Haitians in U.S. Illegally Look for Signs of a Deporting Reprieve


Published: May 27, 2009
For Danie, who moved from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to the United States in 2001 to live with her grandparents, there has never been a good time to go home.

Haiti, which has stumbled from grave political unrest to catastrophic natural disasters, remains one of the world’s poorest nations. So although Danie, 22, is an illegal immigrant, she has decided to stay in New York City. She lives in Cambria Heights, Queens, and is about to graduate from college with a degree in education. She hopes to become an elementary school teacher, but fears that her lack of a Social Security number will leave her few options beyond doing menial labor in an underground economy.

The desperation of Haitians was underscored this month when at least nine people drowned after their boat — crowded mostly with people fleeing Haiti — sank off the Florida coast.

“Things are easier here,â€