The difference is that the entire country of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, was just decimated by a natural disaster.

It’s disgusting, deplorable, and embarrassing that we would refuse them help.

Does the fact that Haiti has the highest HIV and Aids rate in the world concern you and allowing them in America? i think this is the main reason the military has made these statements.

First, that’s simply not a true statement. See here, here, and here.

Even if those were the reasons, so fucking what. This is our chance to help people in need. If they have a serious illness then they need our help even more.

I’m for free immigration from to and from the US, Haiti, Mexico, and everywhere else, so I don’t support people being denied immigration to the US.

@nikipedia: Maybe john65pennington doesn’t consider Africa part of his world. On your links it seemed like Haiti did have higher HIV rates than any other non-African nation.

@nikipedia We aren’t refusing them help, countries all around the world are sending in workers, supplies, and money. USA alone has donated over $200 million [citation needed].

A disaster striking does not mean you’re allowed to break the rules and hop the metaphorical fence over.

@Sarcasm: I agree we have done an admirable job donating funds, but unfortunately all the money in the world doesn’t do much when the infrastructure of the country is so destroyed that planes and ships have trouble physically moving the supplies there.

We need to make sure that people are following appropriate channels to enter the US. We need to know who we’re letting in. Is it pleasant? No. Is it ‘fair’? Not to them, no.

We should relax our number allotment of people allowed in from Haiti, in my opinion. Yet it is necesarry to know who we are letting in. Not everyone who can afford a boat ride, after a catastrophe of this size, is an upright citizen. We have to be careful and keep our wits about us.

I’m sorry I have to disagree with you, John. We are two totally different people in this aspect though. Something seems fundamentally wrong to slam the door on another human in need of help. Similar to our homes with our families in them, this planet is our home, and essentially we’re all related.

I agree with Gemiwing, we could let people in a legitimate way, but yes, just letting people in by the boatload isn’t the way either.

@nikipedia – Yeah, let us just open our boarders to every country that ever has a natural disaster. That makes sense.

As for people with such serious illnesses, our country can’t take care of it’s own people and health care let alone people from Haiti. I would pick my grandmother and parent’s health care over theirs any day. Although that is not “PC” to say at such a time, I don’t have a pair of your rosy glasses.

I heard a discussion on this topic today on NPR. The speakers were saying, first of all, people are not jumping into boats at this point. It’s only been a week. They are still trying to find out if their friends and relatives are alive, if there’s anything left of their homes, if anything can be salvaged. It’ll be two or three weeks before this issue comes to the fore, and policy matters are now being decided. Second, there are proposals first to ask the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, two of which are U.S. territories and all of which are neighbors, to take refugees rather than admitting them to the mainland U.S., meaning Florida for starters. Moving huge numbers of people from there would be fantastically expensive. And third, one speaker said emphatically that foreign aid is, always has been, and always will be the most cost-effective way to (putting it crassly) purchase influence (I think he said influence) in a foreign country. A dollar spent in Haiti would do more good than a hundred spent on the mainland.

I think we should keep our current immigration laws, and not make exceptions. If we make this exception now, then we will always have to make exceptions.

I think immigration laws are a waste of time and resources. If we have to stoop to physically pushing people out of our country, we have much bigger problems on our hands. Infighting is inhibiting real progress.

Let’s turn the question around: We are stuck on a small island that has been absolutely devastated by a tragic natural disaster. Would you want a neighboring country to help you out or do you think they should snub you?

@john65pennington It absolutely disgusts me that our military would deny entry to our country because another country has a high incidence of HIV. How ignorant can we be.

I hate to say this but the haitian People should really
be using the supplies and aid given to them and try rebuild there country with a proper infrastructure instead of abandoning all hope of living there. Not everyone can live on the same place.

@Violet- Much Agreed. Also, I do not agree with “Free Immigration”- My ancestors migrated to the United States beginning in the 19th Century and they had to work VERY HARD to build their lives here in the USA and to become American Citizens.
I do not believe that it should be given to future immigrants so freely. And by the way- It is COSTING our Everyday tax dollars every time illegal immigrants are needing medical care at hospitals and also of illegal jobs- in the end: It is the everyday working American Citizen who is paying for it due to the “Free System” for Illegal Immigration.

The international community has to come up with a solution that makes Haitians want to stay in their country and rebuild it.

Yes, have you ever been to Miami? Tons of them there already.

Keep them in their country, we need to stop sending everything to aide them, who the hell aides us?

@fancyfeast: What do you think “immigration” means? Your ancestors were granted access to this country. That’s all these people want. They are obviously willing to work VERY HARD as well to build their lives in this country.

@JesusWasAJewbot: Why, I’m glad you asked! Recently another question on Fluther specifically asked who came to our aid when Hurricane Katrina hit, and tinyfaery posted this list:

Afghanistan
Donated $100,000 to the hurricane victims.[3]
Albania
Donated $300,000.[4]
Argentina
Made offers of help and assistance. Argentina also dispatched an elite team of bilingual mental health professionals.[5]
Armenia
Pledged $200,000 and made offers of help and assistance.[6]
Australia
AUD 10 million (approximately USD 8–9 Million), and a team of 20 emergency response officers immediately. Donated AUD 10 million to American Red Cross.[7]
Austria
140 specialists of the AFDRU were put on stand-by. Their focus was to have been on providing clean water with portable water-treatment plants. Within the EU Emergency Assistance for Katrina, Austria set up a communication network using IT and communication equipment for assistance/support, provided 10 sets petrol driven dirty water pumps, 500 pieces tarps/plastic sheeting and 300 camp beds.[8]
Azerbaijan
Donated $500,000.[9]
The Bahamas
Pledged $50,000.
Bahrain
Donated $5 million.[10]
Bangladesh
Donated humanitarian aid worth $1 million and said it would send 160 disaster management experts, including doctors, nurses, engineers and others.
Belarus
Made offers of help and assistance.
Belgium
Offered 3 Medical teams of 31 personnel, logistic team of 10 personnel, coordination team of 4 personnel, civil engineering team of 10 personnel, diving team, and also balloon-lamps, low and high capacity pumps and small generators.[8]
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Made offers of help and assistance.
Brunei
Donated $1 million.[10]
Cambodia
The king donated $20,000 to match the $20,000 Cambodian government donation.
Canada

Main article: Canadian response to Hurricane Katrina

September 5, 35 military divers were poised to depart by air Sunday from Halifax and Esquimalt, B.C., for the New Orleans area.September 4, On the request from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Canada sent thousands of beds, blankets, surgical gloves and dressings and other medical supplies. On September 2 the Government of Canada announced it was sending three warships along with a Coast Guard vessel, and three Sea King helicopters to the area. Over 1,000 personnel are involved in the operation, including engineers and navy divers. The Canadian Heavy Urban Search and Rescue out of Vancouver was in Louisiana from September 1, due to security they started their mission on Sept 3. Ontario Hydro, Hydro-Québec, and Manitoba Hydro, along with other electrical utilities, had crews set to go to the affected areas. On September 2 Air Canada participated along with U.S. member airlines of the Air Transport Association, in a voluntary airline industry initiative to support rescue and relief operations. Money donations although where very high, the province of Alberta alone threw in 5 million dollars alone. Although it is hard to put an exact number on Canadian cash donations because of some Canadians donating directly to the American agencies, but it is thought to be one of the highest international donors nation.
Chile
Made offers of help and assistance.
People’s Republic of China
On September 2, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it will offer $5 million along with emergency supplies, including 1,000 tents, 600 generators, bed sheets, immediately for disaster relief. China also offered to send medical care and rescue workers if they were needed.[11] This aid package consisting of 104 tons of supplies later arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas.[12] A chartered plane carrying the supplies arrived on September 7.[13]
Colombia
Made offers of help and assistance.
Cuba
One of the first countries to offer aid, Cuba offered to send 1,586 doctors and 26 tons of medicine. This aid was rejected by the State Department.[14]
Cyprus
Offered $50,000.
Czech Republic
Offered rescue teams, field hospital and pumps and water processing equipment.
Denmark
Offered Water purification units.[8]
Djibouti
Offered $50,000.[2]
Dominica
Offered police to monitor hard-hit areas.
Dominican Republic
Offered rescue workers, doctors and nurses.
Ecuador
Made offers of help and assistance.
Egypt
Sent 2 C-130 planes loaded with blankets, medical equipment, and canned food.
El Salvador
Offered to send troops to help keep order in New Orleans.
Equatorial Guinea
Pledged $500,000.

I cut it short because it was an awful lot to scroll through to make my point. As you can see, those are the countries that offered help listed alphabetically… through the Es. The actual list, available here is much longer.

The selfishness and lack of compassion on this thread is genuinely shocking and depressing.

@nikipedia It sure is.

@fancyfeast exactly!

What do you think people will do who denied Katrina victims fleeing New Orleans the freedom to cross the bridge into another community? [ source ]

The struggle with this topic for Americans is that with the current US debt, it is challenging to understand how to continue to support efforts for disasters from every continent. What does not exist in the US is an endless supply of resources and many US citizens still need much assistance. Katrina was the costliest natural disaster the US has experienced and recovery is still lacking from this event. The current crisis in America is staggering. Over a five-year period, about 2–3 percent of the U.S. population (5–8 million people) will experience at least one night of homelessness. Of the 49.1 million people living in food insecure households (up from 36.2 million in 2007), 32.4 million are adults (14.4 percent of all adults) and 16.7 million are children (22.5 percent of all children). The US has many needs now at home that need to be addressed, hunger, shelter, health care and education. The US also faces the current financial burden of supporting illegal immigration. Between 12 and 20 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, the exact number is unknown. The efforts in Haiti need to be supported from a worldwide perspective and all countries shall be encouraged to open their doors with assistance.