59,000 Haitians displaced by earthquake get extra 6 months in U.S.

By Lizette Alvarez, nytimes.com

More than seven years after an earthquake shattered Haiti’s capital, the secretary of Homeland Security, John F. Kelly, announced Monday that he would grant 58,700 Haitians another six months to live and work in the United States.

The Haitians, who were visiting the United States or living here illegally when the earthquake hit, are part of a program called Temporary Protected Status that was made available to them after the earthquake, when conditions in Haiti were deemed too dangerous for them to return. On Monday, Mr. Kelly extended the program for six months, concluding that while Haiti was still not ready to absorb the citizens, a longer extension was not needed, senior Homeland Security officials said.

“Haiti has made progress across several fronts since the devastating earthquake in 2010,” Mr. Kelly said in a news release. “The Haitian economy continues to recover and grow, and 96 percent of people displaced by the earthquake and living in internally displaced person camps have left those camps.”

Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/haitians-displaced-extra-6-months-us.html

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