US suspends deportation of Haitians after quake
By IANSThursday, January 14, 2010
Washington, Jan 14 (IANS/EFE) The US Wednesday suspended deportation of undocumented Haitian immigrants in the wake of the devastating earthquake in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary John Morton Wednesday halted all removals to Haiti for the time being in response to the devastation,” DHS said in a statement.
The temblor struck at 4.53 p.m. (2153 GMT) and its epicenter was about 15 km southwest of the Haitian capital. The initial quake was followed by three aftershocks.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN Wednesday that the death toll from the quake could exceed 100,000 although he cited no basis for the estimate.
Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
–IANS/EFE
