For the time being, the answer is “no.” On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano temporarily halted the removal (deportations) of Haitians with standing removal orders. Those who do not have removal orders, but are detained in detention centers, will remain jailed.

Since the earthquake on Tuesday, President Obama has been receiving increasing pressure from members of Congress and other special interest groups to grant Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) those Haitians who are in the U.S. unlawfully. This status is sometimes granted to countries when conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.

In plain language, TPS allows eligible nationals who are in the U.S. unlawfully to remain and work in the U.S. until such a time as that their home country reaches a point that DHS determines will allow for a safe return. Currently, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, and Sudan are designated by the Department of Homeland Security for TPS.

Many of us at Sands Anderson have made personal donations to help the earthquake victims. We encourage everyone to consider doing the same, but please be careful who gets your money. It is unfortunate, but many people will try to make a buck off this disaster. Don’t be a victim of a scam.

Here are some tips from the Better Business Bureau on how to vet charities asking for Haiti donations:

• Rely on expert opinion when it comes to evaluating a charity; not every blogger or web site has researched its recommendations.
• Be wary of claims that 100 percent of donations will assist relief victims.
• Be cautious when giving online, particularly if you receive an email asking for donations.
• Find out if the charity has an on-the-ground presence in the impacted areas.
• Find out if the charity is providing direct aid or raising money for other groups; it may make your dollars go further if you avoid the middleman.
• In-kind drives for food and clothing&emdash;while well intentioned&emdash; may not necessarily be the quickest way to help those in need – unless the organization has the staff and infrastructure to be able to properly distribute such aid.

In addition, be very careful in donating by text message. Before texting, go online and verify the number.

FTC Fraud Alert on Work From Home Scans (video)

The best advice I can give in evaluating business opportunities is:

• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There are no easy ways to make money and there are no businesses with guaranteed results.
• This is a good time to have an attorney and accountant on your team to help you evaluate the opportunity.
• Ask for a disclosure document, which should be filed with either the FTC or the North Carolina Secretary of State. This will list company information, a list of previous purchasers of the opportunity and a list of lawsuits filed against the company.
• If there are any representations about earnings, get these in writing. This is usually a separate document from the disclosures.
• Interview previous purchasers in person, even if they work from home. Scam opportunities give you references who are part of the scam. You need to look them in the eye and evaluate their trustworthiness.
• Resist high-pressure sales tactics. Scammers will often say there are limited opportunities in your market, this offer is only good for a short time, there are other people who are serious and who won’t waste their time investigating. Does it really sound reasonable to respond to an internet ad, television ad or email, talk to someone for 30 minutes about your business and financial security, call some people recommended by this person, and write a check for $50,000?
• If you are suspicious, contact the FTC, the Secretary of State, the Better Business Bureau and research the company extensively online.

Please note first that all emails from the federal government will almost always use .gov and not .com as the top-level domain name. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service will NEVER contact a taxpayer via email.

Never, ever, ever, respond to an email from the government, a bank, a credit union, or anyone else that asks you to provide sensitive or personal information, such as social security numbers or bank account numbers. Don’t click on any site embedded in these emails, either. They often seem legitimate, but are not.

For more information on protecting yourself from identity theft, click here.

Let’s be careful out there.