Cubans vs. Haitians: A Tale of Two Immigrant Groups

It's one of the most notorious instances of schizophrenia in all U.S. immigration policy. First, you have Cuban refugees -- who are automatically embraced as fleeing from a Communist dictatorship, and welcomed as legal residents from the moment they set foot on U.S. soil. And then on the other hand, you have Haitian refugees, who for decades have been seen as simply poor, dirty and diseased -- and forcibly driven back home.

The key difference between the two groups? Unlike the Cubans, for years, Haitians have been unlucky enough to be oppressed by a dictator that happened to be on comparatively good terms with the United States. Some quick history: In the 1980s, the Reagan administration kicked off a policy of "interdiction" -- that is, forcibly repatriating boat people back to Haiti. Working in partnership with the Duvalier regime, the U.S. Coast Guard sent ships to patrol the country's perimeter to keep Haitians from fleeing the island. (During the 10 years of interdiction, only 28 out of 22,000 Haitians caught were given political asylum. The rest were all sent back.)

In the 1990s, as human rights abuses in Haiti became increasingly apparent, George H.W. Bush's administration was shamed into stopping its repatriation policy. So the U.S. changed tack, and started imprisoning Haitian refugees on Guantanamo -- making Haitians some of its earliest inmates. (A mass panic about Haitian "boat people" being infected with AIDS helped fuel the administration's actions.)

Later in the 1990s, the Clinton White House resumed interdiction, after President Aristide returned to Haiti, but also made it easier for Haitians to apply for asylum and residency.

Not so George W. Bush's administration. In late 2001, the Bush White House began to detain newly arrived Haitians who were seeking asylum -- in striking contrast to its policy for every other country out there. Under his tenure, nine out of 10 applications for asylum filed by Haitians were rejected.

More recently, immigrant advocates point to how Haitians were treated after the 2008 hurricanes struck as further evidence of U.S.-based discrimination. That year, hurricanes lashed Haiti, leaving over 800 dead, and yet the Bush administration continued to deport Haitians living in the U.S. By contrast, after Hurricane Mitch devastated Nicaragua and Honduras, both Honduran and Nicaraguan nationals living in the United States were granted temporary protected status and allowed to remain legally in the country.

Given all this history, it's even more significant that the Obama administration has granted Haitians temporary protected status at last. But it also shows that when it comes to fairness for Haitian immigrants, who still make up just 0.2% of the overall immigrants the U.S. accepts, there's a long way to go.

You can take action and tell the White House to start by fast-tracking visa approvals for Haitians stricken by the earthquake below.

Photo Credit: United Nations Photo