Haitian Immigration

Without a vote of Congress, President Obama has unilaterally* extended special immigration status to all Haitians living illegally in the United States. Haitians receiving the status known as temporary protected status will be able to obtain documents allowing them to live and work here legally for a period of 18 months. According to the New York Times of January 15 at least 100,000 Haitians are believed to be living in the U.S. illegally in addition to 30,000 living here who have been ordered deported in the past (but who did not leave the U.S.). Those ordered deported (probably consisting primarily of Haitians denied asylum) will also be eligible for temporary protective status.

The temporary protective status may open up some new job opportunities for the Haitians who are granted the status. But most are little-educated, making it likely that they are seeking low-level jobs that can be obtained just as easily, or possibly more easily, as illegal immigrants.

The “temporary” part of the temporary protective status is misleading. All children born in the United States to those covered by temporary protective status will be granted automatic citizenship as usual and if the past is any guide, those covered by this temporary status will never be forced to leave the U.S. and will eventually be given extensions of their status and finally amnesty.

It is likely that the 130,000 estimate significantly understates the number eligible to take advantage of the temporary protective status (many of those eligible will just continue with their illegal immigrant status). Along with other goals like seeming to make a humanitarian gesture and getting one step closer to the objective of amnesty for all illegal immigrants, the Obama administration’s announcement is trying to perpetuate the fiction that it is enforcing our country’s immigration laws. In reality, early on the Obama administration established the de facto policy of not deporting illegal immigrants found living in the United States unless they were convicted of substantial criminal activity in the U.S. (see November 21 and October 2 blogs).

Part of creating the appearance of immigration enforcement were these statements in the Times article: "'To send Haitians back to that country right now would be nothing short of inhumane,' said Senator Charles E. Schumer." and "On Wednesday Ms. Napolitano [Secretary of Homeland Security] suspended deportations of Haitians." While the Obama administration and its devotees try to further the fiction of immigration enforcement, the truth is that prior to the earthquake in Haiti no Haitians or any other illegal immigrants found living in the U.S. were being sent back to their home countries except certain convicted criminals.

Ms. Napolitano, is quoted by the Times as saying that the status would only be extended to those Haitians already in the U.S. as of Tuesday January 12 – another piece of the immigration enforcement charade. It is likely that for some time all fleeing Haitians who make it to U.S. soil will be eligible for the temporary protective status since there will be no way of proving that they arrived here after January 12. In any event, as long as Obama is President, no illegal immigrants of any nationality will be forced to leave the U.S. unless convicted of a significant crime here.


* The Times notes that: "The administration's decision followed a rising chorus of calls for temporary status after the earthquake on Tuesday. On Friday, 80 representatives and 18 senators, including Democrats and Republicans, sent appeals to the administration to grant the status, as did the conference of Roman Catholic bishops."