‘Why couldn’t they just let them come ashore?’
Those were the words of my Haitian friend when news broke of a vessel with over 100 Haitians cap-sizing off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands early last week. It was the fourth such confirmed tragedy to occur in the last three years.
In total, close to 80 migrants have been labeled missing, while 15 have been confirmed dead. Over a 100 managed to survive the rough, shark-infested waters.
As these tragedies continue to occur, we are not only losing lives, but individuals with just as much potential as anyone on the American soil they one day hoped to imprint; a potential that washed away with their dreams.
These people dream just like us, but for the simple things. They dream of escaping the poorest country in the western hemisphere. A place that would treat them with less discrimination than the neighbor they share an island with; a place where there’s fresh water; a place where food is more plentiful than guns.
But within some dreams lie danger; a danger that overcomes faith; one that comes in the form of patrol boats and the flawed ‘Wet foot/Dry foot’ policy of the United States.
Since Haitians began arriving on the shores of Florida in the early 1970’s, the U.S has continuously found ways to repatriate them. To date, no nationality has endured the contradictions of American immigration policy as they have.
If it wasn’t trying to negate their argument as political refugees, it has now turned to the idea that Haiti is a hotbed for terrorism. A claim made by former US Attorney General John Ashcroft. Yet, Haiti doesn’t appear on the US terror watch list.
According to American lawmakers, Haitians are ‘economic refugees.’ A term that is ascribed only to them; and the reason why our government claims they aren’t allowed political asylum. The same term, was used to label Honduran and Nicaraguan migrants until Hurricane Mitch devastated the region in 1998.
Since then, these groups, whose countries are in much better economic condition than Haiti, have been placed on TPS (Temporary Protected Status). A program designed to provide safety for illegal aliens who would otherwise return to a ‘war-like’ home country.
But if the qualification for this program is danger, how are Haitians being denied entry? At this point in time, Haiti might as well be defined as danger itself. A place our government has warned us against visiting. But if it’s unsafe for us, how can it be safe for them?
We’ve heard all the stories; the political corruption, kidnappings, rapes and even periodic hurricanes (Jeanne, Flora). Despite all of this, it doesn’t seem like enough for our government. But what does is the state of Florida, the Cubans that inhabit it and the powerful vote that comes along with it.
Since 1996, Cubans have been granted asylum because they are coined ‘political refugees,’ due to living under the Castro regime. But don’t think for one second that it’s a sign of American empathy. There’s just an understanding that Cubans are the only Latino group in this country who can’t be termed politically ‘monolithic.’ A vote that’s coveted on both sides of the aisle; and as evident from last year’s election, can easily go for a Democrat as it once did for a Republican.
But the most avoided aspect of this debate is the one that makes our country the most uncomfortable – the topic of color.
Despite Cubans being ‘minorities,’ you have to wonder if they have any involvement in the rejection of their fellow group. When you look deeper, the poorest people in the Cuban community are the ones who don’t look ‘Blanco;’ the ones that don’t look like they belong on the hit ‘Bravo’ show ‘Miami Social.’
But when I brought the topic of color up with a Cuban friend, he deemed it baseless and argued that Haitians haven’t worked hard enough here. I mentioned, at the same time, the Cuban population of the United States vastly outnumbers the Haitian one. He should know better than anybody that political power doesn’t solely depend on drive, but numbers.
So with immigration a major topic on the horizon for the Obama administration, the debate should not only include the fates of Hispanics, but those of African descent as well.
The first step in this arduous process would be to grant Haitians TPS. A right they should have been afforded decades ago; one that can end the cycle of families being torn apart by this law.
But until that occurs, we can’t call ourselves the land of opportunity. Even though it’s morally wrong, what happens to Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas shouldn’t surprise anyone. But we are the ‘land of opportunity.’ You can’t just grant that opportunity to some, but not to others; especially when there is no significant reason to prevent them from settling here.
In these days of Gates, Crowley and Obama, we are sometimes urged to look past race. We are told to look at facts. But in this case, we can look at both and conclude one thing – that American immigration policy has nothing to do with how wet or dry your feet are, but what color they are when they reach our American shores.
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11 responses right now ↓
1 aj0010 // Aug 5, 2009 at 7:03 am
The nation of Haiti was born in the first, and only, successful slave revolt in modern history…and they’ve never been forgiven for it.
2 Admin // Aug 5, 2009 at 9:34 am
True indeed my friend. True indeed.
3 A. Taveras // Aug 5, 2009 at 10:49 am
Surely if the US owned up to their failed interventions and opened the border to these Haitians it would go a long long way to improving the status and reception of Haitian immigrants in places like DR, T&C, Bahamas, etc. Instead many suspect that the US is thinking in reverse: ignore the issue and force these other poor island-nations to serve as the release valve for Haitian poverty.
In the meantime the UN, Brazilian army, and myriad NGOs seem to be doing nothing for the Haitian nation. President Obama – send in the Marines with a few million tons of cooking oil for the people and let’s see about reversing deforestation in Haiti!
4 A. Taveras // Aug 5, 2009 at 11:10 am
Oh and as to the Cuban community it is hard to know if they have a hand in this or not. I always thought the Cubans were indeed a monolithic voting bloc, at least those of the older generation. I’m not familiar with the statistics in detail but have seen it suggested that it was Puerto Ricans who tipped FL to Pres. Obama, and perhaps younger Cuban-Americans who stand outside the ‘monolith’.
If anything Cubans who anticipate the fall of Castro’s regime might be thinking about the real estate development boom sure to follow. If so then yes it is in their economic favor to keep US from being a release valve so that they have a large pool of immigrant laborers to keep construction wages down. Let’s not forget Cuba is Haiti’s neighbor as well and could easily become the destination for these unfortunate souls willing to chance the open seas.
5 Admin // Aug 5, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Solid points A. Taveras. I agree, PR’s did help push Obama over the edge out there. Younger Cubans did as well though.
The older part of the Cuban community is historically “righty.” But, things may change with the youth out there and how Obama handles Cuba in the next 6 years.
I feel bad saying this, but the last thing I’d want is for Cuba to be put in the hands of all these rich Miami Cubans who don’t care about the people there. All they care about is making it a tourist attraction and making an astronomical gap between rich and poor.
It would benefit their Haitian neighbors. But it would start the same conflict poor Dominicans have with Haitians who they think take some of their jobs.
6 Virgin nana // Aug 5, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Land of the free lest see about that niggers goes to war comes back and steel face discrimination on top of that , their fellow niggers steel can not get a job because they are black or island new comers with similar shape and tune. Does any body ever wake up and ask why? until someone decide that ,they have to question some ancient activity’s that are steel in control of this planet there would never be peace on earth. It is a game that been play over and over again, today they are much more organize then in the past centuries, they know exactly what they want do with world populations, because we don’t take the time to think for our self and tries to make decision that would benefit all mankind, we rather make selfish decision that would just benefit a few of us and this why we have all the immigration problem around the world, poverty and ignorance never to leave us because of our ways. When we are going to start being honest with our fellow man when would there be no first and second, third class people if it ever happen that is when we are going to have peace every were on earth.
7 Rico // Aug 5, 2009 at 3:22 pm
It’s quite simple, really. First, Cubans wield considerable political power in South Florida. This allows them to pull levers of power that allow for Cuban refugees to receive preferential treatment. This is aided by Cuba’s form of government. Cuban refugees are in the unique position—more unique than anyone else within our sphere of influence—that they can claim they are fleeing dictatorship and need political asylum. The tragic irony is that Haitian refugees would be afforded greater protection if their government was not a democracy. So, in a convoluted way, the U.S. is creating perverse incentives: refugees from non-democratic nations are afforded more protection than those from democratic nations. It is true that Haitian refugees are economic refugees and as such deserve no greater protection than anyone else. They really are just coming here to flee poverty and not persecution. That’s a fine line distinction but one worth making. Seems like the law is successful in obscuring what we should focus on: the very real human and racial tragedy.
8 Haiti on our mind // Aug 5, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Perfect article on this issue of race; ever since the beginning of time to be precise on the time firm, at lease 900 years in the process those activities are always the problem to humanity. Politic, religion, finance/economies and all of this and equal corruption, hatefulness, lies and confusion to mankind for their own best interests. By creating these confusion they always have reason to do what they do best, is produce chaos in the world, most people would never comprehend the true meaning of this hole issue of race, politic,religion, and economic/finance, until we all take a minute to rethink this hole issue over how we letting these politicians and religious founders making decision for us we will always have the same humanitarian problem; because the people that are making decision for us all have their own personal agenda in mind.
9 lolitapop9 // Aug 5, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Having been raised by and among the much-maligned Miami Cuban ideologues, this is a topic that stirs dubious feelings. I support the US granting asylum to Cubans as political refugees; in fact, it’s been difficult to learn in recent years about many of them braving the same shark-infested waters mentioned here, only to be returned to the oppression they sought to flee after being caught with “wet feet” – in one particular case that I recall, within YARDS of the Miami shore. Before Clinton enacted WFDF, these intrepid people would not have suffered the same misfortune.
But I’m also confounded by why the stalwart exile community in Miami, which can always be counted on to speak up for their rights as an ethnic minority, has been so reticent to do the same for their neighbors to the south. Why should political conditions be deemed more difficult or dangerous than economic ones, especially in light of the fact that Haiti is the poorest nation in the hemisphere? It troubles and shames me that racism would be behind the double-standard in our immigration policy towards these two nations; more so because I identify with the side which has been shown its beneficence and yet will not come to the aid of the one that hasn’t.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be confounded at all. Growing up, I was certainly no stranger to the first-wave Cuban exiles’ brand of elitism and had plenty of friends like the one you mention, who would so cavalierly dismiss the plight of any immigrant group with a similar platitude that “Cubans have worked harder and have been here longer than [insert Caribbean, South or Central American ethnicity here].” When I left Miami almost 15 years ago I told people the reason was that I was just sick of the monotony; now I realize I could have best articulated my reason as a need for environs more diverse and tolerant than those of the sheltered, monocultural, middle-class and privately-educated bubble I’d been living in.
Over the years I’ve formed a private, albeit somewhat substantiated, assumption that Miami Cubans have been leaning gradually to the left and in turn, adopting more flexible attitudes as the old guard fades and newer generations take the helm. Are Cuban exiles complicit in the exclusionary immigration policy directed at Haitians, as you seem to imply here? If their silence can be taken for tacit approval, then perhaps so. And for the sake of public opinion on Cuban-Americans like myself who are sometimes caught between cherishing and rebuking their parents’ legacy, it’s time to speak up.
- L.
10 E // Aug 5, 2009 at 6:19 pm
This article is generating some serious, intellectual discourse. Kudos to Mr. Cabrera for having the courage to discuss the truths behind this unfortunate tragedy.
11 ssd // Nov 30, 2009 at 11:10 pm
This is truth. The only reason why Haitians don’t get tps is because they have dark complextions and the rest has a whiter look to them then the Haitians do
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