Armed with these findings, CGD launched an extensive policy outreach effort which resulted in the addition of Haiti to the list of countries eligible for H-2 visas in January 2012. This change in migration policy comes at no cost to the US government, complementing traditional relief and development efforts in the country (Learn more about CGD’s outreach process here).
CGD followed up Williamson and Murray’s June, 2011 CGD working paper Migration as a Tool for Disaster Recovery: A Case Study on U.S. Policy Options for Post-Earthquake Haiti with two policy briefs that summarized their recommendations “Beyond Aid: Migration as a Tool for Disaster Recovery (Haiti Case Study)” by Michael Clemens and Kaci Farrell in June, 2011 which summarized the findings of the working paper, and “Migration as a Tool for Disaster Recovery: US policy Options in the Case of Haiti” by Michael Clemens and Tejaswi Velayudhan. The latter, published in October 2011 highlighted four modest changes the US government could adopt: i) creating a family reunification parole program; ii) modifying the Diversity visa lottery; iii) allowing Haitians to be eligible for the low skill (H2-A/H-2B Visa Lottery Program; and iv) modifying the US Refugee admissions program.
Clemens, Murray, and Williamson along with the CGD policy outreach team identified the administrative decisions needed to add Haiti to the list of countries eligible for the H-2A/H-2B temporary low-skilled worker visa program and family reunification parole as the policy change CGD would be most able to prompt. Murray and Williamson worked with the CGD outreach team to initiate this change.
Their efforts included: a briefing on Capitol Hill and dozens of meetings: They met with congressional staff; immigration policy officials at the Department of Homeland Security; officials in the State Department Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator; senior policy advisors at the White House Domestic Policy Council; and senior officials in the Haitian government. CGD was able to solicit bipartisan letters of support and endorsement for the H-2A/H-2B policy change and family reunification parole for Haitians from a wide variety of politicians. Statements of support for these two policy changes can be found here.
These efforts bore fruit when, in January 2012, the Department of Homeland Security extended the eligibility for H-2 visas to include Haiti. This policy change marks the first time since 1958 that the United States has expanded opportunities for new arrivals from an area struck by natural disaster, as part of the humanitarian response to the disaster. The change has the potential to have a dramatic impact on Haitian families and on the Haitian recovery more broadly. As Clemens outlined in a CGD Global Prosperity Wonkcast in January 2012, if just 1,000–1,500 Haitians are able to come work in the United States for over the course of ten years this could translate into $200 million in new income directly to Haitian workers and their families. The policy change CGD’s role in the process were reported in the Guardian Poverty Matters Blog.
To help catalyze timely and effective use of this new visa opportunity, the CGD team traveled to Haiti in June 2012. There they met with labor recruitiers in Haiti, local NGOs that provide services to migrants, the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, the Director General of the National Migration Office, US embassy staff, and the special advisor to President Martelly of Haiti. They extended these discussions in the US with Haiti’s Ambassador the United States, the special advisor to Presdient Martelly, and Haiti’s Consul General in Miami (to learn more about the CGD’s trip to Haiti click here).
CGD put together a package of resources about the H2-A/H2-B visa opportunity to use in communications with employers and other stakeholders. This packet is available in both English and French on the Initiative page.
CGD continues to build relationships with partners in the Haitian government and with intergovernmental organizations, to assist them in building a government-regulated system that guarantees Haitians rights and helps ensure that Haitians are compliant with the terms of the visa.