Update: Help Haiti Act

The last week has been full of twists and turns for the Help Haiti Act.  Monday it was on the Congressional calender for a vote, then removed.  Tuesday and Wednesday we discovered that the House Democratic leadership intended to tie a somewhat controversial piece of legislation, the DREAM Act, to the Help Haiti Act (click here for more information).  Doing so could mean that the Help Haiti Act might not pass this year and would have a long upward fight in 2011.  Today, however, we have seen a little bit of light.  Sen. Reid announced that he plans to introduce the DREAM Act into the Senate.  Doing so would likely mean the DREAM Act would not be tied to the Help Haiti Act.

Politics can change very quickly here in Washington and everything could change again tomorrow, or later today. Therefore, over 1200 adoptive children from Haiti without a clear path to citizenship need you to continue to to call and email your Representative, asking them to support the Help Haiti Act.  Please don’t forget to ask your friends and family to do the same.  The children need a loud and powerful voice – the voice of thousands of America’s granting them the right every U.S. adopted child should have – citizenship.  So, please keep the phone calls and emails coming!

How You Can Help

Today, as early as possible, please do the following:

1) Contact via phone and/or email your Representative and respectfully request their support of the Help Haiti Act.  For detailed information regarding the legislation, please read below.  To find your Representative, please click here.

2) Once you have contacted your Representative, please let us know by e-mailing betheanswer@jointcouncil.org.

3) And the new step…ask your friends and family, post on your facebook page, blog and twitter.  Ask them to call their Representative and request their support of the Help Haiti Act and email the support to betheanswer@jointcouncil.org.

4) Follow our blog for updates on the Help Haiti Act until it passes – betheanswerforchildren.wordpress.com

As always, we extend our appreciation for your continued partnership with Joint Council and your anticipated participation in supporting the Help Haiti Act.

What is the Help Haiti Act (H.R. 5283)?

The HELP Haiti Act was introduced by Representative Fortenberry in response to the needs of 1,200 children who entered the U.S. through Humanitarian Parole after the earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010.

Using Humanitarian Parole to unite children with their adoptive families was a true act of humanitarianism.  Unfortunately, a barrier still exists which causes significant and undue delays in providing American citizenship to these children.  This is especially critical for older children who continue to ‘age out’

This bill grants no special considerations to the children but rather places them on the same path to citizenship enjoyed by all other internationally adopted children.