Haitians in the U.S. feel pressure to sponsor friends, family back home

FILE PHOTO: Asylum-seeking migrants from Haiti cross the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S Border Patrol agents to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico April 22, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

(Reuters) - Haitians in the United States are facing enormous pressure to help family and friends under a U.S. migration program announced this month that may help some people escape Haiti's escalating violence but is also putting strain on the nation's diaspora.

Giubert St Fort, a South Florida resident from Haiti said he was inundated with calls almost immediately after the Biden administration said on Jan. 5 it was opening a new legal pathway for migrants from four countries, including Haiti who had U.S. sponsors.