Haitian emigrants look North, South
Yesterday the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that Haiti would be added to the list of 53 countries whose citizens can apply for temporary work visas. Under the H-2A and H-2B temporary visa programs, immigrants are allowed to work in seasonal positions for up to 12 months, with the possibility of extending stays for up to three years.
The temporary visa programs are fraught with red tape and inflexible restrictions, but allowing more Haitians to work in the United States undeniably brings benefits, not only for emigrants but also for, say, farmers in southern states who have had trouble finding laborers after crackdowns on illegal immigration.
But in the two years since the January 12 earthquake, Haitians emigrants haven’t been looking only North.
Tate Watkins is a freelance writer in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He writes about economic development, foreign aid, and immigration, among other things.