Paul Pierrilus' deportation to Haiti suspended

The 40-year-old New York man was minutes away from boarding one of the last removal flights of the Trump administration before a relentless international effort by his family.

Thursday, 21st January 2021

For the second time in his stateless life, Paul Pierrilus faced the possibility this week of being exiled to a country he has never known, never were in, and that has never seen him. The 40-year-old New York man was minutes away from boarding one of the last removal flights of the Trump administration before a relentless international effort by his family, attorney, and a fortuitous connection to a freshman U.S. congressman supported him evade removal. Immigration attorneys, as well as advocates, say chartered deportation flights continued unbroken until the last hours of Donald Trump’s presidency, sending dozens of immigrants, including people such as Pierrilus, to nations they barely know or fled decades earlier. Advocates who track such flights estimate more than 1,000 deportation flights took place last year. President Biden has done to halting evictions during the first 100 days of his administration, scaling back arrests and offering an ambitious review of the nation’s immigration laws to include a path to legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants. The proposed legislation will need support from Republicans, but some have already voiced their opposition. In the years since the last major effort to pass sweeping immigration reform, in 2013, immigration attorneys and advocates have sought the help of Capitol Hill lawmakers when all other legal and procedural options for their clients have been exhausted. Pierrilus found himself in such a situation. The business consultant was born in the French territory of St. Martin to Haitian parents and immigrated to the United States as a child. But neither Haiti nor the French government automatically confers citizenship by birth. So Pierrilus was stuck in limbo, a citizen of nowhere and with no country ready to give him legal status. Precise data is elusive, but the Center for Migration Studies of New York guesses about 218,000 people in the United States are stateless or at risk of being so.