A helping hand for Haiti
Imagine that the Jan. 6 insurrection had succeeded. Perhaps the Oath Keepers who had been standing by with weapons caches ready to go had mounted a full-scale assault, capturing the Capitol and taking some lawmakers hostage, or even killing some. Maybe they did hang Mike Pence, and in the aftermath, the presidential results went uncertified, setting off a period of broad uncertainty as armed groups roamed the country trying to assert dominance, battling with security forces.
No American in living memory has any direct sense of this situation, nor do most really know what they would do in response. If violence soared and the stability of the government itself teetered, it’s undoubtable that some people would simply leave, especially if they found themselves directly in the crossfire. With a country the size of the United States, perhaps they could find peace internally. With a country the size of Haiti, which is in the midst of a quasi-civil war that’s only been worsening in recent weeks, not so much.
Last week, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his planned resignation from Puerto Rico, where he’s been stuck after finding himself unable to return to Haiti — armed gangs have been intermittently attacking the international airport in a bid to keep Henry away and force his removal. A new government will be formed by a transitional council, not the president, because there isn’t one. There hasn’t been a president since sitting President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in a still-unsolved hit in 2021.
Haitians need a committed civil society to remain and reconstruct, but it is also perfectly understandable that some people who simply want to live in stability and quietude would leave, just as some Americans would decamp if our society collapsed into internecine violence.
The same goes for Ecuadoreans, who are facing the encroachment of criminal gangs and cartels that have benefited from the movement of drug trafficking routes through the country. Murders have soared, armed groups recently took over a national TV station, curfews have been enacted.
While we may intuitively understand the reasons that make regular life untenable for some, this understanding tends to break down when they actually show up asking for help. Already, between last October and this January, Ecuadoreans have by far been the largest group of new cases filed in New York immigration courts, nearly doubling the next nationality of China. We can expect the recent developments in Haiti to drive up that country’s numbers significantly.
Does this mean the U.S. needs to accommodate every person from around the globe suffering under persistent violence and instability? Not really, but our principles and own economic interest should dictate that we work to accommodate as many as we can.
The problem is more so doing this ad-hoc, dealing with chaotic arrivals and little coordination. Rather, the federal government should work to expand the existing refugee system in places like Haiti and Ecuador, with moments of acute need, and make greater use of existing executive tools like temporary protected status.
The current TPS designation for Haiti, which expires in August, should be expanded to a new cutoff date, and Ecuador should be included in the program. And Congress, ever recalcitrant, should work to broaden humanitarian pathways.