By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. on Thursday halted Haitians from receiving temporary low-skill labor visas, just days after President Donald Trump made disparaging remarks about immigration from that country.
In a notification posted to the federal register, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) removed Haiti from a list of countries whose residents are eligible to receive the non-agricultural temporary permits, citing among other things, fraud.
"Haitian nationals applying for H-2A and H-2B visas present extremely high rates of refusal, and those issued H-2A or H-2B visas have historically demonstrated high levels of fraud and abuse and a high rate of overstaying the terms of their H-2 admission," the agency said in its justification for the move.
Samoa and Belize were also removed Thursday from the temporary low-skill visa program.
In a statement to Anadolu Agency, DHS said its decision was made in coordination with the State Department.
"The FRN citation of cases of Haitian nationals having high instances of fraud and abuse as well as a higher likelihood of overstaying their visas was made based on input from the State Department, in the cases of fraud, and from State and DHS related to the volume of Haitian nationals who overstay their visas and remain in the country illegally," spokeswoman Katie Waldman said, referring to the Federal Register Notification.
The decision follows the Trump administration's move in November to remove the temporary protected status for 60,000 Haitians living in the U.S. following a devastating 2010 earthquake in their country, which Haiti is still recovering from.
The move is likely to further increase criticism of the administration's immigration policies after Trump was quoted by the Washington Post making vulgar remarks about immigration from Haiti and African countries.