of H.R. 5283, the Help HAITI Act of 2010, introduced by my colleague, Congressman Jeff Fortenberry. This bill normalizes the immigration procedures for certain adopted Haitian orphans that received humanitarian parole between January 18 of 2010 and April 15, 2010. It allows their adoptive families, who are U.S. citizens, to apply immediately on their behalf to become legal permanent residents and eventually qualify for citizenship. As a representative of the second-largest population of first- and second-generation Haitian immigrants, Haiti has been at the core of my Caribbean agenda. That is why I'm extremely concerned that more than 1,000 paroled Haitian orphans being adopted by American families remain in immigration limbo due to a legal technicality. It is alarming that these children have to wait 2 years before they are granted legal permanent residency. If this situation is not addressed, these children will remain in this country without certain legal protection and are in jeopardy of being separated from their adoptive family and deported back to Haiti, where they have no family. The legal technicality that puts these children in such a precarious position is yet another example of why our Nation needs comprehensive immigration reform.”