New York, NY –
Haitians who are in the United States illegally can now apply for temporary legal papers unless past criminal convictions disqualify them. As WNYC's Marianne McCune tells us, local immigrant attorneys and advocates are already busy with applicants.
REPORTER: In Brooklyn, just hours after the new opportunity went into effect, the head of the Caribbean Women's Health Association said Haitians were already at her door asking to begin the application process. Other groups say they're meeting with clients immediately to figure out if they're eligible. People who have certain criminal convictions won't get temporary protected status. One advocate says he spoke to a Haitian immigrant who is currently detained in Pennsylvania. He told the advocate he knows detainees there who are eligible, but they don't have attorneys to help them.
HOST: Mayor Bloomberg this week promised to help facilitate applications and job placement for Haitians who are eligible including a one-stop shop at Medgar Evars College scheduled to open January 30. The temporary working papers last 18 months, but are likely to be renewed. Several 100,000 Haitians are eligible.
Marianne McCune is a staff reporter for New York Public Radio (WNYC 93.9FM/AM820) and contributes regularly to National Public Radio and Public Radio International. She thinks of the New York Metropolitan Area as the center of the world because that's how she covers it: more than a third of New York residents were born in another country and Marianne reports on the resulting cultural, economic, and political links between New York/New Jersey and almost everywhere else on earth.
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