The following is an editorial from USA Today on the subject of Haitian immigration. Like me, the editors at America's number one newspaper feel that immigration advocates (the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops being at the top) are taking the "compassion" line way too far.
The article can be found at USA Today's website.
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Our view on compassion and immigration: Help Haitians, but don't throw open U.S. borders
Future of quake-ravaged nation depends on keeping its most able.
It's natural to want to help suffering
But emerging proposals to bypass immigration rules and bring Haitians here by the tens of thousands are rooted in impulse, not reason. They will not help
For starters, inviting thousands to flee Haiti is no way to help Haiti rebuild. To the contrary, Haiti's survival depends on encouraging its best and brightest to remain and work on its revival.
The U.S. government has already taken some sensible humanitarian steps. It has accepted more than 650 Haitians in desperate need, including orphans who already had adoptive parents waiting and victims in need of emergency medical care not available in Haiti. And it offered "temporary protected status" to Haitians living illegally in the U.S., allowing them to apply to stay for 18 months so they could work and send money home.
But some Haitian advocates want to go further and let thousands more in. A sizeable minority of Americans, 41%, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll released this week, wants Haitian immigration increased. The calls have come from all parts of the political spectrum. Lavinia Limon, a former Clinton administration official who heads the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, argues below for a liberalized policy. In a Washington Post op-ed,
Some advocates suggest letting in those with family here who are already approved to immigrate and on a waiting list — roughly 50,000 Haitians. That suggestion has some merit. Some may already be here, for instance, on student or other visas, so the numbers are manageable. They're going to immigrate anyway; it's just a matter of time.
Even that proposal presents troubling questions. Should those entrants include people from parts of Haiti untouched by the earthquake? Or only those from earthquake-ravaged areas? Or only those who've lost their homes? Or limbs?
And as long as America is reaching out to those in need, what about citizens of other dirt-poor nations? Bangladesh, for example, has about 50,000 approved people with U.S. family connections waiting in line, too. No, they haven't just suffered a horrific natural disaster. But millions in Bangladesh are routinely displaced by monsoons. It doesn't seem fair to make them wait while Haitians jump ahead.
There's also this: A firm stand on immigration could hold down the number of Haitians who are likely to take to the sea to make the treacherous 600 mile crossing to the USA. Many could die trying. Those not approved to enter would be detained and deported.
The more one weighs the consequences, the less appealing the immigration option seems.
So far, the Obama administration has gotten the policy about right: It's not throwing open the doors, but it is doing a great deal to ease Haiti's burden.
America will do the most good by doing what it's capable of doing more efficiently. Finding ways to make Haiti more livable, more quickly, will encourage citizens to stay. Helping to finance reconstruction will create thousands of jobs for Haitians, in Haiti.
That might not feel as good as saying "ya'll come," but in the long run, it will be far more beneficial.
