Relationship between United States and Haiti

This research considers the contemporary relationship between the United States and Haiti. One aspect of this relationship tends to portray the United States as a champion and protector of Haitians. This aspect of the relationship is illustrated by American support for ousted Haitian president Aristides and the application of economic sanctions to Haiti's military government. A second aspect of the relationship between the United States and Haiti casts the United States as a nation that is prejudiced against Haitians, as Haitian refugees are refused easy entry into the United States, while refugees from Cuba and many other countries are welcomed to the United States (Amnesty International 2; Lawyers Committee for Human Rights 5).

The reasons for the ambiguous American approach to Haiti and Haitian refugees are both numerous and complicated. Haitian immigration to the United States has increased in spite of the efforts of the Bush and Clinton Administrations to restrain and turn back the flow. In 1988, legal Haitian immigration to the United States reached a highpoint of just under 35,000 persons (Department of Commerce 12). In 1991 and 1992, this number would have been vastly exceeded, had it not been for the interdiction policy of the Bush Administration. A similar situation exists in 1993 under the Clinton Administration. In the 19781987 period, a total of only 93 thousand Haitians legally immigrated to the United States.

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ups, however, Haitian immigrants have poor language skills (either native or English) and poor educational backgrounds. These factors cause Haitians to be less desirable immigrants than other Caribbean groups. Haitian immigrants create a special problem for the New York City public schools. As an example, approximately 37 percent of the immigrant children entering New York City public schools from the 19891990 school year to the 19911992 school year spoke Spanish as a first language, while only the six thousand Haitian immigrant childrenfive percent of the total number of immigrant children entering the city's schools during the periodspoke French as a first language. It is much more cost effective for the New York City public schools to provide Spanishfluent teachers for nearly 45 thousand immigrant children than it is to provide Frenchfluent teachers for six thousand immigrant children. Additionally, Haiti has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world, and a great majority of the immigrant children from Haiti are illiterate in their first language. In such instances, the teaching problem is magnified. The Bilingual Education Act, which became law in 1965, was a governmental response to pressures from minority
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2050
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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