Beyond Borders
I know these souls at the border. I imagine struggles amidst broken smiles. I know their tireless yet fractured spirits. They, and I, are woven into peculiarity of hardship. I’m told of a young girl who dared crossed pernicious tracks in hopes that she might breathe new air. “Many more are coming, but I’m not sure if they will all make it,” the young girl’s mother faintly shouts in her native language, sweaty, thirsty, hungry, and noticeably exhausted.
Why label these vulnerable humans illegals. Words matter. No one on God’s earth is illegal. I’m conflicted in calling these mostly Haitian asylum seekers at the Texas border migrants. Language matters. Referring to these families as migrants diminishes their human rights to seek refuge in a land built by immigrants, as though the daunting journey to reach the land of opportunity was merely an arbitrary choice. Certainly, many of these asylum seekers are desperate to forfeit refugee status garnered in South American countries and beyond, in exchange for unlawful migrant status in the U.S. But why is that? Having fled political turmoil, natural disasters, and gang violence in Haiti, they’ve survived equally jarring conditions confronted in distant lands. As such, these asylum seekers are refugees in transit. Am I implying that the U.S. shouldn’t instill guardrails with respect to its borders? Certainly not. In many respects, the U.S. securing its borders is essential to national security. However, seeking asylum is not illegal. Following the assassination of Haiti’s president and another devastating earthquake striking Haiti in recent weeks, the U.S. felt necessary to grant temporary protective status to undocumented Haitians within its borders. Hence, how does one justify deporting Haitian nationals to a country weeks ago deemed unsafe.
Comparably, optics of Haitian nationals, lashed into compliance with horse reins by authorities, evoke recollection of a period in America many wished could be erased from memory. Consider that, over the past few years, the U.S. has experienced a sharp decline in immigration than in prior years. Perhaps it behooves volatile nations to “get their house in order” to avoid demonizing of fleeing citizens, including Haiti. Although I have elaborated in a previous article the many historical factors that have contributed to Haiti’s demise, Haitians, collectively, are to shoulder the mantle of resolution. The Haitian diaspora must denounce political corruption in Haiti. “Haiti should be subject to permanent monitoring, not only for the region, but also for all of the international community,” says Jose Blanco, the Dominican ambassador to the United Nations. Such censure rises to the same level as mass expulsion of Haitian asylum seekers in Del Rio, Texas.
Consequently, many Haitians, privilege to have left Haiti behind often do not look back, the exception being times engaged in superficial charitable causes to exalt status. It is time to place country above self-interest. Drawing from personal observation, that might be asking for too much. The day might come when Haiti will surrender even it’s pretense of independence. I pray that we never get to see that day. Yet if we do, sycophant Haitian politicians will not solely be to blame. Haitians, home and abroad, along with supposed allies will have to inquire of themselves, whether enough was done.
