Mainstream media reports that about 100 Haitians reached Florida’s shores riding upon a “unseaworthy” sail boat yesterday. The exhausted and dehydrated Haitians will be processed and returned to Haiti. This is not the case for Cubans who launch out and brave the treacherous ocean determined to make it to American soil. Cubans who arrive are allowed to stay in the United States under a policy known as “Wetfoot/Dryfoot“.
This 2000 Washington Times article points out the discrimination behind this Cold War policy well. Referencing the then 6 year old Cuban boy, Elian Gonzales, who washed ashore with many other Cubans after their boat capsized, the author says:
“…if Elian Gonzalez were Haitian instead of Cuban, he would have been returned to Haiti immediately.”
What’s particularly interesting as well is that President Bill Clinton and Congress adopted legislation in 1998 that put Nicaraguan, Cuban, Guatemalann, and Salvadoran immigrants who had reached the United States before 1996 eligible for permanent residency or green cards. Congress and Clinton excluded Haitians from these protective laws. (and to think – some Black folks still want to call Clinton the first “Black” president – the man ignored genocide in Rwanda and kicked Haitians back out to sea, but some still love him because he played the saxophone on Arsenio Hall.)
Bottom line:Â we need fair and just international policy that doesn’t reinforce racist immigration laws.Â
The brothers and I had a spirited discussion about the immigration issue on a recent BrothaSpeak show. Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0AfH8CfRo8]
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