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We need to help as many as we can just as we need to help all people.
"Newly arriving immigrants are excluded from
Medicaid for five years. These people will not be eligible for
welfare," said Lavinia Limon, president of the U.S. Committee for
refugees aand immigrants.
U.S. considers allowing more Haitian immigrants
Hillary Clinton indicated on Monday that U.S. officials are thinking about
allowing more Haitian immigrants to come to this country.
The secretary of state was vague about these prospects but seemed to indicate
that an increase in immigration is possible.
Before heading to a conference in Montreal to discuss international relief
efforts in Haiti, she was asked at a news conference:
QUESTION: “Madame Secretary, a number of people with interest and expertise
in Haiti believe that one possible way to help that country would be allowing
more legal immigration from Haiti not just by the United States but countries in
the region. And I wonder, is that something you might take up in Montreal,
whether these – whether you see it has any merit?”
SECRETARY CLINTON: “Well, first with respect to Haiti, we are looking at
every option that can provide a better future for the Haitian people. This is
largely, however, within the authority of individual countries. But we are
certainly looking at that and will have more to say later.”
This is an especially sensitive point in South Florida, home to tens of
thousands of Haitian-Americans, including citizens and legal as well as illegal
immigrants.
Federal officials are trying to prevent desperate Haitians from risking
dangerous voyages on small boats bound for Florida. State and local officials
hope to be spared a mass exodus.
The question is whether some earthquake victims should be evacuated from
Haiti and whether more Haitian immigrants should be allowed to come to America
in a controlled, legal way. Some aid workers and members of Congress say more
Haitians should be allowed to leave their devastated country.
The Obama
administration already has suspended deportations of unauthorized Haitians and
has decided to make tens of thousands who already live in this country eligible
for temporary legal status.
A major influx by any means could strain local schools and social services in
the short run.
“I will have more to say about developments in Haiti later today,” Clinton
said. “We discussed how difficult this endeavor (relief and reconstruction) is
in a country without the infrastructure and the capacity that we take for
granted in countries like ours.”