Rescue and Aid

Haitian orphans given homes in US

By Kelly Chung Dawson and Wu Chong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-01-20 14:26

NEW YORK: Fifty-three Haitian orphans arrived in America on Tuesday after the US Department of Homeland Security announced they will be granting temporary parole to allow orphaned Haitian children into the US on a case-by-case basis.

The children had already been approved for adoption when their orphanage in Port-au-Prince collapsed during last week's earthquake. Upon arrival in Pittsburgh, the children were immediately taken to UPMC Children's Hospital, where a teddy bear waited on each child's bed.

In Miami, similar efforts to transport and treat orphaned children have been dubbed "Operation Pierre Pan," a reference to "Operation Pedro Pan," a rescue effort that brought 14,000 children to the US during the upheaval of the Cuban revolution in the early 60s.

"We have received 94 cases (of applications for adopting Haitian orphans) so far," DHS spokesman Matthew Chandler told China Daily. Adoption agencies like Holt International and the CASI Foundation for Children have also experienced a spike in calls inquiring about potential adoptions of Haitian orphans, according to Susan Cox, Vice President of Policy and External Affairs with Holt International.

Cox believes that the increased interest in adoption is premature. "We need to do this in a very careful, thoughtful way, and not preemptively go to the inter-country adoption process," she said in an interview with China Daily.

Sometimes extended family members will step forward to claim orphans after the chaos of a humanitarian crisis has settled. "We need to make sure that everything is done appropriately and ethically."

Many of the American families who had already been matched to children are faced with having to resubmit paperwork that was destroyed in the earthquake, Cox said. The State Department will hopefully help in expediting the process for those families, she said.

On Monday, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a humanitarian parole policy to give Haitian orphans access to the US on an individual basis to ensure they receive necessary care and help.

Chandler said there is no estimate on how many cases have so far been approved by the State Department, nor does the DHS have information.