Rubio Plan: Let 20K Bahamians in South Florida Bring Foreign Relatives to U.S.

A plan spearheaded by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) would allow at least about 20,000 Bahamians living in South Florida to bring their foreign relatives to the United States who have been impacted by Hurricane Dorian.

This week, Rubio and Scott asked President Trump to “waive” or “suspend” certain visa requirements that would allow the roughly 20,000 Bahamians living in South Florida to more quickly bring their relatives still living in the Bahamas to the U.S.

In total, Rubio and Scott’s plan seeks to allow the roughly 50,000 to 60,000 Bahamians living in the country to bring their foreign relatives to the U.S. as a humanitarian solution to the small island being pummeled by Hurricane Dorian.

While the request has been made to Trump, it remains unclear which provisions of national immigration law could be suspended or waived to give U.S. refuge to the roughly 395,000 residents living in the Bahamas.

A similar policy, though, known as the Haitian Family Reunification Program allows Haitian nationals living in the U.S. to expedite the visa process for their relatives still living in Haiti — thus bringing those foreign relatives more quickly to the country.

As Breitbart News reported, as many as 13,000 homes in the Bahamas have been either destroyed or severely damaged due to Hurricane Dorian. Thus far, the hurricane’s unofficial death toll stands at about 30, though officials are expecting the number to be much higher.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.