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#3152: Letter to the editor
From:Drjudson@aol.com
This is a letter that I sent this week to the NY Times, Wall Street
Journal and to my local paper. Why not relieve overpopulation in Haiti and
begin a program that would be less expensive than intervention and possibly
more effective?
John Judson
To the Editor:
A front page article in the March 29 New York Times "Haitian Families in
U.S. Face a Tough Choice" is thought provoking. The issue goes far beyond
the plight of a relatively small number of illegal residents from Haiti. I
have spent the last two years working in Haiti and have made yearly visits
for 16 years. The poverty, unemployment, political unrest, overcrowding,
illiteracy and minimal medical resources are completely beyond the
comprehension of anyone who has not been there. As good neighbors, the U.S.
has tried many approaches to help Haiti including a recent expensive military
occupation.
The 7-8 million people who live in Haiti are desperately searching for
ways to solve their problems but this may be impossible without some leaving
their homeland. We are a country of 250 million people with one of our great
ports dominated by the Statue of Liberty which proclaims "Give me your tired,
your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, ..." Why do our
neighbors in Haiti seem to be an exception to this invitation?
There is an urgent need to drastically relax immigration requirements
for Haiti. Even if 10-20% of Haiti's population were spread across our vast
country, there would be minimal impact and our society would benefit from
their contributions. Overcrowding in Haiti would be relieved and political
leaders in that country would no longer have a captive population. Haitians
are proud, industrious, gracious citizens who value work and usually send
earnings back to their families in Haiti thus benefiting both our own country
and theirs. Haiti can become politically and economically stable with our
help. Other interventions have had minimal success. Significantly
increasing immigration quotas for qualified Haitians would be both innovative
and effective.
John P. Judson, MD (drjudson@aol.com)
John Judson
drjudson@aol.com