HispanicBusiness

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the troops, both military and the Democratic party faithful, during a trip to Florida.

Obama was to meet with personnel for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps in Jacksonville then travel to Miami to a fundraising reception for Senate and House Democrats, the White House said.

Obama's visit to Florida comes as Haitian-Americans and immigrant activists say they're getting tired of waiting for the president to fulfill a campaign pledge to allow Haitian immigrants in the United States illegally to stay temporarily, the Miami Herald reported Monday.

"I feel they are stringing us along, and we are in an awkward position," Randolph McGrorty, head of Catholic Charities Legal Services, told the
newspaper. "Do we allow them (congressional members and the administration) to string us along because they are our allies or do we start calling on the carpet?"

As a candidate, Obama did not promise to grant undocumented Haitian immigrants temporary legal status in the United States -- temporary protected status -- but activists said they believed he would give the issue special consideration.

Temporary protected status is a tough issue for Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Miami Democrat who depends on a big turnout in the Haitian-American community to boost his Senate bid, the Herald said. Critics say South Florida's congressional Democrats hasn't been as vocal about pressing the Obama administration on Haiti as they were during the Bush administration.

"It may not come as soon as we want to, but I can tell you the Obama administration has made steps the Bush administration wouldn't have made in 100 years," Meek said, adding the administration has temporarily stayed deportations of non-criminals to Haiti.