US Wants Brazil to Take Back Haitians Who Left the Country

11/01/2016 - 20h04

The US government wants Brazil to accept back over a thousand Haitians currently in the border between Mexico and the US, trying to reach American soil.

A source in the US government told Folha that over a thousand Haitians, almost all from Brazil, went to the border between Mexico and the United States in the last two months. They want to enter the United States as refugees.

There are more than 80,000 Haitians in Brazil. They emigrated after the 2010 earthquake and many entered the country with humanitarian visas.

In recent months, many Haitians are leaving Brazil because of the economic crisis and the lack of jobs. Chile and the United States are the destinations of these immigrants.

As these Haitians are in a legal situation in Brazil, many with humanitarian visas or permanent residence, the US government wants to send them back to the country, according to what Folha has learnt. They cannot be sent to Haiti, which is undergoing a humanitarian emergency after being hit by a hurricane.

The issue of Haitians leaving Brazil was raised by US officials in a meeting with President Michel Temer outside the official agenda during the UN General Assembly in September.

Haitians fall into the "temporary protected status" of the US government. After entering the US, they cannot be deported and receive a work permit.

The migration issue is delicate in the US and one of the main themes of the elections. The flow of unaccompanied minors from Central American entering the US illegally started to grow again in the last years.

Translated by MARINA DELLA VALLE

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