James Macay
Prof. Kitana Ananda
ENG103
November 5, 2017
Archival Document Response
The first document titled “Committee on General Welfare” touched on the struggle that Haitian refugees encountered in the 1980’s. A total of 2,200 Haitian refugees across the United States have been detained in detention centers. There were fifty-three refugees detained at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Interestingly enough, the refugees technically were not prisoners. Federal District Court Judge Robert Carter ordered a release on all the fifty-three haitians at the Navy Yard to be released, alongside other professional organizations fighting for the same cause. But the prisoners remained imprisoned. The only alternative was to give the Haitians parole until they can attend a proper hearing. The number of Haitian refugees was increasing due to political discomfort and dictatorship in their country. Only those who entered the country illegally would have an issue with the law. Which at this point in time was most people because entering the country legally would take time and money that most couldn’t afford to spare.
The second article titled “January 2nd Coalition for the Defense of Haitian Refugees” touched on the same topic as the first article, only in a different light. We take a look at this idea from a higher food chain point of view. It is said, that the Reagan administration has detained up to 3,000 Haitian refugees in the United States and Puerto Rico. These refugees flee in search of political asylum in the United States. They are denied, and instead deported back to where they came from. The people were treated under poor condition and there was nothing they could do as Reagan’s administration continued to uphold its discriminatory policy. Ironically, Reagan supported the ways of the government’s treatments in Haiti and because of this, refugees specifically fled to America. Reagan requested that camps should be set up so that immigrants would be detained before being deported. Then to really tease the people with their power, they created the “employer sanctions”, where people would be sub-class workers with no rights. A fancy way of saying slavery?
These articles relate in parallel universes because if we take the first article, we can imagine the inhumane ways in which these people are being treated and can’t possibly imagine why. Taking the other article into perspective, we are told who is calling the shots and that the Haitian refugees are being treated poorly in their country, and when they try to find a way out they are sent back or detained. It sounds devastating but you cannot envision or feel what they are actually going through the way the first article leads out. Overall, we see the effects that higher powers have on the those with less power. Even how much of an impact one man’s decision can have on an entire nation and specific group of people. Family’s split, and lives ruined. The Coalition on January 2nd proposed the following demands, to release everyone of the camps, to forgive undocumented workers, stop the trades with Duvalier Dictatorship, and more on.
These sources won’t be of much use in my research paper, but comparing them and contrasting them was interesting and a learning experience, even a quick history lesson. In my topic the only far fetched relation I see is that community colleges are a resource and typically cheaper than most universities, which can work hand in hand with immigrants who wish to pursue their education. Seeing as community colleges are diverse and welcoming of anyone wishing to earn a degree, perhaps it can be a gateway for refugees or immigrants to live their lives.