Lobbying for Humanitarian Parole

Well, another day down, and NO NEWS!!! We have learned that despite the fact that congressional leadership has explicitly asked Secretary Clinton to support granting Humanitarian Parole status to all orphans who were in the process of being adopted. We are desperately trying to apply pressure to make sure this becomes a reality! Please take the time to write (another) letter to your representative- we HAVE TO KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!

1. Go to http://www.congress.org/ to find your legislator
2. Just type in your zip code and then follow the links for the U.S. Senators and Representatives and BARACK OBAMA
3. You can click to "contact" and submit your "comments."
4. Copy and paste the following text into the box:

I am writing on behalf of our friends, Michael and Monica Simonsen who have been in the process of adopting their son, Stanley Hermane, from Haiti since August 2008. Just like the thousands of other orphans in Haiti, he is in grave danger due to the worsening conditions in Haiti. Without proper access to food, water, and shelter, the children are susceptible to disease. Additionally, the trauma of the earthquake has no doubt begun to cause emotional harm to these children.

It is with these factors in mind that we urge you to support the initiave to grant Humanitarian Parole to all orphans in Haiti who were in the process of being adopted. Humanitarian Parole would not circumvent the adoption process but would allow the children of American families to get to safety while freeing up resources for the remaining orphans in Haiti.

We know that the State Department is working hard to develop policies but time may be running out for these children! It is extremely important that the U.S. follow the lead of other nations and evacuate these children immediately.

Please contact our friends, Monica and Michael Simonsen at monica.simonsen@gmail.com if you would like to discuss this issue further. I look forward to hearing of your continued support of these Haitian orphans and their American families here at home. Thank you, in advance, for your help and consideration.

This is no time to back off- we are almost there- these kids may really come home- but ONLY if we keep the pressure up- PLEASE help us!