Help HAITI Act of 2010

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I strongly support H.R. 5283. Madam Speaker, earlier this year, Haiti was hit by a massive earthquake and hundreds of thousands of people died. In reaction, the Department of Homeland Security announced a humanitarian parole policy under which orphaned Haitian children who were in the middle of an adoption process with prospective Americans would be immediately brought to the United States. Under this policy, about 1,200 Haitian children, orphans, came to the United States.

Since adoption proceedings were not yet completed when these children were brought to this country, they will have to live with their adoptive parents for 2 years before being eligible for permanent resident status in the United States. In the interim, they remain in parole status, which is to be renewed each and every year.

This legal limbo can be stressful to the children and to the families who have adopted them. We must remember, Madam Speaker, these children had already been approved for adoption to American parents.

Additionally, Representative Fortenberry from Nebraska was concerned about the impact of this delay on children and circumstances such as the death of adoptive parents. Mr. Fortenberry therefore introduced the Help HAITI Act of 2010. This bill grants immediate permanent residence to the airlifted Haitian orphans.

This legislation completes the humanitarian endeavor launched by the Department of Homeland Security and secures the futures of children who have already suffered a great deal. It is in the best tradition of American humanitarian response. The House has already passed the Fortenberry bill by voice vote. The Senate made some minor changes and passed the bill by unanimous consent.

I know personally how important this bill is to the children and families of this country. The Parker family, from my district in Kingwood, Texas, contacted my office shortly after the earthquake that devastated Haiti to get help in finalizing the adoption of their son.

Before the earthquake, the Parker family had been in the process of adopting a young Haitian named Ronel. Prior to the earthquake, Ronel had been cleared to immigrate to the United States. But after the bureaucratic breakdown following the earthquake, his adoption was held up. Fearing for Ronel's safety, Mr. Parker flew down to Port-au-Prince and slept on the floor of the United States Embassy for several days as he haggled with United States and Haitian authorities to permit the adoption. Finally, after many sleepless nights, the adoption was permitted and Ronel was allowed to fly to his new home in Kingwood, Texas.

A few weeks after making his way to his new home, I was fortunate to meet this young American. Although he was still learning English, and I don't speak Creole very well, we communicated just fine. My staff even took up a collection to buy him his first pair of Texas cowboy boots. It was clear that he was very intelligent and had a strong heart, and he was very happy to be in America with his new American family. I am confident that Ronel will grow up to be a fine American and a fine Texan, and we are proud to have him in this country.

It is for children like Ronel and the families like the Parkers that I urge support for this legislation. The families of these 1,200 Haitian adoptees have gone through enough, and these parents are to be admired by all of us.

I urge my colleagues to pass this bill, as amended by the Senate, so we can send it to the President for his signature.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry), the sponsor of the original legislation, as much time as he wishes to consume.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the chairman for bringing this legislation to the floor. It's very important to the Parker family in my district, the people that Mr. Fortenberry in Nebraska mentioned, and the 1,200 families and children that are going to now have a good Christmas because that legislation has passed in the House.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 5283 and the Senate Amendment 4587 that is ``to provide for adjustment of status for certain Haitian orphans paroled into the United States after the earthquake of January 12, 2010.'' I would like to begin by thanking Congressman Fortenberry for introducing this resolution, as it is so important for the United States to normalize the immigration process for the adopted Haitian orphans after the tragic January earthquake. The Haitian orphans that were adopted by American families after the earthquake should not have to wait in legal limbo to become permanent residents of the United States; there were obvious extenuating circumstances that prevented the adoptions from being finalized in Haitian courts.

Without the passing of the Help HAITI Act of 2010, Haitian orphans that have fortunately been adopted by welcoming American families face a two-year limbo with fewer legal protections, ineligibility for critical resources, and at the very worst, a forcible return to the ravaged country of Haiti if something unexpected were to happen to the adoptive parents. The Haitian orphans are currently awaiting crucial paperwork that will provide them with basic resources, such as allowing them to receive health care and to enroll in school. These children have already suffered the tragic loss of their families in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake--we should assist in any way we can to expedite this adoption and immigration process. In doing so, we can help these families begin their new lives in the United States.

I am a strong proponent of this resolution, because it will allow the Haitian orphans to become legal permanent residents and eventually to gain U.S. citizenship. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this because it is an important resolution in which we can stand together and support the orphaned children in their adoption process. There are over one thousand children who are subject to this legal limbo--that is far too great of a number of adopted children who must wait two years for permanent resident status. Additionally, this resolution will help minimize the staff, monetary, and other resources demands for the Department of Homeland Security's United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.

At this point in time, the people of Haiti are in desperate need of international assistance. We have a responsibility to prevent the evacuation of these orphaned children because of a legal technicality. The people of Haiti are suffering now, more than ever, with the devastating earthquake of January, Hurricane Tomas of October, and now the cholera outbreak that is threatening the lives of millions. The cholera outbreak that emerged within the Artibonite region on October 21 has now resulted in more than 14,000 hospitalizations and tragically more than 900 deaths. The children who were fortunately adopted in the wake of the January earthquake should not have to face such a dire humanitarian crisis. The Help HAITI Act will do exactly that; it will expedite and normalize these orphaned children's journey to a new family. In the same vein, the United States should be helping its neighbors in need with humanitarian assistance, and additionally working hard towards preventing any more unnecessary deaths.

With the passing of this resolution, the orphaned children from Haiti will be able to securely begin their lives in the United States. This bill will assure a normalization of the Haitian children, and will allow their status to be adjusted to permanent resident. Furthermore, the Help HAITI Act of 2010 will provide legal certainty and protections for these evacuated Haitian orphans, because it removes an obstacle for their adoptive families. This is an important bill for the families across America who have opened their homes and welcomed the children who were in special need of a family after the January earthquakes.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5283) to provide for adjustment of status for certain Haitian orphans paroled into the United States after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5283, the Help HAITI Act of 2010, was introduced by Representative Jeff Fortenberry and is an important bill to help us finish the job we undertook when we rescued just over 1,200 Haitian orphans immediately after the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12 of this year.

Six months after the earthquake, it is easy to forget how terrible this tragedy was. More than 220,000 people were killed and over 300,000 were injured. Over 300,000 homes were destroyed or severely damaged, and more than 1,300 schools and 50 health centers were reduced to rubble.

At least 1.5 million people were directly affected by the quake. In terms of human and economic impact, it's the worst natural disaster ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.

In response to this disaster, I am proud that our country responded quickly and in many different ways. Many know about the search and recovery efforts, the dissemination of food and water, the private donations totaling more than $1.3 billion, the thousands of military, civilian, and medical personnel that went to Haiti to provide critical care and save lives, but there are other ways that our country provided humanitarian assistance.

Soon after the earthquake hit, the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, otherwise known as USCIS, took several steps to provide critical assistance to vulnerable populations in Haiti. This included creating a humanitarian parole policy for the immediate evacuation of Haitian orphans who had been adopted or were in the process of being adopted by U.S. citizens.

These children had been previously identified as being available for intercountry adoptions, so they were not at risk of being separated from their families during the chaos that followed the earthquake. Now in the United States with their adoptive or prospective adoptive American parents, these children need one more bit of assistance from us so they can live lives like Americans.

Had the earthquake not hit and disrupted the adoption processes in Haiti, each of these children would have entered the country as U.S. citizens under current immigration law. But because of the current emergency procedures that were used to evacuate these children, they must now wait years before they can get permanent residency and years more before they can qualify for citizenship. Some are even in danger of aging out before they can get their residency, which would make them ineligible for legal status in this country.

H.R. 5283 would simply treat these children as if the earthquake had not happened and they had come to the U.S. under normal procedures.

Specifically, the bill would allow an adoptive parent or legal guardian in the United States to apply for permanent residency on behalf of one of the 1,200 Haitian orphans brought to the U.S. under the USCIS parole policy announced on January 18 and terminated on April 15 of this year. This is the least we can do to help the orphans we rescued and the U.S. citizen parents who have adopted or are seeking to adopt them.

I commend Representative Jeff Fortenberry for introducing this bill and committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith for his support on this measure.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to ask our colleagues to support this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman from Texas for the time.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to add that, as we heard, more than 1,000 Haitian orphans who were already in the process of being adopted by American families prior to the earthquake that struck Haiti last January stand today in legal limbo; and, as mentioned by Chairwoman Lofgren, in the tragic aftermath, these orphans were evacuated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for humanitarian reasons and with the Haitian Government's permission to American soil. Catastrophic circumstances prompted the evacuation of these children to the United States before their adoptions could be finalized in Haitian courts.

Happily, in my home State of Nebraska and throughout the United States, many of these Haitian orphans were able to unite with the very American families who were seeking to adopt them and who are now working to finalize their adoptions in the courts of the United States. Due to a technicality in the law, however, these Haitian children, upon establishing a legal relationship with their adoptive U.S. parents, will have to wait 2 years before they become legal permanent residents.

As international adoption case workers can attest, much can happen to these orphans and their families in 2 years. So long as their status in the United States remains temporary, these vulnerable children will have few legal protections. They may not be eligible for critical resources, and they may face the risk of being forced to repatriate to Haiti if something were to happen to their adoptive families.

To mitigate the risks that these orphaned children from Haiti face, I introduced the Help Haitian Adoptees Immediately to Integrate Act of 2010, also known as the Help HAITI Act. This legislation is the product of continual dialogue and outreach both to the United States Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and to my Republican and Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Help HAITI Act would provide legal certainty and protections to these evacuated Haitian orphans by enabling adoptive American families to obtain permanent residency for these children more quickly and more efficiently.

Had the earthquake not happened, these orphaned Haitian children would have gone through the normal process

for international adoptions. American families would have finalized the adoption of these orphans in Haitian courts. Then, upon entering the United States to join their adoptive families, these children would have automatically received U.S. citizenship. However, the catastrophe disrupted the normal process for international adoption for these children.

The Help HAITI Act would help to normalize the immigration procedures that these adopted orphans now face. It would allow adoptive American families to apply immediately to obtain legal, permanent residency for these vulnerable children and enable them eventually to qualify for U.S. citizenship. This legislation, I would like to point out, would also help reduce the staff, monetary and other resource demands on the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

As we all know, Mr. Speaker, these orphaned Haitian children have endured great hardships, and they have also endured heartbreaking tragedy to come to this country and unite with their American adoptive parents. Given the uncertainty and danger that these children have faced, we now are in a position to provide them with a measure of comfort and certainty as to their future with their adoptive families here in America.

So, with that, I would like to thank Chairwoman Lofgren for her leadership and work on this bill, along with Ranking Member Smith. I appreciate your input and support.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 5283) to provide for adjustment of status for certain Haitian orphans paroled into the United States after the earthquake of January 12, 2010.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, Members of the House, this bill, entitled the Help HAITI Act of 2010, was introduced by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry). It is incredibly important that we finish the job we undertook when we rescued just over 1,200 Haitian orphans immediately following the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12 earlier this year.

All in all, 1.5 million people were directly affected in terms of human and economic impact. It was one of the worst natural disasters ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.

In response to this disaster, the Department of Homeland Security instituted a policy for the immediate evacuation of Haitian orphans who had been adopted or were in the process of being adopted as citizens.

Now, in the United States with their adoptive or prospective adoptive American parents, these children need one more bit of assistance. Had the earthquake not hit and disrupted the adoption process in Haiti, each of these children would have entered the country as United States citizens under current immigration law.

But because of the emergency procedures used to evacuate these children, they must now wait years before they can get permanent residency and years more before they can qualify for citizenship. Some are even running the risk of aging out even before they can get their residency, which would make them ineligible for legal status in the country.

So what the measure before us does is treat these children as if they had come to the United States under the normal adoption procedures that would have applied had the earthquake not occurred and required hastening their move.

It is with that in mind that I am pleased to thank the bipartisan efforts of the Judiciary Committee, starting with the ranking member, Lamar Smith; the immigration subcommittee chair, Zoe Lofgren; and, of course, Judge Poe, who is leading the measure on the other side.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

I want to commend Judge Ted Poe as a gentleman and a scholar, and we are proud of his service on the Judiciary Committee.

I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee.

Madam Speaker, I now recognize the gentlewoman from Brooklyn, New York, Yvette Clarke, for as much time as she may consume. And I note that she has the second largest number of Haitians and Haitian Americans in her congressional district.

I yield back as well.