The devastation in Haiti is unimaginable. On "60 Minutes" last night, viewers were provided a glimpse of the devastation. Hundreds of dead bodies lay on the ground, piled up, as they were gathered to be dumped in mass graves. The body count may be as high as 100,000. While help is on its way, it is nearly impossible to even start the work that needs to be done. The devastation was indiscriminate, killing men, women and children alike. There are few doctors or healthcare workers available to help those that survived. The injured are being cared for with hacksaws and crude equipment. No water or food is availabe as the injured lay starving to death, some underneath piles of rubble.
Most Americans know, understand and are sympathetic to the Haitians in their time of need. However, there are a few heartless and inhumane neanderthals that are being skeptical and rude in response to the Haitians' needs.
Pat Robertson: "Haiti made a pact with the devil when it broke away from France."
Rush Limbaugh: "President Barack Obama will use the offer and delivery of U.S. aid to boost his credibility among light-skinned and dark-skinned black people."
Roy Beck, NumbersUSA: "move Haitians rescued from their boats back to Haiti ...rather than allow a small fraction to move to the U.S. and further exacerbate the unemployment and economic distress of our own most vulnerable Americans. "
The Christian Science Monitor reports:
In a move supported by both Democrats and Republicans, the Obama administration Friday extended special protection to some 100,000 Haitians living illegally in the United States that keeps them from being deported. The Department of Homeland Security said it would offer Haitian nationals, who were already here when Tuesday’s earthquake struck, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. That status, which would allow them to legally work, will not cover Haitians who flee their country following the devastating 7.0 quake that resulted in as many as 50,000 deaths and left its capital, Port-au-Prince, in ruins. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said it’s “tempting for people suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake to seek refuge elsewhere” but that “attempting to leave Haiti now will only bring more hardship to the Haitian people and nation.” She also said returning illegal immigrants from Haiti would put their “personal safety" at risk. TPS is typically extended to immigrants from countries – such as El Salvador, Honduras, Somalia, and Nicaragua – where sudden conflict or disaster has prevented them from returning safely.
On Wednesday, US immigration officials temporarily halted the removal of some 30,000 illegal Haitians awaiting deportation. France, Canada, and the Dominican Republic are taking similar steps to ease their immigrations rules in light of the disaster. “Extending this mantle of protection to struggling Haiti is not only appropriate, but a just, compassionate, and concrete step the United States can take toward alleviating the human suffering of the Haitian people,” wrote Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a letter to the White House. Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar (R) supports the decision as well as does Sen. Bill Nelson (D) of Florida. “This is the right thing to do. Haitian immigrants already in the U.S. will not only be able to make money to support themselves, but also to send remittances to their suffering families back in Haiti,” Senator Nelson said in a statement Friday. Dan Stein, president of the conservative Federation for American Immigration Reform, told USA Today that he supports the move. He did say, however, that the TPS status should be terminated once the crisis is over. Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, wrote on the conservative National Review Online that once TSP is granted, it often becomes amnesty. "As far as I've been able to determine, not a single person who has ever been granted this 'temporary' status has later been deported."
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