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Secretary of State Clinton Indicates Potential Changes in U.S. Immigration Policy toward Haitian Nationals

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that the U.S. may allow an increase in Haitian immigration to the United States, in the wake of the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in that country. While the Secretary of State did not announce an official change in immigration policy, she did imply that the U.S. would be open to accepting greater amounts of immigrants from Haiti. “We are certainly looking at that and will have more to say later,” Clinton recently said at a news conference on the effects of the earthquake in Haiti.

One potential proposal, according to Lavinia Limon, the president of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, would be to speed up the cases of people currently approved to enter the U.S., enabling them to legally and safely enter the U.S. and escape their circumstances in their native country.

Presently, very recent changes in immigration legislation, including the extension of temporary legal status to Haitians currently in the U.S. has led to the suspension of deportation of certain Haitians. More changes may be imminent in the near future.