Let them come

I've purposely avoided the running news commentary, photos and videos of the devastation in Haiti. Not because I didn't want to know about it – I did. I've been listening intently when people discuss it around me and reading about the country and the current situation. I wanted to think about and react intellectually to the situation, not emotionally.

With a natural disaster, more than any other type of devastation, it really could have been me, or us, instead of them. "There but for the grace of God go I," is what I've been thinking and feeling since the earthquake. I didn't want to add the visceral response actual images and firsthand accounts would invoke to what I was already experiencing.

Then I caught a press conference with Yéle Haiti and Wyclef Jean held on Jan. 18.  It was totally by accident and I stopped to listen because I thought it was going to be about the allegation that his organization wasn't getting a majority of the money collected to the people who need it. A lot of it was. But Jean's time at the podium was about something else entirely.

Jean spoke of going to Haiti, his homeland, and helping to retrieve and relocate the dead. He talked about carrying bodies to the morgue and when the morgue was full, carrying them to the cemeteries, where there were fights about what bodies would go in what holes, despite there being too few holes for all the bodies.

He was moved to tears when he spoke to his Haitian brothers and sisters in their language, letting them know he would be soon returning to help them further and reminding them to stay strong.

But he asked for something on behalf of the Haitian government, which according to the president of Yéle Haiti Jean was approached to do. He said the Port-au-Prince area needed to be evacuated and asked countries to step up and provide a place for Haitians to go. He described the country's capital as a giant morgue and said living people needed to be removed.

When I heard him, my response was, "Let them come."

I don't know how we accommodate the Haitians that need to be relocated, where they will go, or how they will get here, but I know, deep inside, that this is where they should be.

And, not only should we let them come, but we should make all that come eligible, upon arrival, to begin the process for United States citizenship.

We owe them that much.

We owe them for the uneven, unfair and untenable immigration practices of this country for the last 50 or more years. We owe them for being this close and seeing the troubles in their country – infrastructure, political, educational – and doing nothing concrete to assist. Now, in the midst of a devastation almost too large to comprehend, we have an opportunity to right a wrong and fix a problem and an obligation – moral and ethical – to provide concrete assistance.

I am but one voice, and imagine my perspective will surprise some who would describe me as an isolationist. But a more apt description is a compassionate pragmatist and it is from that perspective that I offer this solution.

While we certainly should be sending food, supplies, blankets, clothing, fresh water, tools, food and rescue assistance, we should also be sending transport to bring people from the devastated area to the United States.  And making them welcome to stay.

Oh, and as individuals continue to look for a way to help, please do not discount sending funds for assistance to Yéle Haiti. While many of the programs of this organization have ceased because there are simply no schools, athletic or art facilities for them to operation from at this time, Jean vows they will be back and that in the meantime, his organization will work with all non-governmental organizations to provide aid and assistance to the Haitian people. Jean also said, if you don't feel comfortable, donate to another organization to help the people of Haiti. But even if you don't choose Yéle Haiti, he will be there, trying to make the situation better.

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