From Jubilee USA –

JANUARY 13th – Jubilee USA is calling on the Obama administration to take 3 specific steps as part of its comprehensive response to the Haiti earthquake: (1) Provide massive assistance for relief and reconstruction in the form of grants, not loans; (2) Cancel the rest of Haiti’s debt; and(3) Provide Temporary Protective Status to Haitians living in the US. Use your voice for Haiti today. Please call the White House today at 202-456-1111 and ask President Obama to take these steps.

Here’s a sample script:

“Hi, My name is XXX, and I live in X town, Y state. I am calling to ask that President Obama do everything in his power to help the Haitian people in this time of crisis. As part of its emergency response, President Obama should ensure the US provides massive assistance for relief and reconstruction as grants not loans; advocate for the cancellation of all of Haiti’s remaining debts, and provide Temporary Protective Status for Haitians living in the United States. Thank you.”

*You may also wish to give to organizations that are providing emergency relief and humanitarian assistance in Haiti.

Here’s more information about the three asks:

1. Provide massive assistance for relief and reconstruction in the form of grants, not loans. It is becoming clear that the earthquake has caused unimaginable destruction in Haiti. Already impoverished and struggling, it will be nearly impossible for Haiti to get back on its feet without massive humanitarian and reconstruction assistance. This should come as grants, not loans, so that Haiti does not get again saddled with large debts to no fault of its own. Grant assistance should be provided without harmful economic policy conditionalities like requirements for privatization of services.

2. Cancel the Rest of Haiti’s Debt. While $1.2 billion was cancelled in June 2009 thanks to Jubilee supporters’ efforts, the country still has $891 million in debt on its books. Why? Because the debt relief agreements from the IMF and other creditors only covered debts acquired up until 2004. So, new loans Haiti has received since then have been adding to its debt. Half of this total of $891 million is owed to the InterAmerican Development Bank and the IMF with the other half owed to Venezuela and Taiwan. In 2010, Haiti is projected to pay more than $10 million to the IMF and IDB – and this is money Haiti simply can’t pay now that this tragic earthquake has hit.

The US has strong voting power on the Boards of both the IMF and the IDB and should use its influence to secure immediate cancellation of these debts. If cancellation cannot be agreed immediately, President Obama should call for an immediate moratorium on all debt payments (which means they don’t have to pay for a few years) from Haiti with no accured interest until cancellation can be agreed, just as was agreed for countries hit by the Tsunami in 2004. All of Haiti’s limited resources should be directed at recovery, not repayment. You can learn more about Haiti’s debt in Jubilee USA’s August 2009 policy update on Haiti’s debt situation here.

3. Provide Temporary Protective Status for Haitians Living in the US. Jubilee USA member organizations TransAfrica Forum and the Institute for Justice and Democracy and Haiti, along with other leading Haiti advocates, are calling on the U.S. to end the deportation of Haitian immigrants, release those currently held in detention centers pending deportation, and grant Temporary Protected Status for the 30,000 Haitians currently under threat of deportation.

As the New York Times wrote in an editorial this morning:

On Wednesday, the Obama administration said it was halting the pending deportation of up to 30,000 Haitians who have run afoul of the immigration agency. The government should now take the next step by granting these immigrants temporary protected status – as it has to survivors of Latin American earthquakes and other disasters – so that the Haitian diaspora in the United States will be allowed to work and send vitally needed money home.

Temporary protected status (TPS) is granted by the United States (Homeland Security Department) to eligible nationals of countries that cannot safely return to their homelands because of armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. Haiti clearly fits this description. For more information see TransAfrica Forum