Treat them right and help them

The misery of the Haitians does not seem to go away. Many would probably disagree with me but the Haitian experience needs to be addressed and only Haitians born, raised and educated in Haiti know how to approach such a delicate issue. Others may touch the subject with preconceived ideas but those who have seen the unfolding of the events over the past 23 years have a pretty clear recollection of what had happened and probably have an opinion of what should be done to alleviate the burden.

First, I want to tell you that I love Haiti and I wish there were more I could do to get her out of this plight. Haitians are hard working people, some of them move next door to the eastern portion of the island into the Dominican Republic for a better way of life. There they are not welcome. We see our fellow countrymen risking their lives to reach the American shores and once they do, they are turned away without due process because they are not welcome here either. Now, you may say that it is normal for the American to protect their land against "economic invasion" from the nations of the caribbean, I will agree with you. And for the sake of argument, I want to have a debate on the Haitians experience.

America is made of people of the world. I have seen immigrants from more than 161 countries in the United States. It is fair to say that there is at least one immigrant that comes from each country of the world. Now, do we want the rest of the world to move to America? Absolutely not. Well then, what do we do for those who have reached our shores? Do we jail them for violating our laws? Do we punish them at the Krome detention center? Do we review their cases on an individual basis or do we send them home without concern of what tomorrow will bring for them? Please don't tell me you don't care.

As we are writing those lines, there are in excess of 30000 Haitians on a black list to be deported to Haiti according to metropolehaiti.com. Some of them are convicted criminals others have disobeyed the demand of an immigration juge to voluntarily leave the country and others were trying to legalize their status. After being here long enough to see her american born daughter reach the age of 16, a lady that I know in my community have been snatched at 4:00 in the morning from her family's love and taken to jail for being in America for a little bit over 16 years as an illegal alien. They are all awaiting the cold treatment of being "packed" in a plane and sent to Haiti in shackle. When they reach Haiti? This is another story.

What should be done for those Haitians who will be sent back home? We can petition the US government to give them what a former Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court called an individual's "God given right" to be treated in all fairness under the law of the land. Each case is different and must be considered as such.

Another aspect of this massive deportation is of humanitarian concerns. Haiti, the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere can barely take care of her 8 millions people. Everyone deserves to live in good health and have a way to pursue happiness. How can any one of this group of 30k find happiness upon being deported to Haiti? Maybe you will ask me what should the US government do for them. Well, we can have a debate a look for the solution together.

I say the US ought to treat them right and help them while they may prevent such wave of immigration in the future. But before I close this I have a question. If they were cubans, would they be deported? I mean two. Why is the cuban experience in America different than that of the haitian? Wow!!! Now it is open for debate. Tell me what you think.