OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Help Haitian Adoptees Immediately to Integrate Act of 2010

Floor Speech

Date: July 20, 2010
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Minors and Children Immigration

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for H.R. 5283, the Help Haitian Adoptees Immediately to Integrate Act, which provides for adjustment of status for certain Haitian orphans paroled into the United States after the earthquake of January 12, 2010. This legislation will give legal resident status to over 1,000 Haitian orphans whose adoptions by U.S. citizens had already been processed prior to the earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010.

When the earthquake crippled the Haitian governmental infrastructure, Haiti was no longer able to provide the paperwork necessary to give these children U.S. citizenship. As a result, their final approval of citizenship has been held up since the earthquake in January, and could continue to be delayed indefinitely. In the meantime, the U.S. has provided them with humanitarian parole visas, but it could take years for them to achieve legal resident status. The Help HAITI Act will empower the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security to allow American parents who adopted Haitian children before the earthquake to apply for legal permanent-resident status on behalf of their children. This will finally set these orphans on the path to citizenship.

The devastating earthquake created significant trauma for all Haitians that will last for generations. While the United States assists in the rebuilding efforts, with my support and the support of this Congress, we should also act now to remove the unnecessary complications the Haitian orphans are experiencing as they try to start a new life with their American families. Under normal circumstances, these would have been routine adoptions, and I urge Congress to pass the Help HAITI Act, which will enable the Department of Homeland Security to quickly relieve the hardships these orphans and their new families have encountered since the earthquake.

I encourage my colleagues to support this important resolution.

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