TAMPA, Fla. — Experts say thousands of immigrants currently in the U.S. will be affected when the Department of Homeland Security ends family reunification programs for seven countries, citing fraud and security concerns.
Ricardeau Lucceos moved to the U.S. from Haiti with one goal, to look for a better life. He’s been living in Tampa since 1998, and many people know him as a community lawyer.
Lucceos says he works closely with the Haitian community through his business as a personal accident attorney, and through his community service.
Recently, he said he’s been hearing about concerns regarding the end of the family reunification parole program.
And he says he’s seeing the impact firsthand.
“It becomes a strain on the families who come here,” he said. “And it’s a bigger problem for them, too, because before they come here, they run looking for safety and now they have to go back to nothing.”
The program reunited families from countries like Haiti, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador and more.
“The program was a legal pathway for many to immigrate to the U.S.,” said Jose Fernandez, an immigration counselor with Catholic Charities. “It gives them the opportunity to migrate and be here with their family, to wait here and apply here, that was the purpose of the program.”
Fernandez said the program was a success for the families his organization serves, and helped reunite loved ones who haven’t seen each other in years.
“Some have mentioned that they want to return, and others are looking for another legal pathway to stay,” he said.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security say the department is returning parole decisions to a case-by-case basis. They say abuse of the parole system allowed poorly vetted immigrants to enter the country.
While Lucceos says the termination of the program will impact families, he said it also could lead to something else — re-building elsewhere.
“We, as immigrants, need to start making some decisions in terms of rebuilding our home rebuilding our nation where we come from,” he said.
Lucceos is working to help more families stay in Haiti by creating Prehacopa, a business prioritizing national development for the country.
He hopes U.S. leaders will come together to help, too.
Ricardeau said that while ending the family reunification parole programs might be a setback for some in Tampa, he’s hopeful it will also encourage Haitians to work to bring change back to their own country as well.
Those who are under the reunification parole program have until Jan. 14 to either leave or find another pathway to stay.
Lizbeth Gutierrez
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