NILC Responds to Obama Administration’s Policy Shift on Haitian Refugees

LOS ANGELES — In a sudden policy shift, the Obama administration announced today that it will move to swiftly deport survivors of Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake who have sought refuge at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months.

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“Haiti’s massive earthquake in 2010 created one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history, and its impacts are still being felt today. With their country still reeling from the aftermath, it is unconscionable that the Obama administration would move to deport refugees who were displaced by this devastating natural disaster. Just days ago, President Obama was on the world stage talking about our moral obligation to help people around the world who have been displaced by unlivable conditions. These people don’t just come from oceans away—they also live here in our hemisphere.

It’s troubling that the administration has not learned from the criticism for how it has treated Central American families. Rather than continuing with its failed deterrence approach of detaining and deporting those seeking refuge in our country, the administration should consider granting these families humanitarian relief. The Obama administration should not turn its back on these families who have fought so hard to seek safety here. “

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