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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 3, 2021 / Notices a halt in nearly all economic activity for a period of about eight weeks.
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti reports that, as a result of multiple crises including political instability and COVID19, Haitis economy contracted by 1.2% in 2019.
Factories are operating at reduced capacity, unemployment is rising, the Haitian gourde continues to lose value against the United States dollar, inflation consistently exceeds 20%.47
On June 8, OCHA reported that the unprecedented level of violence and subsequent displacements as a result of gang violence is creating a host of secondary issues, such as the disruption of community-level social functioning, family separation, increased financial burdens on host families, forced school closures, loss of livelihoods and a general fear among the affected populations.48

of diseases is hampered by a lack of healthcare infrastructure and medication, and a low vaccination rate.53 The current epidemiological situation of cholera in Haiti has improved overall, but the medical community appears divided on choleras current prevalence in Haiti.54
Special Representative of the Secretary General La Lime said the COVID19
pandemic is stretching the countrys fragile health system: In a country of more than 11 million inhabitants, La Lime explained that Haiti only has the capacity to treat a few hundred patients at a time, due to suboptimal coordination within the state apparatus, inadequate funding of the national response plan, and staunch opposition by local communities to the opening of these centers, a manifestation of the lingering climate of denial, stigma and discrimination.55

Healthcare Situation USAID reported in January 2020 that insufficient funding, a weak health service delivery system, a lack of qualified health professionals, and the lingering impact of the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 pose key challenges to the delivery of healthcare services to Haitis population.49 In March 2020, the independent humanitarian analysis organization ACAPS reported on a severe lack of healthcare services and infrastructure across the country, noting that only 31% of Haitians have access to healthcare services.50 Several vectorborne diseases are prevalent in Haiti, including malaria, chikungunya, dengue, and Zika.51 Diphtheria is endemic, and cases have increased in recent years.52 Treatment of these types
COVID19s Exacerbation of Food Insecurity and Lack of Access to Basic Services
47 United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti:
Report of the Secretary-General, United Nations Security Council, pg 9, Feb. 11, 2021, https
reliefweb.int/report/haiti/united-nations-integratedoffice-haiti-report-secretary-general-s2021133.
48 HAITI: Displacement in Port-au-Prince Situation Report No. 1, OCHA, June 18, 2021.
49 Haiti Health Fact Sheet, U.S. Agency for International Development USAID, Jan. 2020, https www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/
documents/1862/USAID_Haiti_Health_Fact_Sheet_
-_January_2020.pdf.
50 Briefing Note: Haiti, ACAPS, p.4, Mar. 23, 2020, https www.acaps.org/sites/acaps/files/
products/files/20200323_acaps_briefing_note_
complex_crisis_in_haiti.pdf.
51 Brown, Clive M.; Ejike-King, Lacreisha; Gracia, J. Nadine; and Sampson, Dana M.; Chapter 10:
Haiti, Yellow Book, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last reviewed Jun. 24, 2019, accessed Feb. 12, 2021, https wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/
yellowbook/2020/popular-itineraries/haiti.
52 Brown, Clive M.; Ejike-King, Lacreisha; Gracia, J. Nadine; and Sampson, Dana M.; Chapter 10:
Haiti, Yellow Book, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last reviewed Jun. 24, 2019, accessed Feb. 12, 2021, https wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/
yellowbook/2020/popular-itineraries/haiti.

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High rates of poverty and natural disasters, including earthquakes and hurricanes, have contributed to elevated levels of food insecurity in Haiti.56
According to the World Food Programme WFP, Haiti has one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the world.57 More than half of the population is chronically food insecure.58 According to UNICEF, 4.1
million Haitians nearly 40 per cent of the Haitian population are estimated to be food insecure, and the estimated number of children suffering from acute malnutrition has risen to 167,000 as of May 2020.59
In an October 2020 report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the 53 Briefing Note: Haiti, ACAPS, p.4, Mar. 23, 2020, https www.acaps.org/sites/acaps/files/
products/files/20200323_acaps_briefing_note_
complex_crisis_in_haiti.pdf.
54 See e.g., Henrys, Jean et all, Cholera in Haiti, The Lancet, Dec. 2020, https www.thelancet.com/
journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X2030450-2/
fulltext?rss=yes.
55 Haitis Stability in Peril without Strong Response to COVID19, Legal Expert Tells Security Council, June 19, 2020, https www.un.org/press/
en/2020/sc14218.doc.htm.
56 Country BriefHaiti, World Food Programme WFP, p. 1, Oct. 2020, https
reliefweb.int/report/haiti/wfp-haiti-country-briefoctober-2020.
57 Haiti, World Food Programme WFP, accessed Feb. 5, 2021, https www.wfp.org/
countries/haiti.
58 Country BriefHaiti, World Food Programme WFP, p. 1, Oct. 2020, https
reliefweb.int/report/haiti/wfp-haiti-country-briefoctober-2020.
59 Haiti Humanitarian Situation Report, UNICEF, JanuaryDecember 2020, https
www.unicef.org/media/94046/file/Haiti-SitRepDecember-2020.pdf.

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United Nations FAO and the WFP
identified Haiti as one of 20 acute food insecurity hotspots 60 in the world.61
The report also noted that COVID19related restrictions have exacerbated an already high acute food insecurity situation, reducing availability of and access to food. 62
In mid-March 2021, FAO stated that the effects of the COVID19 pandemic combined with economic instability, civil unrest, and recurring shocks linked to natural disasters including droughts, earthquakes, floods and hurricanes, have led to increased food insecurity and other humanitarian needs throughout the country.63
In early May 2021, USAID reported that the socioeconomic impacts of coronavirus disease COVID19
mitigation measuresalong with ongoing violence and instability and persistent economic challenges continue to affect access to services for vulnerable people in Haiti, where approximately 4.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.64
On June 10, 2021, OCHA reported that as a result of deadly gang clashes, the displaced are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and protection.
Priority needs include sanitation, shelter, access to clean water and food.65
What authority does the Secretary have to designate Haiti for TPS?
Section 244b1 of the INA, 8 U.S.C.
1254ab1, authorizes the Secretary,66
after consultation with appropriate agencies of the U.S. Government, to designate a foreign state or part thereof for TPS if the Secretary determines that certain country conditions exist. The 60 FAOWFP Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Insecurity Hotspots: October 2020, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO and the World Food Programme WFP, p.6, Nov. 2020, http www.fao.org/3/cb1907en/
CB1907EN.pdf.
61 Id. at p.56,12.
62 Id. at p.12.
63 Haiti Humanitarian Response Plan 2021, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO, p.1, Mar. 11, 2021, https
reliefweb.int/report/haiti/haiti-humanitarianresponse-plan-2021.
64 HaitiComplex Emergency Fact Sheet 2, Fiscal Year FY 2021, U.S. Agency for International Development USAID, p.2, May 4, 2021, https reliefweb.int/report/haiti/haiticomplex-emergency-fact-sheet-2-fiscal-year-fy-2021.
65 Daily Noon Briefing Highlights, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 10 June 2021, https www.unocha.org/story/dailynoon-briefing-highlights-ethiopia-haiti 66 INA 244b1 prescribes this power to the Attorney General. Congress transferred this authority from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Homeland Security. See Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107296, 116 Stat. 2135.

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