No TPS for Haitians?

A story in yesterday’s NY Times provided a reminder that the Department of Homeland Security continues to deny temporary protected status (“TPS”) to Haitians in spite of official recognition of the dangerous conditions in that country. TPS provides individuals with the temporary right to remain in the country when they cannot return to their own homes due to armed conflict, natural disaster or other extraordinary conditions.

The State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Haiti, citing the lack of an effective police force and the presence of armed gangs engaged in kidnappings and violent crime. This has not translated into a decision on the part of DHS to extend protections to Haitians. A DHS spokesman maintains that aid to Haiti is a better remedy that the extension of TPS (although its unclear why these two options would be mutually exclusive).

In the past, the US has been reluctant to grant TPS to the citizens of nearby neighboring countries, even when the US has had a hand in creating the destabilizing conditions that create the need for TPS. Haiti is only the latest example. But US officials have relented in the cases of several Central American nations. So why not Haiti?

Putting aside the question of TPS, the U.S. has historically been reluctant to extend immigration benefits to Haitians, seemingly out of concern that any such benefits would spark a wave of Haitian migration. Some scholars have also posited that racism underlies US reluctance to reach out to Haiti.

The link to the NYTimes story is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/politics/20immig.html

The Times headline implies that such protection is only needed by “illegal” immigrants. Of course, it’s worth noting that immigrants currently in status who are scheduled to return soon would also be able to avail themselves of protected status and gain reprieve from return to dangerous conditions.

-jmc