The Trump administration announced Wednesday that Haitians would be removed from the list of countries eligible for the visas that are given for workers in seasonal positions such as agriculture jobs.
The Department of Homeland Security said that there were “high levels of fraud and abuse” in addition to a “high rate of overstaying the terms.” A previous DHS report said that Haitians on several different types of non-immigrant visas overstayed their visa at a rate of 40 percent.
After the catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010, the country was added to the list of countries eligible for the H-2A and H-2B visas. Less than a hundred Haitians immigrated using the visas each year.
This decision comes just days after President Trump allegedly referred to Haiti, in addition to other countries, as sh*thole countries where more immigrants shouldn’t be coming from. It also comes shortly after the administration announced the end of the Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, which affects more than 200,000 Haitians who came to the country following the earthquake.
Many parts of the country are still lacking infrastructure, as the country is regularly in the path of hurricanes. Deportation would force people who have been in the country for several years and made lives for themselves to either leave or stay here in fear of deportation.
