‘We're still living': Man has a fresh start in Miami after leaving Haiti's turmoil

These days, Monley Fleurinvil takes pleasure in simple things like going for a walk.

He sees it as a symbol of his newfound freedom.

“I can go out anytime,” Fleurinvil said. “I do whatever I want. I didn’t have this freedom when I was in Haiti. So, life is a lot better here.”

He lives in Miami with his aunt after moving from Haiti in September where he did missionary work.

In seven months, Fleurinvil got his driver’s license, work permit, and a job as an insurance agent, and is working to become a security guard.

He got on his feet quickly, thanks to YouTube.

“What do I need to do to get my driver’s license?” he said. “What do I need to do to pass the test? What do I need to do this or that? So, I went to YouTube and asked YouTube the question and found a bunch of videos to teach me what to do.”

The 30-year-old came to the U.S. under the Biden administration’s Humanitarian Parole program, which processes up to 30,000 people per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who qualify and have a sponsor in the U.S.

More than 404,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans have arrived in the U.S. since the program started in January 2023, according to a Department of Homeland Security official. More than 154,000 of those arrivals were Haitians.

“This is the chance that I had to move to the United States,” Fleurinvil said.

He said gang violence and turmoil in Haiti made it too dangerous for him to stay.

“Gangsters, people shooting,” he said. “It’s like a civil war. If they find you in the street, they may do anything, kidnap you or whatever.”

Fleurinvil said he saw dead bodies in the street nearly every day.

“I just stayed in my home, go to church, go back home,” he said.

He said that violence is why he and many others in the Haitian community are against the Biden administration’s decision to resume deportation flights back to Haiti.

“They know the situation that is going on in Haiti,” Fleurinvil said. “They know that this is not a safe place.”

Despite the turmoil back home, Fleurinvil said he’ll always take pride in his heritage.

“This is a month to celebrate being Haitian and our pride, our nation, our flag,” he said. "We’re still living. We’re still looking for peace. We’re still looking for freedom and a better life.”