DHS Continues To Assist Recovery Efforts in Haiti
Department of Homeland Security announced yesterday that it continues to support U.S. government efforts to provide operational and humanitarian assistance in Haiti by deploying over 1,000 personnel. As of Jan. 28, CBP has processed 982 total evacuation flights carrying 18,331 civilian passengers, 506 military passengers, 197 patients, 675 parolees and 483 orphans into the United States. CBP has also processed 270 flights in support of relief workers. In addition to deploying critical personnel and supplies to assist the international relief effort, Secretary Napolitano granted Temporary Protected Status to Haitian nationals who were in the United States as of Jan. 12, 2010, and implemented a humanitarian parole policy allowing orphaned children from Haiti with prospective adoptive families in the United States to enter the country temporarily on an individual basis.
By the same token, the Department of State issued a statement announcing that the agency and its partners are intensifying efforts addressing the potential for trafficking in persons, particularly children, in post-earthquake Haiti including registration of unaccompanied and separated children, tracing, and family reunification.
