Haitians in U.S. Illegally Slow to Seek Protected Status

March 9, 2010— -- Only 15 percent of the estimated 200,000 Haitians living in the United states illegally have taken advantage of a controversial Obama administration initiative that would allow them to live and work freely here until conditions in Haiti improve.

The number has surprised advocates on both sides of the immigration debate, many of whom had anticipated a crush of undocumented Haitians applying for the program after it was announced Jan. 15.

Supporters had hailed the move as necessary to helping Haitians rebuild their country, while opponents said the influx of legal workers would increase competition for U.S. jobs.

As of March 8, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had processed 30,922 application packages received for "temporary protective status," or TPS.

"Based on the numbers projected by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service … the number is really low," said Jojo Annobil of the Legal Aid Society of New York, a group helping Haitians apply.

Across the country, Haitian community groups and several members of Congress had urged quick implementation of TPS for Haitians in the wake of January's quake, calling it an act of compassion and common sense.

But nearly two months later, tens of thousands of Haitians appear to be skeptical of a program that would give them work and travel rights in the United States.

"I thought more people would have applied by now," said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. "They seem to be hindered by the three F's -- fees, fear and fraud."

Little says the $470 cost of the application, complicated legalese on government forms, third-party scams to fleece extra cash from applicants and a pervasive fear of deportation have kept many Haitians from coming out of the shadows.

"Haitians are not too sure what they are getting themselves into," Annobil said. "They worry that providing information that the government doesn't have already could put them at risk for deportation at a later date."

When asked whether the' fears are well-founded, Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said the agency's enforcement priority remains "criminal aliens," or those immigrants with criminal convictions.

"Haitian nationals who are in the U.S. illegally are encouraged to apply for TPS in order to avail themselves of the important benefits provided," Chandler said. "Those in the U.S. without proper documentation who do not apply...only continue to be ineligible to work in this country and remain at risk of poential enforcement action."