Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Haitian immigrants and the South Florida Economy

This is the Miami Herald Friday Business Report, I'm Niala Boodhoo.

It just started yesterday, but thousands of Haitian-Americans are already taking advantage of the new temporary program to provide legal status to work and live in the United States.

That could mean up to 80-thousand people entering the work force in South Florida - at a time when local jobless rates are at their highest in decades.

More than 2,000 Haitians have come to Notre Dame'd Haiti Catholic Center in Miami looking to apply for TPS. That's Temporary Protected Status now available for Haitians who were already here before the earthquake.

Magda Dominique is a Haitian-American paralegal who is helping Elaince Charles file for TPS. Charles has been here since 1993. He used to have legal status but lost it. Since then, he's had a hard time finding construction work.

Eliance Charles: Travay con mete tile, m'travay nan construction, mwen pa gen job. M'pa kab travay..

He says he worked putting down tile. But now, there are no jobs and he can't find work.

Elaince Charles: Oh anpil anpil. Right now, I am living with a friend of mine, for the past six, seven months, because I don't have a job.

He says it's very, very important for him to get a work permit. He's been living with a friend for months.

The construction industry has lost the most jobs of any sector in Florida during the recession. Len Mills with the South Florida chapter of Associated General Contractors says finding work for these Haitians won't be easy.

Len Mills: There's 35 thousand to 55 thousand unemployed construction workers - that's just construction workers in South Florida - now they're going to have to get in line.

Adding another 80-thousand new Haitian workers might even cause a short uptick in local jobless rates, says economist Tony Villamil. But in the long term, he says since these people were probably already working anyway, formally bringing them into the economy will be good for overall growth.

Tony Villamil: So initially you see an upturn in unemployment but after that you're beginning to see improved economic activity from that addition to the labor force and the dynamism that is created.

The Asssociated Builders and Contractors is trying to channel that dynamism to help Haitians applying for temporary status.

The group is the largest trainer of apprenticeship workers here in South Florida. Dan Shaw heads the local chapter. He wants to put together a 90-day construction training programs so workers can learn skills here and take them to back to Haiti.

Dan Shaw: It's just not about rebuilding, there are going to be requirements for homes that are partially damaged, so there's a need now to repair everything from minor damage to to uh the total devastation..

Shaw says his not-for-profit group is looking for ways to fund the program so already-poor Haitians won't have to pay for it.

Back at Notre Dame'Haiti, Duvernot Vertilus, was also applying for temporary protected status. He came for a visit along with his wife and one of daughters back in September. Now, they have no home to go back to.

Duvernot Vertilus: I am a carpenter, so if I find work, and that type of work, I would like to do it. But it doesn't matter if I find something else, I still could do that.

His other children and parents, who are still in Haiti, survived the earthquake - but some family members didn't. Now, Vertilus says he just wants to find any job she can send money back home.

For the Friday Business Report, I'm Niala Boodhoo.