It was January 12, 2010, when a disastrous 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti’s capital and other cities in the region. Tears broke out worldwide. An already weak unstable country such as Haiti has been through so much and now this. The damage and death toll was insurmountable. Hence, countries all over the world were taking in survivors who sought refuge. The United States was no different, offering temporary immigration status to many Haitian refugees during the Obama Administration.

Now only seven years later, President Trump was faced with the decision—

“…whether to grant another extension for some 50,000 Haitians living legally in the United States, or to expel them, a decision that would be devastating not just for thousands of screened, law-abiding migrants and their 27,000 U.S.-born children but also for Haiti itself, whose economy is heavily dependent on the remittances they send home (Editorial Board, 2017).”

And he decided to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for these Haitians, giving them 18 months to leave.

“Haiti is extraordinarily ill-equipped to absorb 50,000 people arriving on its shores, most of whom would need jobs, shelter and a variety of government services, including education and health care (Editorial Board, 2017).” Those 27,000 U.S.-born children are now in tears because they face the chance of being separated from their parents. School-aged children in our US school system are distraught.  “More than half the Haitians affected by the announcement live in Florida, where lawmakers had asked that they be allowed to remain (Deyoung & Miroff, 2017).” Protests have begun. Something must be done.

The lawmakers disagree with the administration’s decision, and as educators, we most definitely should side with these lawmakers. Our job is to think about the kids, and this decision affects our students.  Although, we have our challenges with bridging the gap and communicating with parents; the work that we have already done could be reversed with the parents of these students being taken away. Perna and Titus’ 2007 study proclaims parent involvement as possibly the most beneficial resource for children in the classroom (cited in Gardner & Marszalek, 2014).

So we as educators must take a stand. We must stand up for these children who are just in the first and second grade, a crucial time in their education. Their parents are our bridge to their success. We need to be the voices for those who can’t be heard. A natural disaster is what brought them here, but we can’t allow human disaster to adversely take their parents away and bring our students to tears.

References

Deyoung, K., & Miroff, N. (2017, November 21). U.S. Ending 60,000 Haitians Provisional Residency Status. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P4-1966306559.html?refid=easy_hf

Editorial Board. (2017, November 10). How Mr. Trump Can Be Haitis Champion. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P4-1962071161.html?refid=easy_hf

Gardner, D. S., & Marszalek, J. M. (2014). Does the Sustainability of Comprehensive Intervention Programs Depend on Parent Involvement? SAGE Open, 4(3), 215824401454547. doi:10.1177/2158244014545473

Rodriguez, M. (2017, November 21). ‘Think About The Children’: Kids Scared Of Losing Parents In TPS Termination. Retrieved from http://miami.cbslocal.com/show/news/video-3766335-think-about-the-children-kids-scared-of-losing-parents-in-tps-termination/