Trump Administration Bars Haitians From Applying For Certain US Visas

Frandzy Bernadin holds a tattered American flag in front of a Haitian flag, as he listens to speakers during a news conference before a march commemorating the eighth anniversary of the Haitian earthquake, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Miami, Fla.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee





Haitians will no longer be eligible for U.S. visas given to low-skilled workers, the Trump administration said on Wednesday.


The change comes a week after President Donald Trump reportedly questioned why the United States would want to take in immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to them as "shithole" countries.


The Department of Homeland Security said it was removing Haiti from lists of more than 80 countries whose citizens can be granted H-2A and H-2B visas, given to seasonal workers in agriculture and other industries.



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Haiti
ans will no longer be eligible for U.S. visas given to low-skilled workers, the Trump 
administration 
said on Wednesday, bringing an end to a small-scale effort to employ Haiti
ans in the United States after a catastrophic 2010 earthquake.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the change less than a week after President Donald Trump 
reportedly questioned in chu dau tu du an iris garden Oval Office meeting why the United States would want to take in immigrants from Haiti 
and African nations, referring to them as "shithole" countries. Trump 
has denied using that word.

DHS said in a regulatory filing that it was removing Haiti 
from lists of more than 80 countries whose citizens can be granted H-2A and H-2B visas, given to seasonal workers in agriculture and other industries.

It cited what it said were "high levels of fraud and abuse" by Haiti
ans with the visas, and a "high rate of overstaying the terms" of their visas.

A DHS report published last year stated that Haiti
ans on a variety of non-immigrant visas, including H-2As and H-2Bs, had a roughly 40 percent visa overstay rate in the chu dau tu du an iris garden 2016 fiscal year.