Mayor Andre Pierre says 55,000 Haitians waiting for visas to the United States are welcome to settle in his city {snip}.

Pierre, a Haitian-American immigrant and lawyer, said he did not think the sudden influx of people from earthquake-ravaged Haiti would be a burden on his city of about 60,000 residents.

{snip}

Some residents said they were concerned about the current unemployment rate and lack of space to accommodate thousands of arrivals.