Haiti

Haiti is one of the closest countries to the United States geographically. That must mean something, at least I have some sort of sense that it is easier to help than say, Indonesia. What is happening there is chaos, a tragedy, and all too real. The Arcade Fire has long been a champion of support to Haiti’s people and their song could never be more appropriate. Their website links to the charity they supported during their Neon Bible Tour, Partners in Health. They are correct that ‘time is of the essence.’

-Chris Blattman, a development expert at Yale links to the London Times article that helps put into some perspective how Haiti became the mess that it was before this earthquake and that the reason we don’t see natural disasters of this nature hurting neighbors like the Dominican Republic lies in the country’s natural endowment, history, and ability to govern. Nothing that the victims of the disaster could ever control.

-Texas in Africa has some excellent suggestions for finding a charity to donate to.

-If you want to do something beyond donating to a charity, please follow the advice of the Wronging Rights blog and lobby the White House to grant Haitians Temporary Protected Status here in the U.S.

Designating Haiti for TPS status would provide an immediate, tremendously valuable benefit to Haitian immigrants in the United States. But, more importantly it would benefit their loved ones who remain in Haiti and are in desperate need of their assistance. TPS would increase and stabilize remittances at a time when they are absolutely vital. Equally significantly, especially in the quake’s immediate aftermath, it would allow immigrants to return to Haiti to find and help their loved ones, or to mourn those who they have lost, without jeopardizing their ability to return to the United States and support their surviving family members.

To express your support, contact the White House here. (Note from Kate: This is the White House’s generic “tell us a thing” form, so you’ll need to select “I have a policy comment” on the subject drop-down menu, choose “Immigration” from the drop-down menu that appears below and then write something to the effect of “I am writing to express my strong support for granting TPS to Haitians in the aftermath of the 1/13/10 earthquake” for the message content.)

-Ezra Klein proposes another way to help Haiti.

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