Turks and Caicos Lifts Ban on Deporting Haitians



PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands September 6, 2012 (AP)

The government of the Turks and Caicos Islands is will resume deportations of Haitians who were in the British Caribbean territory illegally before their country's devastating earthquake.

A statement issued by the government says the territory is lifting a temporary ban on deportations that had been in place since shortly after the January 2010 Haiti earthquake. The announcement was made Thursday.

The territory was one of several jurisdictions in the region that halted deportations of people who came pre-quake on humanitarian grounds. The U.S. has extended what's known as temporary protected status for Haitians until Jan. 22, 2013.

Turks and Caicos is an island chain just north of Haiti that is home to about 32,000 people. The government deported 938 Haitians in 2010 and 611 in 2011.

Turks and Caicos Lifts Ban on Deporting Haitians - ABC News