Haiti: The Immigration Challenge

By Cindy Rivas
April 23, 2009

Listen to an audio recording of the event here.

Within the past year Haiti has been hit by hurricanes, high food prices, and political deadlock, all of which have led to a “severe malfunctioning of the government,” Jocelyn McCalla, former executive director of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, explained at a discussion on immigration issues in Haiti on April 23 at the Inter-American Dialogue.  Nonetheless, the U.S. government remains unwilling to grant Temporary Protection Status (TPS) to Haitian immigrants, fearing the precedent would encourage a wave of migration to this country. 

According to TPS regulations contained in the Immigration Act of 1990, the Attorney General may grant a temporary immigration status to aliens of designated states who cannot safely return to their country due to extraordinary and temporary conditions. 

“Haiti is a prime candidate for TPS,” said Donald Kerwin of the Migration Policy Institute, who pointed to dire environmental conditions on the island, and the destruction of thousands of houses and agricultural devastation from the last hurricane. He also compared the Haitian situation to Honduras— a country that was granted TPS designation in 1998, following Hurricane Mitch. Kerwin asked, “Has Honduras been treated differently than Haiti in U.S. immigration policy?” He responded with a categorical yes, adding that public opinion has likewise showed a bias towards Honduran immigrants.
 
McCalla echoed Kerwin’s concerns that Haitians have been treated unfairly by the United States. He pointed to the case of Liberia, a country that was granted Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status—a designation which differs from TPS that it is mandated by the president, not Homeland Security—by President Bush, and promptly extended by President Obama after taking office. McCalla pointed out that Haiti’s proximity to the American coasts has triggered homegrown fear of a massive Haitian exodus to the United States. But this situation is unlikely, however, given the difficulty of building seaworthy boats in Haiti.

Manuel Orozco disagreed with adopting a comparative approach between countries regarding the granting of TPS. He argued against the notion that people granted TPS stay temporally in the host country. “People really do stay here for the long term. They don’t go back”, he said. Orozco also talked about the decreasing quality of life within ethnic minority groups in the United States due to the ongoing financial crisis.

TPS, Orozco explained, is only a sufficient band-aid solution. But in the long-term, alternative solutions are needed. Orozco pointed to the high percentage of U.S. citizenship holders among Haitians— 35 percent, versus the 25 percent average among other Latin Americas. That is something USAID could take advantage of when implementing development strategies in Haiti, he concluded.