WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- In the wake of the devastating earthquake, more Haitian orphans should be allowed to enter the United States to live with relatives, 10 Democratic senators say.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the U.S. lawmakers, led by Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., asked her Friday to extend the humanitarian parole policy to children whose families are believed dead, The Hill reported. On Monday, the department opened the way for Haitian children already in the process of adoption in the United States and some other orphans to leave the Caribbean island nation.
The senators said children should be sent to the United States only when no relatives can be found in Haiti and only with the approval of the Haitian government. Some countries have moved to speed up Haitian adoptions, a policy international agencies say encourages trafficking in children.
"It is estimated that Haiti was home to more than 350,000 orphans before the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. Many more children have lost their parents as a result of this catastrophic disaster," the senators said in their letter.
The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Roland Burris of Illinois and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
