Almost every recent proposed piece of federal or state legislation regarding immigration has stirred rancorous debate. Most of the talk is self-serving. The discourse suggests that the rhetoric has more to do with political partisanship than with the merits of the issues. There's one instance, though, where an immigration policy is so sensible that it deserves widespread acceptance. The Obama administration's decision to extend "temporary protected status" to undocumented Haitians living in the United States is sound by any measure.
"Temporary protected status" is not new. It has been used previously to allow aliens in the United States to remain here for a specified period of time if an immediate return to their home endangers them. The rules allow for extensions to be granted if their safety is compromised by war, environmental disaster or some other temporary occurrence. That certainly covers the case for the Haitians.
Their desperately poor homeland is still struggling to overcome the 2010 earthquake that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, left countless homeless and wrecked the nation's frail infrastructure. Requiring Haitians now residing in the United States to return to Haiti immediately would make an already horrible situation there worse.
Indeed, it is possible that the return of the estimated 58,000 undocumented Haitians now in the United States to their homeland could trigger events inimical to hemispheric nations. It surely would worsen problems in Haiti - where close to a million individuals still live in tent cities and where food, water and medical care are scarce. And it might prompt a massive exodus of Haitians seeking safer, healthier places to live. If that proved to be the case, such movement could compromise the economic foundation and social stability of many neighbor nations.
Such extensions do not come without controversy, and understandably so. The fear is that the "temporary protected status" could become permanent. Political and legal vigilance should reduce that possibility. At any rate, providing residency here for the undocumented Haitians for 18 months serves humanitarian and economic purposes.
It alleviates the burden on the Haitian government to house, feed and provide medical care for additional people. It also allows Haitians here to contribute directly to relief efforts in their homeland. Officials say that Haitians resident in the United States sent more $842 million home last year. The funds helped provide food and shelter for hundreds of thousands of people, if not more. That's a fiscal investment that would be hard to duplicate by any other means.
"Temporary protected status" is not open-ended. It has a specified termination date, at which time the normal rules regarding U.S. residency once again become applicable. That's as it should be. In the meantime, initiating a policy that allows Haitians to remain here gives Haiti a chance to recover from a major natural disaster.