MARK UDALL SENATE wan onre LONG Wnited States Senate WASHINGTON, Dc 20510 January 15, 2010 Janice L. Jacobs Alejandro Mayorkas Assistant Secretary Director Bureau of Consular Affairs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services U.S. Department of State Department of Homeland Security 2201 C Street NW 20 Massachusetts Avenue Washington D.C., 20520 Washington, D.C. 20529 Dear Assistant Secretary Jacobs and Director Mayorkas: L write to share my grave concem about Haiti and the humanitarian disaster unfolding there after the devastating earthquake of January 12. As you know, tens of thousands of Haitians are dead, many more are wounded, and potentially millions are in desperate need of food, water, shelter, and medical attention. Many families are still searching for their loved ones in the rubble, including children who have lost their parents. Humanitarian workers expect the number of orphaned children in Haiti to rise beyond the nearly 400,000 orphans already identified by aid agencies before the earthquake. Many of Haiti’s children who were counted as orphans before this tragedy are in the midst of finding new lives with American families who are entering the last stages of the multi-year adoption process and hoping soon to bring their children home. In some of those cases, the only steps left involve processing travel and immigration documents here in the United States. Since January 12, I have heard from over a dozen Colorado families who are desperate to find their children in Haiti, to make sure they are safe, and to get them home. I understand that there is precedent for expediting U.S. visas for orphans in situations involving political unrest or natural disasters. Given the gravity of the situation on the ground in Haiti, I believe it is urgent that we find a way to help these children who have families waiting for them here in the United States. T encourage you to consider granting humanitarian parole for the children whose adoptions were nearly complete before this tragedy — specifically, those adoptive families for whom a Haitian court has already issued an adoption decree or granted custody of the child. ‘Thank you for your consideration of my request. Sincerely, Wel Spa Mark Udall