( CNN ) -- Nearly 2,000 miles from Haiti , there 's a ripple effect from the earthquake that devastated the country on January 12 . U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have arrested 140 Haitian men and women who have crossed the border from Canada into Vermont since late January . Many had gone to Canada well before the earthquake to seek asylum , and thought they could take advantage of a relaxed U.S. policy on deporting Haitians . `` One of the things that 's happening is that some of these individuals that have previously been either deported or ordered deported and are looking for refuge in Canada , have entered Canada illegally , are now looking to come back into the U.S. and possibly take advantage of the temporary protected status that our government has given , '' said David Aguilar , acting deputy commissioner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection . That temporary protected status allows Haitians who were in the United States at the time of the earthquake to stay longer , regardless of whether they were in the country legally or not . But the policy does not protect Haitians illegally entering the country now . `` We are going to apprehend them , '' said Aguilar . `` These are people that should not have come into this country and applied for a program that they do not benefit from . '' That message was likely lost in translation , said David Watts , a court-appointed attorney for three Haitians charged with illegal entry and jailed . `` I think there 's no doubt that there was some confusion , '' Watts said . `` None of them have immigration lawyers , they 're relying on the word on the street and the word in the community . '' One of the men Watts represents is Arry Seguin , whose story is not uncommon . Seguin was living in the Haitian community in Montreal after going to Canada in 2008 to seek asylum . Until then , he had been living in Florida with his wife and two children , now ages 6 and 2 . Seguin left the United States after losing appeals to stay . His wife , Louizette , a naturalized citizen , lives in a cramped apartment in Lantana , Florida , and does n't understand why her husband ca n't join her . `` You see , everything is a mess without him . Nothing is working well without him , '' she says . She says she struggles to take care of her children , but she is also getting calls from relatives in Haiti who are desperate for help . It 's the reason she believes her husband tried to return to Florida . He never made it far beyond the Canadian-Vermont border and was arrested in the early morning hours of March 21 . Because Seguin does n't have a criminal record , his lawyer was able to reach a settlement with prosecutors . For now , Seguin will be eligible to stay in the United States under supervised release , checking in with immigration authorities . It will be up to a judge to decide if that happens . Watts expects his client will released from jail soon . While Seguin will eventually face deportation , Watts says the goal is to return him to his family to weather their immediate personal crisis . `` So he will have achieved his goal , but for the fact that he 's spent an awful lot of time in jail , '' Watts said . `` It would have been better , given what actually happened , if he had been able to come back and help sooner . '' Taking the risk of getting caught was in the cards , says Chrissy Etienne , who works as an interpreter for the Haitian men and women who 've been arrested . Etienne is a Haitian native living in Burlington , Vermont , having recently graduated from Middlebury College . Because she speaks Creole , she had signed up to be a translator and was stunned when attorneys called in February asking for help . Since then , her phone has n't stopped ringing and she 's met with dozens of Haitians who 've been arrested , meeting them either in prison or in court . `` I think some thought there is a great chance I will get caught , '' says Etienne . `` I think some expected to get caught . I think it was get to the U.S. at all costs , get to my family at all costs . '' `` I think that it is connected to the earthquake , '' says Etienne . `` When you lose your home , when you lose Haiti as a whole . What is left ? '' Giving a voice to the arrested Haitians , she said , has been tough since she is restrained in what she can do . Etienne describes a common scenario with the men and women she deals with , saying , `` There is that , that wish for a system that is more personal . Could n't I just explain this to a judge ? To someone ? That I am not a criminal . That I have no background or criminal background . I am just trying to get to my family . Is n't there someone who is going to believe that story ? And who is going to hear me ? `` And there is that moment where ... I know what the attorney is going to say and I have to relate it with that same sort of calm , collected feeling , but I am also watching someone fall apart . ''
140 Haitians have crossed the U.S.-Canada border since the Haiti earthquake . Some Haitians are seeking refuge based on a U.S. policy revised post-quake . One refugee 's attorney says his client is confused and just wants to be with his family .