May 27, 2010
MSNBC ran a segment yesterday on the 55,000 Haitians who had been approved prior to the earthquake to come to the United States. Now, with many – including the family of North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre – living in makeshift camps, they are being denied entry to the US because of immigration quotas. As Steve Forester of IJDH explains, the MSNBC report would have been strengthened by discussing the positive impact these immigrants could have on Haiti through increased remittances, if allowed to come the United States. As the World Bank pointed out on May 17, since remittances make up such a large portion of Haiti’s GDP, “Haiti represents the first time the restoration of remittances services was seen as a critical part of disaster relief and response.” Allowing increased immigration from Haiti has been endorsed by both the Washington Post and Miami Herald editorial boards, as well as by numerous members of Congress. As Congress has recently allocated $2 billion in funding to Haiti for the next two years, incorporating language that would allow increased immigration would be an easy and cost-effective measure to help Haiti rebuild.
