Prophete, Pascal F. G.

Mr. King

Period 2

“Tragedy at Sea/Wet Foot, Dry Foot Policy”

“At least nine people—all believed to be Haitian immigrants—were reported

dead on Wednesday after the U.S. Coast Guard spent hours scouring the waters off

Boynton Beach in search of survivors from a suspected smuggling operation gone

wrong.” The sixteen survivors, including the captain of the ship, were stranded in

frigid waters for over ten hours as the Coast Guard searched the waters off of the

coast of Boynton Beach, Fla. The boat departed from Bimini in the Bahamas with a

dangerous load of 30 passengers, who paid by the thousands for the narrow and

perilous chance to escape the desperate poverty of Haiti. Approximately 10 hours

after the boat capsized in the Atlantic Ocean around 2:00 AM on Wednesday

morning, a passing boater contacted the Coast Guard of three survivors discovered

floating fifteen miles off of the coast of Boynton Beach. This launched a massive air

and sea effort to rescue as many survivors as possible. The search lasted through

the night and eight body bags in total were counted the next morning. Three of the

passengers were released to the hospital for immediate medical attention upon

reaching land and although one survivor perished while receiving said medical

attention, a pregnant woman was [successfully] rehabilitated.

As many as 1,400 would-be migrants and refugees originating from Haitian

waters have been caught and returned by the Coast Guard since last October. This

data is a considerable increase from the 972 apprehensions recorded from the

same seven-month period in 2008. However, considering the amount of damage

and poverty that Haitians face in their native land, it is not too surprising. Haiti has
suffered over $1 billion worth of damage in the past year as a result of Hurricanes

Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna. The brutal effects of these

natural disasters, in combination with the almost complete absence of natural

resources and stable government or funding in Haiti has, quite literally, reduced the

free republic to third world status as well as being labeled as the poorest country in

the Western Hemisphere. Unrelated to any smuggling incidents, almost 700 lives

were lost to the ocean after concurrent hurricane and tropical storms swept over

Hispaniola, which houses the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The

people of Haiti face famine and abject poverty in their homeland and for every case

of tragic failure such as this, word will reach the ears of struggling peons of a

handful of migrants who managed to infiltrate the American system and are

enjoying prosperity in the “free [white]” world of the United States of America,

which can seem well worth the risk when the alternative is a slow and torturous

death by starvation, illness, and/or malnutrition.

‘Infiltrate’ they must, for unlike Cuban migrants who are allowed to escape

the threat of repatriation so long as they reach land under the ‘dry foot’ status

established by the presidential administration of Bill Clinton in 1995, Haitian

immigrants are deported to their homeland regardless of where, or when, they are

discovered residing in America illegally. What began as a revision of the 1966

Cuban Adjustment Act resulted in the “wet foot, dry foot” policy which attempted to

normalize migration between Communist Cuba and the United States. According to

the policy, any migrants intercepted with ‘wet feet’ or while still navigating the

waters between Cuba and America will be repatriated. Conversely, any Cuban

immigrants who reach dry land are offered the opportunity to remain in the United

States, receive expedited services concerning permanent residency and U.S.

citizenship. The legislation came about after the tone of American-Cuban

negotiations changed drastically under President Clinton who altered the original

CAA (Cuban Adjustment Act) to ensure that America would no longer admit Cubans

discovered at sea. In response to the shift in migration patterns from Cuba since the

policy was enacted, the term “dusty foot” refers to Cuban immigrants who find

asylum by traveling to Mexico and through the U.S.-Mexican border into Texas.

Although it pains me to read some of the literature available concerning

specifically the boating accident which resulted in nine Haitians dead and even

more struggling to survive and general discussions of immigration status, political

vs. economic refugees, those who are granted asylum and those who aren’t, it has

certainly been enlightening. I do not only descend from a family of immigrants, I am

an immigrant. The prospect of setting out from your home country, transporting as

much of your worldly possessions as possible in an effort to maintain some

connection to your culture, your family, your history, and the legacy of your first

and true home is not an abstract thought or food for idle thought. It is a reality that

too many people face, in varying degrees, everyday all throughout the world. While

most of us will complain about our lights being off for days, or even weeks, at a

time; or lament the less than stellar or fashionable condition of our wardrobes;

forego good, honest work because it will not fund our lavish dreams of four-story

mansions and an entire island to call our very own, these are people who are willing

to risk everything, up to and including their very lives (and the lives of their

children), for a hint of a chance to hope so that they can work and build a better

future.

So long as the people asking to be allowed into this country are not known to

be criminals or terrorists of any kind, I cannot think of one good reason why they
should be denied or forcibly removed. I am not concerned with anyone who seeks

amnesty simply to collect government welfare or waste their lives while fattening

themselves on the aid and resources made available to struggling Americans as

well as legal immigrants. However, for every supposed fault I have come across that

is associated with the immigrant stigma, I have found a simple solution with a

minimal amount of reasoning. Denying anyone for not being born within the borders

of this nation is redundant since the borders shift to include more land each time we

acquire a new territory or geographic shift alters the shape of already existing U.S.

satellites. Furthermore, claims that immigrants should be rejected because they

take away valuable American jobs is ignorant as well as ludicrous, as for any job,

competition is inevitable. Immigration status does not alter or affect the fact that

another person may be more qualified than a natural-born citizen. Likewise, if the

decision is made out of fear or terrorism, one could compare it to the local terrorists

that strike in our neighborhoods, in our homes, and at our loved ones every day?

We are all only human, as fallible and prone to love and mercy as we are to

fear and hate. Whether we build our lives in the countries we are born or on

different soil than where our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. were

raised is of little consequence. It is up to each individual to make what they will with

the gifts and opportunities before them. In the event that an entire country is

suffering, for whatever reason, and a citizen seeks out help to live a life worth living,

with the same opportunities as the rest of us, it is the duty of all free nations of the

world to accept them. Especially since, whether or not you can trace your bloodline

to one of the “founding fathers” does not change the fact that the U.S.A. was

started a group of migrants who sought refuge, opportunity, and freedom by

crossing a body of water. Whether they are Cuban, Haitian, Mexican, Nicaraguan,
Japanese, German, English, French, African, Indian, Iraqi, or whatever, if someone is

willing to come to this country, abide by our laws, and make a sincere effort to live

productively, I believe they deserve the chance to live here even more than the

unbelievably high number of Americans from all social classes who squander their

birthrights in the name of exercising the free will and liberties to sit at home and do

nothing with their lives.