In the wake of Haiti’s devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, the White House granted Temporary Protected Status to existing Haitian immigrants, allowing them to remain and work in the United States for 18 months. Subsequently, two law schools with sizable local Haitian populations have stepped up to provide legal support for obtaining such status.
In South Florida, the University of Miami School of Law recently conducted a filing session to interview and screen applicants, and to facilitate application paperwork.
“As lawyers, none of us can administer field medicine, and we aren’t logistics experts,” said JoNel Newman, the director of the law school’s Health and Elder Law Clinic. “But this is a way we can help. It may not be as dramatic, but it’s equally-important – and will have a lasting impact on Haitian families.”
Farther north, Boston College Law School has been offering similar legal counsel to Haitian immigrants, as students, faculty and alumni have worked on clarifying immigration law, enhancing communication and organizing free legal clinics.
Associate Professor Daniel Kanstroom nearly echoed Newman in articulating the response by the law school community: “It’s not as traumatic as responding to the crisis on the ground, but the legal community is scrambling to figure out the best way to proceed.”
The South Florida area and Greater Boston have the largest and third largest populations of Haitian immigrants in the United States, respectively.
