HSS/TRUMP PEOPLE/JOHN KELLY: “The Trump administration has decided to continue protecting Haitians living in the US since the 2010 earthquake from deportation for another six months after the expiration of the program became controversial.
The decision, made by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, was announced Monday [5-22-17] and will be followed up by an official notice in the Federal Register, which will start the clock for recipients to apply for their six-month extension.
Senior DHS officials said in a call with reporters that the decision was made after the secretary determined that conditions in Haiti were improving since the earthquake seven years ago — and that at the end of six months, the program could be terminated instead of extended again.
‘After looking at the conditions in Haiti and determining that at this point, legally, under the statute, the secretary could still determine that those conditions warranted an extension of the protection, he decided to do so,’ said a senior DHS official who declined to be quoted by name.”
-Tal Kopan, “Trump administration extends protected status for Haitians,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 22, 2017 1:48pm