Deportations to Haiti Re-Start

U.S. immigration authorities have resumed deportations to Haiti, ending a three-month-plus reprieve of sending Haitians back:

"We determined that it was appropriate to resume based on the circumstances in Haiti," Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said, declining to comment further.

"The individuals being returned have final orders of removal and the necessary travel documents."

The move to deport Haitians comes at a time when Haiti is still trying to recover from back-to-back storms that heaped wide scale devastation. The tempests -- two of them full-fledged hurricanes -- left at least 800 people dead, tens of thousands homeless, and caused about $1 billion in damages.

Immigrant advocates found hope in the suspension, issued in September. They said the halt could pave the way for temporary protected status, or TPS, a program that temporarily suspends deportations and allows undocumented Haitians to obtain work permits.

Immigrant advocates expressed further relief when authorities allowed more than 50 Haitians to be released from a Broward detention center. Ankle bracelets were used to monitor their whereabouts, they said.