“Sending Them Back To An Impoverished Land Is Simply Cruel!”

by with One Comment FeaturedPolitics
First Nicaragua, now Haiti…

On January 12, 2010, Haiti experienced a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravished the island, killed more than 200,000 people, and displaced more than 1.5 million residents. Immediately following that earthquake they had a cholera outbreak that killed an additional 9,000 people, and just last year Hurricane Matthew slammed the island and damaged 80% of the homes. Considering the impact of the initial earthquake in 2010, Haitians were granted temporary status in the United States.

Their temporary protected status (TPS) was extended by John Kelly, the previous Secretary of State and current Chief of Staff. However, it was set to expire on January 22, 2018. With that being said, I think we’d be foolish to believe the extensions would continue considering Trump’s campaign stance on immigration. Also, for the past few months administration officials have been echoing his position on immigration, specifically mentioning their intent to end special programs like TPS that allow Haitians to stay and work in the United States. And not just Haitians, Nicaraguans TPS ends January 2019, and a decision for Hondurans and El Salvadorians is expected to be made soon – in all, roughly 325,000 people representing 10 countries.

On September 18, 2017, members of South Florida’s congressional delegation, both Democrats and Republicans, including Frederica Wilson and Marco Rubio, wrote a bipartisan letter to the acting Secretary of State Elaine C. Duke requesting an 18-month extension (July 2019) for the 60,000 Haitian immigrants in the United States. And last night, the officials from the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to do just that.

Their bipartisan letter stated…

“The government of Haiti has outlined plans to rebuild the country and boost economic activity, and the United States remains steadfast in assisting Haiti. In order to allow full implementation of these efforts, and given the ongoing extraordinary conditions in Haiti, we urge you to extend the TPS designation for 18 months, within all applicable rules and regulations, for Haitian nationals who are currently living in, and contributing to, our great country.” 

This letter was signed by 10 members of South Florida’s congressional delegation, from both parties. If there were no plans for an additional extension, is 18-months was considered a win? Also, do Florida Republicans like Marco Rubio deserve credit for joining their Democratic colleagues in signing this letter?

Why did they decide to write a letter? Well many Haitians here in the U.S. under TPS reside in South Florida. Many of them work in healthcare, and according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, their immediate absence would cause a shortage in labor, which would likely have a negative impact on South Florida’s economy. 

When asked about this sudden announcement, Gary Coichy, a Haitian American and marketing professional in NYC, said…

“How quickly do we forget the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. TPS has allowed these Haitians a new sense of hope, a new start. No statistical data can point to Haitians causing violence or committing any act of terrorism. This action by the U.S. Government is inhuman and illogical. There’s ways to monitor this program and ensure they go through the due process to become legal Aliens. Sending them back to an impoverished land is simply cruel!” 

Is there anything that can be done? Is this an example of Trump over-stepping with his aggressive immigration agenda, or should such policy decisions be viewed as customary and inevitable?

Regardless of how you might feel politically, it’s hard to believe that Haiti’s economy and infrastructure will be prepared to welcome and support 60,000 people in just 18 months.

What Frederica Wilson SHOULD’VE DONE

by with One Comment Media

“He knew what he signed up for… but when it happens it hurts anyway.” – Trump’s remarks according to Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and the family of La David Johnson.

[Prior to Chief of Staff John Kelly’s remarks about Frederica Wilson] After talking to people on both sides of the aisle, I’m convinced that most Democrats think that the politicization of this “private call” is President Trump and his administration’s fault, and most Republicans think it’s Rep. Frederica Wilson’s fault. Attempting to remove politics, and considering President Trump lacks tact and compassion in the most obvious situations, I still think it’s safe to assume that he did not call this gold star widow with malicious intent.

Unless you’ve chosen to ignore this story, by now you know that Congresswoman Frederica Wilson is a close family friend of Sgt. La David Johnson’s family. She’s known the family for quite some time… La David Johnson and his brothers were alum of her 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, a mentoring program she started in 1993 geared to help “minority male students graduate high school, go to college, vocational school or the military, and be positioned to become contributing and self-sustaining members of society.” She was also the principal of a school that La David Johnson’s father attended.

I don’t think anyone would blame the Congresswoman for “defending” the Johnson family, or speaking up if she felt they were slighted or disrespected in such a time of grief and anguish. But, the family should be her #1 priority. Considering Trump’s inability to take the high road in any situation, considering Trump blatantly disrespected a gold star family during his campaign, did the Congresswoman really think that publicly expressing her frustration with Trump’s remarks would render an immediate apology from him?

More importantly, did she think the inevitable media attention it would create would be in the best interest of the family or help them heal? If you believe so, then maybe she made the right decision. But if you don’t believe her immediate response of going to the media would be in the best interest of the family or help them heal, then maybe a different plan of action would’ve been better.

What should she have done? 

She should’ve reached out to the President and the White House in private expressing her frustration, as well as relaying the pain his words caused the widow. It’s a snowball’s chance in hell it would’ve rendered a positive reaction or an apology; but, it wouldn’t have appeared to be political, and most importantly it would’ve allowed the family to mourn and grieve in peace without the media frenzy. If the President or a White House Offical chose to ignore her or not render a positive reaction or an apology, then going public with a statement would’ve probably been better received as less political, and truly genuine regarding her concern for the family.

It’s hard to give the Congresswoman the benefit of the doubt when it feels like she’s capitalizing on the moment especially when she’s calling herself a “rockstar” in the process.

With that being said, in such situations, we’d hope the president could take the high road and just render an apology. By doing so, he proves that he can show empathy, it makes the Congresswoman’s point irrelevant, and most importantly, it preserves the privacy of a family forced to mourn the loss of their hero.

Unlike the other 3 U.S. soldiers who were killed and retrieved when the other soldiers were rescued, La David Johnson was left behind and his body was retrieved a mile away and 48 hours later. The family was not allowed to I.D. the body and they had to have a closed casket funeral, which suggests that La David Johnson’s body was mutilated or in extremely bad condition when they found him.

They deserve answers… not sure receiving an apology or the current back and forth between a Democratic Congresswoman and the White House supersedes those answers and the speed in which they receive them.