Temporary status deadline nears for Haitians
http://www.news-press.com/article/20110 ... r-Haitians

Haitian nationals have one week to apply for temporary protection status — or TPS — to remain in the United States following the Caribbean country’s catastrophic earthquake last January.

The protection was extended to Haitians living in the United States before the disaster, which killed an estimated 250,000 people and sparked a humanitarian crisis, making a return perilous. The status allows them to remain in the U.S. without facing deportation, regardless of how they initially entered the country. It lasts until July 22 of this year.

Initially, the application deadline was July 20, 2010, but that was extended to Jan. 18 when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determined more time was needed, especially because many were having trouble raising the money for fees and obtaining the required documents from their crippled government.

Catholic Charities estimates about 20,000 Haitians live in Lee County, about 3 percent of the population, though the actual number is likely higher as undocumented residents are impossible to track.

Applications submitted in Florida comprise 61 percent of the applications nationwide number, and 65 percent of the 45,819 approved so far, according to the immigration service. There are no Lee County figures, though when the program first opened, Fort Myers was the sixth-busiest office in the country, according to the immigration service.

Ricardo Skerrett, a Fort Myers immigration lawyer, said he processed several applications early on, mostly from Haitians who had entered the country illegally.

“Those that came to me were cases that were more problematic, but they did go through,â€