[The U.S. needs to make its asylum policy clear. It needs to
define who it will allow to seek asylum and apply that standard
without discrimination.] [[link removed]]

THE US NEEDS A DEEP REASSESSMENT OF ITS IMMIGRATION POLICIES  
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Jesse Jackson
September 27, 2021
Chicago Sun Times
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_ The U.S. needs to make its asylum policy clear. It needs to define
who it will allow to seek asylum and apply that standard without
discrimination. _

Haitian migrants, part of a group of over 10,000 people staying in an
encampment on the U.S. side of the border, cross the Rio Grande river
to get food and water in Mexico, after another crossing point was
closed near the Acuña Del Rio International Bridg, Paul Ratje/AFP via
Getty Images

 

TODAY, THE MAKESHIFT MIGRANT border camp in Del Rio, Texas, is
virtually empty, cleared of thousands of Haitian refugees who came
there seeking asylum in America. State troopers now line the border
area to discourage others from gathering.

The horrifying images of the crisis—immigration agents on horseback
using reins as whips on the helpless, women and children huddled in
the heat, distraught Haitians deported back to the Haiti that they had
left years ago—will not be so easily erased. And more Haitians and
Central Americans are on their way north as I write.

President Biden denounced the treatment of the Haitians, admitting
that “We know that those images painfully conjured up the worst
elements of our nation's ongoing battle against systemic racism."Yet,
the deportations will continue.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of Homeland Security, reported that
of the 30,000 Haitians that had gathered at the border, 12,000 were
given a chance to make their case for asylum, 8,000 returned to
Mexico, and some 2,000 were deported to Haiti. The deportations were
carried out under the special order issued by Donald Trump, using the
pandemic as an excuse to deport refugees seeking asylum.

The contrast of the treatment of Haitians with that of Afghans is
stark. There is bipartisan support for resettling thousands of Afghans
fleeing the Taliban in the U.S. In polls, both Republicans and
Democrats support welcoming the Afghani migrants. At the same time,
most Americans favor even stricter policies on our southern border, a
reflection of Trump's success in turning immigration into a racial
symbol.

Yet, the kind of peril that Afghans face in their home country is
paralleled by that faced by those arriving from Haiti or from Central
America. Desperate, they leave their homes fleeing brutal gang
violence, extortion, climate catastrophes and desperate poverty, all
made worse by corrupt repressive governments.

Reprimand for the agents on horseback is not sufficient. The U.S.
needs a deep reassessment of its immigration policies and its policies
toward its neighbors to the south. Congressional hearings and
bipartisan public commissions should probe the reality we face—and
what a humane, forward-looking policy should include.

Any reassessment must start with the U.S. dramatically changing its
foreign policy priorities. We spent over $3 trillion on the failed war
in Afghanistan. We spend billions a year to keep troops in Europe 76
years after World War II, and in Korea nearly 70 years after the
fighting stopped. We spend billions in a misbegotten effort to police
the world, with troops engaged in anti-terror operations in an
unimaginable 85 countries over the last three years alone.

At the same time, we have short-changed assistance to our neighbors,
have limited capacity to aid them in times of calamity, and too often
have supported dictators and corrupt elites that have preyed upon
their own people.

Haiti is an extreme example of that. In 1791, Haiti, then known as
Saint Dominigue, was a jewel in France's colonial empire when its
slaves revolted against wealthy planters, fighting for their
independence. For this, Haitians paid a brutal price as France—with
U.S. assistance—forced Haitians to pay billions in reparations for
overturning the slave society. The U.S. took control over Haiti's
finances, invaded, and then ran the country for years, and has
supported a series of corrupt dictators and corrupted elections over
the past decades.

In the last year, popular revolts have continued against a corrupt and
illegitimate government. In July, the unpopular president, Jovenel
Moise, was assassinated, throwing the government into turmoil.
Violence spread; food became scarce. In August, a massive earthquake
hit, killing more than 2,000, injuring over 12,000, and destroying
villages. That was followed by flash flooding caused by tropical storm
Grace. The U.S. is returning Haitians forcibly to a country utterly
unable to provide for them.

One thing we know. If nothing changes, the number seeking refuge will
continue to grow. Extreme weather is already destroying more crops,
flooding villages, leveling towns. Repressive governments and failed
states leave families at risk.

The U.S. needs to make its asylum policy clear. It needs to define who
it will allow to seek asylum and apply that standard without
discrimination. It needs comprehensive immigration reform that will
increase the number of legal immigrants. And it needs a good neighbor
policy that will dramatically increase resources for multi-lateral
economic aid and humanitarian relief.

We need to augment our own ability to help our neighbors in time of
calamity and we need to invest in our neighbors to build their own
capacity to react to what surely will be growing climate catastrophes.
Haiti deserves debt relief and reparations from France and the United
States, repaying the debt exacted by slave-owning societies for the
Haitian revolt that freed the slaves.

Last week, my son Jonathan joined a delegation led by Rev. Al Sharpton
to investigate the situation in Del Rio. They heard how the Haitians
were lured to the U.S. border by ad campaigns suggesting they would be
welcomed, but instead were preyed upon by gangs and thieves along the
way. About two-thirds of the Haitian migrants were women and children.

Haitians are human too. In a time of extreme distress, they deserve a
helping hand, not the lash of a rein. And for our own sake, we should
be working with our neighbors to build prosperity, not building walls
to protect ourselves from the misery around us.

The Congress should have hearings on Haitian and immigration policies
and Haiti should be included in our budget.

© 2021 Chicago Sun-Times

JESSE JACKSON [[link removed]] is
an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was
a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and
1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from
1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to form
Rainbow/PUSH [[link removed]].

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