When an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, gender-based violence became more frequent as women living in tent camps had few physical barriers to protect them. Jayne Fleming, pro bono counsel at the international law firm Reed Smith, had the unique idea that she would try to help these women secure humanitarian parole in the United States. The alternative, to do nothing, was not really an option. The likelihood of survival for these women—the ones who she and teams of attorneys eventually represented in applying for humanitarian parole—was bleak, as the conditions in Haiti and their physical and/or emotional conditions made them vulnerable to further gender-based violence or even death.
Humanitarian parole is not typically used to relocate victims of gender-based violence. According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website, “humanitarian parole is used sparingly to bring someone who is otherwise inadmissible into the United States for a temporary period of time due to a compelling emergency.” The gender-based violence victims are not eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) because this temporary immigration benefit can be extended only to individuals who are already in the United States.
