It’s no surprise that over the past week the New York Times has done a stellar job of covering Haiti’s disastrous earthquake and its aftermath. One has only to look at this poignant series of photos to begin to understand the true depth of devastation and despair facing a nation already struggling with hurricanes, poverty, and other serious issues. Most recently, they published a story on now Haitians living illegally in the U.S. have been granted temporary protected status. According to the article:

The Obama administration extended a special immigration status on Friday to Haitians living illegally in the United States that protects them from deportation for 18 months and allows them to work here 

Calling the aftermath of the earthquake “a disaster of historic proportions,” the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, said she was granting the designation, known as temporary protected status, for Haitian immigrants because their safety would be at risk if they were deported.

This special status will protect over 100,000 Haitians, who will now be able to live and work in the U.S. legally, and protect around 30,000 who were in immediate danger of being deported. 

A bipartisan group of 80 representatives and 18 senators, as well as the conference of Roman Catholic bishops, had asked the While House to grant this status. Even more telling, according to the article, was the support of some notorious anti-immigrant organizations:

Some groups that have opposed protected status for Haitians changed their views after seeing the destruction in Haiti. Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, called Thursday for the protection for Haitians.                                                              

I applaud the Administration, Congress, and others who called for this gesture of compassion. To send them back to their country in its current state would be cruel and inhumane. I have no doubt that the recipients of this status will embrace this opportunity to work and send aid to family members in their homeland.

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•