New York Times Editorial

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/opinion/10tue4.html

The Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­rity has decided to con­tinue an ill-advised Bush admin­is­tra­tion pol­icy of deport­ing ille­gal Hait­ian immigrants.

Haiti, already des­per­ately poor, was dev­as­tated by storms last year. It is hard to see how an influx of up to 30,000 home­less, job­less peo­ple — the num­ber of Haitians fac­ing depor­ta­tion from the United States — would do any­thing but fur­ther desta­bi­lize the coun­try as it strug­gles to recover from what has been called its worst nat­ural dis­as­ter in a century.

Amer­i­can advo­cates for Haitians have joined the Hait­ian gov­ern­ment in plead­ing for an end to the depor­ta­tions, argu­ing that all inter­ests are bet­ter served by giv­ing the detainees tem­po­rary pro­tected sta­tus. When a polit­i­cal cri­sis or nat­ural dis­as­ter makes repa­tri­a­tion a bad idea, it is far wiser to allow peo­ple to stay put rather than be forced home where they will place fur­ther strains on local sup­plies of food, clean water and hous­ing — all of which are per­ilously scarce in Haiti. The Hait­ian dias­pora can do a lot more for its stricken home­land by send­ing home what is really needed: money.

End­ing depor­ta­tions of Haitians would also be con­sis­tent. Tens of thou­sands of Nicaraguans, Hon­durans, Sal­vado­rans and oth­ers whose coun­tries have been hit by war, earth­quakes and hur­ri­canes have rou­tinely been granted pro­tected sta­tus in 18-month increments.

The strongest argu­ment against doing so is the fear that boat­loads of Haitians will take to sea in a deadly gam­ble to win sanc­tu­ary for them­selves. That is a legit­i­mate con­cern. But the best way to address it is by help­ing to lessen Haiti’s mis­ery with aid, trade and invest­ment. Haitians liv­ing in this coun­try can help — but not if they are deported home to a coun­try that is in no con­di­tion to accept them.