That question, posed by Haitians, African-Americans, Caribbean peoples and other individuals, whether immigrants or not, cries out for a clear and unequivocal answer from the new Obama Administration.
The question has arisen again in the wake of the Obama White House's wise decision to grant thousands of Liberians Temporary Protective Status, (TPS). It's a green light to remain in the country legally without having to worry about a knock on the door in the dead of night, being apprehended on the job, or while sitting in the classroom of a local college, university or trade school. Usually, after apprehension by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (ICE), a detention center is the next stop before deportation and breaking apart families.
TPS grants special residency and employment rights to foreign born residents in the United States, immigrants who were forced to seek shelter in the country to avoid death or injury from civil strife, or because of acts of nature, such as hurricanes and earthquakes. It was given in recent years to tens of thousands of Liberians, Nicaraguans, Hondurans and Salvadorans. In the case of the Central Americans, they received it despite the fact that the U. S. led civil wars, which ravaged their countries, ended more than a decade ago. In recent times, those countries have been hit by devastating hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters which have made life a living hell.
As for the Liberians, they first received TPS back in 1991 when a brutal civil war was raging and people there were being killed in their homes, on the streets, in their villages and in the capital of Monrovia, by marauding bands of murderers bent on seizing power from the government of the day. Successive administrations in Washington have extended the special status to the African refugees whenever it has expired.
Cubans too have been the recipients of special immigration consideration for at least half a century because, as the U.S. Department of State and anti-Castro Cubans in Florida, New Jersey and elsewhere claim, "human rights conditions" and civil liberties in Havana are an "abomination" that Cubans must enjoy an open door policy after they risked their lives to reach America's shores.
Not so for Haitians. And the barrier to TPS has remained in force despite the fact that civil strife which forced tens of thousands to flee the country can be traced directly to U.S. policy in Port-au-Prince, such as Washington's support for one political faction over another. But what has made the special status even more deserving is the extensive human suffering caused by devastating hurricanes and floods in the last four years. These acts of nature have taken hundreds of lives and caused billions of dollars in property damage in a country that has not even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to repairing broken lives and rebuilding its infrastructure – schools, roads, health facilities, churches and places of employment.
Washington's opposition to TPS for Haitians is based on a strange argument, often articulated behind the scenes by the U.S. Coast Guard, which, according to insiders, have been warning immigration officials for years that they would face an armada of small and unsafe vessels packed with economic refugees simply trying to escape the poverty that has dominated Haiti's economic and social landscape for more than a century.
The trouble is that while Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, that kind of reasoning hasn't been applied to Cubans or to Central Americans, who enjoy a special status. In any case, there is a simple solution to the current problem. It can be found in the method used to grant TPS to the Liberians. Washington can provide it to Haitians already in the country while denying it to those who come afterwards. For instance, Liberians who were not registered in the United States in 2007 are not eligible to benefit from TPS.
Still, there was much jubilation and relief within Liberian communities across the United States and in Liberia itself when the decision was made to extend TPS to those who were in the country prior to 2007.
Ray Joseph, Haiti's ambassador in Washington, said that his country was willing to accept a cut-off date. The Government in Port-au-Prince would also undertake an extensive education and information campaign to let their nationals know the facts about the condition, warning them against what would be in store if they ignored the rules and regulations.
Congressmen Eliot Engel and Gregory Meeks of New York, as well as Representative Alcee Hastings of Florida, have all been pressing the Obama Administration to grant TPS to Haitians and they are unlikely to let up until some positive action is taken.
If the Temporary Protective Status is intended to provide relief to populations during acute emergencies, as Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA (a public policy group opposed to any increase in the flow of immigrants) insists, Haitians more than qualify.
Apparently, the Obama Administration decided that the Liberians merited TPS because returning to their African country would result in suffering due to the awful economic and social conditions there. Many of the Liberians have started families, opened businesses, bought homes and have improved their education by getting a college education, while leading law-abiding lives.
Those factors apply to Haitians as well.
Any forced return to Haiti would devastate families – yet another valid reason for allowing them to stay in the United States.
