Refugees, Racism, and Reparations: A Critique of the United States' Haitian Immigration Policy

This content is available through online browsing (free) program dependent on page scan. Screen readers can not currently scan, so please contact JSTOR user support for access. We will provide PDF copy of your screen reader

Racism is one of the biggest problems in the United States. Today, immigrants are the top leaders of American racial discrimination. New American President made a decision to make immigrants uncomfortable. They are faced with more threats. Most immigrants try to avoid the president's decision. One of the decisions was to expel immigrants who were not documented. This decision is unfair because many immigrants come here to live a better life or as refugees.

In the 1980s, many Haitian immigrants arrived on the coast of Florida on a boat and were known as "people of boats". President Carter gave these refugees the same legal status as the Cubans through the Cuba - Haitian entry program in 1880 after 18 months, President Reagan intercepted refugees from people of the Haitian boat, I agreed to a policy of binding indefinitely. In June 1982 six months later, the federal court ruled such detention and released thousands of refugees. In 1986, 40 thousand Haitians who came to the United States to seek political asylum got permanent residency.

The US immigration policy has evolved over time with discussions on who will be a new US citizen or as a temporary worker, student, refugee, or permanent resident. The first immigration law was enacted in the second half of the nineteenth century, the law enacted in 1952 was revised and incorporated into Chapter 8 of the US law. The Executive Division has broad authority over immigration policy and can affect immigration rules through administrative measures and orders. Immigration policy also outlines the procedure to determine who is not entitled to enter the country and to exclude individuals in violation of immigration law. This article summarizes some of the changes in immigration policy through American history.