Should Haitians Be Allowed to Immigrate into America?

The Biden administration is not content to destroy the United States by allowing illegal immigrants to invade our nation. It is also pushing President Luis Abinader of the tiny nation of Dominican Republic “to accept 3 million Haitians.”

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) wrote that foreign officials tell him that their perception of the Biden administration is that “It’s better to be the United States’ enemy than its friend.” He wrote in his article published in The Daily Signal the “bad foreign policy” of the Biden administration encourages “chaos in our own region of the world.” He continued: 

Just look at what’s happening in the Dominican Republic. The Caribbean nation is facing extraordinary migratory pressure from neighboring Haiti, which has all but collapsed into anarchy. President Luis Abinader has made it clear he will protect Dominican sovereignty by enforcing deportations.

Yet the Biden administration, influenced by radical left-wing groups like Amnesty International, is pushing Abinader to accept 3 million Haitians at any moment. This is unfair to the Dominican Republic, a developing nation with limited resources that is already bearing significant burdens on Haiti’s behalf. Anyone who doubts this should consider the fact that more than a third of all births in the Dominican Republic are currently to Haitian citizens.

But encouraging illegal mass migration is also unfair to our country. The Biden administration seems unaware that many Haitians view the Dominican Republic as a steppingstone to Puerto Rico – and that a well-established smuggling ring to facilitate that journey already exists. Because our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico have their own fiscal constraints, illegal migrants who reach the U.S. territory would likely move on to the continental United States.

Like most Americans, I recognize that what is happening in Haiti is horrible and tragic. The breakdown of law and order, the displacement of more than 300,000 people, and the need of roughly 5 million for some form of aid – all of these are matters of grave concern.

Rubio showed his concern in several ways: (1) supported “the international peacekeeping mission that Kenya proposes to lead once Haiti has established a provisional government.

(2) “reintroduced legislation to preserve U.S. trade benefits for Haitian manufacturers, which could prove a lifeline to legitimate Haitian businesses in this time of crisis.” He then continued with his article.

But, like most Americans, I also recognize that no country should experience illegal mass migration – not the Dominican Republic, and not the United States. Illegal mass migration does no good for the nation people are migrating from.

When all able-bodied, law-abiding citizens leave their homeland, there is no one left to defend it from criminals and tyrants – and no one left to provide for the vulnerable who remain there. On a more fundamental level, though, I cannot support illegal mass migration because the job of elected officials is to protect their citizens first, not anyone else’s.

This is why I have asked the State Department to prioritize U.S. citizens trapped in Haiti, as well as their adopted Haitian children. Moreover, it’s why we cannot allow Haitian citizens to surge across our borders….

The tragedy in Haiti is great, but it’s no excuse for letting these threats increase.

Haiti

The recent earthquake in Haiti taught several lessons to the rest of the world - at least to those people who paid attention. One very important lesson was a reminder that it takes time for help to arrive after a disaster. Family members and neighbors need to care for and help each other. A young woman by the name of Christa Brelsford who grew up in Alaska and attends Arizona State University, her brother, and some friends were doing some volunteer work in Haiti when the earthquake struck. They were part of an eleven-day volunteer program to teach literacy to adults and children. When the building where they worked began to fall, they ran down the steps to get out. On the way she slipped, fell and was soon buried under the rubble. She said that when she realized that her leg was trapped, she remembered the earthquake drills at school in Alaska and the importance of protecting her head. The brother and friends spent nearly an hour and a half digging her out of the rubble of the cement building. She was one of eleven patients flown from Haiti to Miami where her right leg was amputated below the knee. A second lesson was a reminder to count our blessings no matter what our situation. Even though Brelsford lost her lower leg, she was very grateful for life itself as well as for her brother,their friends, and medical help. A third important lesson was a reminder of the need for personal preparation. We need to remember that the time to prepare is prior to the event! We also need to remember that we need to prepare physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally simply because none of us know what is in our future. People in Haiti became desperate for medical supplies, water and food. Their homes and everything in them were destroyed. Then the evil element of society came out - I've heard that it takes about 72 hours after a big disaster before the looting, etc. begins. In Haiti, someone yelled that a tsunami was coming and to drop everything and run. There was no water coming, but all the belongings left behind were ripe for the picking of those who gave the false warning. These are just three of the lessons taught by this recent earthquake. As Alaskans we know that we could be hit by an earthquake at any time but we could be in the snow and cold. Our hearts and funds go out to the people of Haiti.