Sanford man back home after fixing immigration issue
By Martin E. Comas
Just over a year ago Henry Dorvil — who friends call the “hardest-working man in Sanford” — found himself stranded in his native Haiti as he struggled to straighten out his immigration status and return to the U.S.
Living a spartan life in the impoverished island nation without running water or electricity, Dorvil, 24, gained strength from Central Florida supporters who launched a “Help Henry” campaign on Facebook and posted “Help Henry” posters around the area. He dreamed of returning to Sanford and resuming his video-production company.
On Thursday, Dorvil had a welcome-home party at Buster’s Bistro in downtown Sanford to celebrate his return.
“I am so super excited,” he said. “I walked
around downtown Sanford and got so emotional. This all feels like a dream. It was exactly what I dreamed about every day.”
Dorvil’s ordeal came to an end on Dec. 30, when he boarded a plane and headed back to Orlando, greeted by friends and his two sisters, who screamed and jumped up and down in happiness.
Amid the hubbub surrounding his return, Dorvil hadn’t heard about President Donald Trump’s remarks during an Oval Office meeting Thursday about immigration. The president, referring to Haiti and African countries, asked, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”
Dorvil wouldn’t comment on Trump’s comments but added there are many misunderstandings about people fleeing poor countries to seek a better life.
“They are leaving a Third World country,” he said. “And it’s not easy to come here.”
Trump’s comments came on the eve of Friday’s eighth anniversary of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti. He also has been reported to have said that Haitians “all have AIDS.”
Dorvil said it was Trump’s election in November 2016 — and the fear of a crackdown on illegal immigrants — that prompted him to go back to Haiti in hopes of clearing up his immigration status.
After being granted a visa on Dec. 28 by the State Department to return to the U.S., Dorvil is now applying for permanent residency, more commonly known as a green card that allows immigrants to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s office said Friday it helped speed Dorvil’s request to re-enter the U.S. after hearing in May about his case from state Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford.
“We requested to expedite his visa process because he is the family provider and his mother (who lives in Orlando) is dependent on him,” said Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokeswoman for Rubio, R-Fla.
Dorvil first came to the U.S. from Haiti with his family in 1993 when he was 5 months old, seeking political asylum following a military coup. He grew up in Pine Hills, attended Evans High School and graduated from Workforce Advantage Academy charter school. He has never been arrested or charged with a crime.
While living in Sanford, he held down several parttime jobs, did volunteer work and started a videoproduction business, Good Vibe Television and Good Vibes Productions, that began growing quickly. His friends and other residents were in awe of his drive and ambition.
However, Dorvil realized he was not a legal resident.
His father is a naturalized U.S. citizen and lives in Fort Lauderdale. His mother, Henriette Dorsinvil, is a legal U.S. citizen. His sisters are also naturalized U.S. citizens. His American-born brother, Jerry Dorvil, served in the Marine Corps and now lives in Alabama.
But Henry Dorvil had been living in the U.S. under a “temporary protected status” designation that had been offered to Haitian nationals living in the U.S. by the federal government since the 2010 earthquake on the island. Dorvil unknowingly let his protective status expire.
If deported to Haiti, Dorvil faced up to a 10-year ban on returning to the U.S. He flew to Haiti in December 2016 in hopes of clearing up his situation.
“I told myself, I am going to go back and do this the right way,” Dorvil said Thursday. “Imagine if I said: ‘I’m not going back.’ Then what would happen if I got deported? No, I wanted to do this the right way.”
Dorvil now plans to launch a nonprofit organization to help other immigrants facing the same dilemma.
“There are plenty of people who don’t realize what their situation is,” Dorvil said. “I feel that with what I went through, I can help them. … Because for me, it was nerve-wracking.”
In November, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security terminated the temporary protected status for Haitians, effective in July 2019. However, Dorvil, who won’t be affected by that move, disagreed with that decision.
“I can say that the country is not stable enough,” he said, recalling how he had to take sponge baths and pay a neighbor to recharge his cellphone. “It’s too soon. You can’t send them back empty-handed.”
Christina Hollerbach, whose family owns the popular Willow Tree Café in downtown Sanford and helped organize the “Help Henry” campaign, said she is glad her friend is finally home.
“He’s an honest and sincere person,” Hollerbach said. “And that kind of person is rare these days. He is genuinely a good person. …And I’ve already got jobs [for his video production company] lined up.” mcomas@ orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5718