For the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, this crisis provides a convenient pretense for advancing the status of illegal immigrants into this country. The following article details how the bishops have been pressuring President Obama over the past few days to grant Haitian illegal immigrants in this country "temporary protected status" (TPS) in light of the devastation. This means that the U.S. would voluntarily agree to keep these illegals indefinitely for humanitarian reasons. There are approximately 30,000 Haitians who currently reside illegally in the United States, and the granting of TPS to these Haitians would effectively make them de facto citizens of this country. And make no mistake, they will never be taken off TPS and sent back to Haiti.
Well, the bishops' lobbying--along with the lobbying of various other pro-immigration advocates--worked perfectly. As of Friday, Jan. 15, President Obama has granted TPS to Haitian illegals.
I will not go so far as to say that the bishops were happy that Haiti experienced this terrible tragedy--for as much as I suspect the bishops for their conniving, I would never accuse them of being sadistic or inhumane. However, I will say that this catastrophe and the push for TPS was timely in that in set the tone for what the bishops were already planning to be a year for immigration "reform." It was also serendipitous that most Haitians consider themselves Roman Catholics--"voodoo" practices notwithstanding.
Do I believe Obama was wrong in caving to the pressure?
Not necessarily. I think it is humane to retain these people for the time being, and I do greatly pity those who lost loved ones in this earthquake. At the same time, I am concerned that granting TPS doesn't necessarily follow a rational assessment of the situation. It must be clearly understood that, in granting TPS, the Obama administration was not extending any kind of protection to those Haitians who actually experienced the devastation early this week. Instead, Obama extended TPS to Haitians who were already living in the United States illegally. Essentially, by granting TPS Obama was agreeing not to deport illegal Haitians until further notice.
My caveat is that TPS should not become a path to eventual American citizenship, which is what the bishops really want. Using the Haiti situation as a precedent, they can now argue that America should harbor illegal immigrants from any country experiencing a war or natural disaster--a designation that includes a massive swath of the globe. As it is, we are still extending TPS to illegal immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
I think America's focus right now should be on getting aid and relief workers to the people living in Haiti. Those are the people who actually need help. The illegal immigrants living in this country broke the law in entering, and personally I believe that laws are made for a reason. Deporting them at the moment may not be feasible, but they should be deported nonetheless.
The bishops have an agenda. At the moment, Haiti serves that agenda well. To be sure, the church has sent aid through Caritas and other organizations and has expressed sympathy with the victims of the quake. But here in the U.S., through the eyes of the American bishops, the Haiti crisis represents a perfect--albeit unfortunate--opportunity to add more illegal immigrants to the list of those who they hope to "christen" someday as American citizens. The rest of 2010 will show this to be true, I am confident of that.
This article comes from the Catholic News Agency.
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U.S. bishops urge Obama to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haiti
.- Cardinal Francis George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a letter to President Obama on Friday, urging him to designate Haiti a country of Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
“It is clear that Haiti merits an immediate designation of TPS after suffering the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake of January 12, one of the worst in Haitian history,” the cardinal said on Friday.
Cardinal George explained that “a designation of TPS permits nationals of a designated nation living in the United States to reside here legally and qualify for work authorization and is based upon a determination that armed conflict, political unrest, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions exist in a nation and that the return of that country’s nationals would further destabilize the nation and potentially bring harm to those returned.”
“Mr. President,” the Chicago cardinal wrote, “by any measure, the conditions in Haiti meet the statutory requirements for TPS.”
“To put it mildly, the earthquake has caused 'substantial disruption' in living conditions and Haiti is clearly 'unable to handle adequately' the return of its citizens abroad, as the TPS statute requires.”
“Extending this mantle of protection to struggling Haiti is not only appropriate, but a just, compassionate, and concrete step the United States can take toward alleviating the human suffering of the Haitian people,”stated Cardinal George in his letter on Friday.
“We urge you to grant a TPS designation for Haiti as soon as possible,” the prelate said.
In other efforts, Catholic Charities and various other groups in South Florida are talking about the possibility of a massive airlift to transport the thousands of children who have been orphaned by the catastrophic earthquake.
The groups have been inspired by the Operation Pedro Pan model of rescue which was used 40 years ago to help remove children from Communist Cuba in 1960. Though Catholic Charities Legal Services Executive Director Randolph McGrorty acknowledges the difference between Cuba during the revolution and Haiti, post earthquake, the objective, he said, remains the same.
McGrorty also told the Sun Sentinel that the response to help the children “has been swift and overwhelming.” Officials in these groups have also been in contact with the Obama Administration to provide the children with humanitarian visas.
