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Congresswoman Clarke’s Statement on the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke and Congressman John Conyers, Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary, released the following statement on the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, which will expedite the reunification of Haitian families and support safe and legal migration from Haiti to the United States.

Starting in early 2015, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will offer certain eligible Haitian beneficiaries of previously approved family-based immigrant visa petitions, who are currently in Haiti, an opportunity to come to the United States about two years before their immigrant visa priority dates become current. Families who are eligible will receive a written notice from the National Visa Center.

“The decision by the Department of Homeland Security to implement a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program will benefit everyone,” said Congressman Conyers. “Families who would otherwise be unnecessarily separated for years while awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa soon will be allowed to wait together. Communities here and in Haiti will be strengthened. And as Haiti continues to rebuild from the earthquake that devastated the country in 2010, this program will allow greater remittances to be sent back to fund critically needed recovery efforts.”

“I want to commend the Department of Homeland Security on the development of this program, which will allow for the reunification of families that have been separated – in some instances for many years. The continued failure of Congress to enact – or even to debate – comprehensive immigration reform continues to separate parents from their children and husbands from their wives. The wait must end. I am hopeful that this program will form the basis for a broader policy that will allow families from around the world to avoid unnecessary delays in reuniting here in the United States,” said Congresswoman Clarke.

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.

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