We are facing the largest humanitarian crisis of our time. Right now, more than 65 million people around the world are displaced, fleeing their homes due to violence, persecution or catastrophe that prevent them from staying in their communities. Every day, 34,000 people are forced to make the heartbreaking choice of staying in their homes and facing unimaginable circumstances — or fleeing and leaving everything they know behind.
{mosads}Thousands of people in Haiti have faced this choice again and again, including after years of rebuilding from the earthquake in 2010 that left the nation in shambles. However — incomprehensibly — as Hurricane Matthew loomed just off the coast of the island, the United States shut its doors to those seeking safety from the storm and the continued instability in Haiti.
Such a cruel response is not befitting of our nation or a reflection of the values with hold as part of our identity.
As the president and CEO of Church World Service, a global humanitarian agency active in Haiti and also one of nine refugee resettlement agencies in the United States, I have seen firsthand the conditions that Haitians have fled.
Partnering with local leaders, our organization has proudly worked with the community to assist in the rebuilding process after the earthquake. For years, the Haitian people have worked tirelessly to rebuild their country — recreating health and education infrastructures, rebuilding neighborhoods, and reestablishing the necessary services needed for daily life.
But despite our work, thousands have still been forced to flee, leaving behind disease and debilitating poverty, with many seeking asylum in the United States and an opportunity to rebuild their lives to create a better future for their families. As an organization, we stand with them in the United States, working with Haitian asylum seekers as they resiliently restart their lives and became vital members of their new communities.
Now, however — after Haiti has endured yet another natural disaster — the United States has inexplicably reversed its policy of allowing Haitians to seek safety here, just as their years of tireless work are demolished by yet another storm.
Despite the temporary pause on this policy change following the immediate destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew, DHS plans to resume fast-tracking the deportation of Haitians as soon as country conditions improve, however slightly. Secretary Johnson must recognize that the rebuilding process will require both international assistance to improve infrastructure within Haiti and compassion in the United States as we continue to welcome those fleeing the devastation caused by the earthquake and now Hurricane Matthew.
Last week, Hurricane Matthew ripped through Haiti, leaving more than 1,000 people dead and countless others injured, without shelter and without access to the basic health and safety resources they had worked so hard to rebuild. As the storm raged, it ripped apart not only the lives of those who lived on the island, but also the fragile beginnings of rebuilding.
For the United States to turn its back on the Haitian people by deporting them back to devastation, be it now or in the future, would be to push aside our nation’s values of welcome and compassion and ignore our international and humanitarian obligations.
Through the work of our organization, I have already seen the incredible damage this horrific storm has caused — and the urgent need for compassion and assistance that it demands.
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” The people of Haiti have carried the heavy burden of rebuilding for years, only now to have those burdens made heavier by the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew.
I urge President Obama and his administration to honor the values of compassion and welcome that our country has embodied for so long, and recognize our obligations as people of faith. We must stand with the people of Haiti — by both helping them restart the process of rebuilding and welcoming those who seek safety and rest within our nation.
It is time for the United States to set the precedent for welcoming those who have found themselves without a home, weary and seeking help from their neighbors.
The world is watching — and the United States has been left with a choice of whether or not to help a people who have already been robbed of so many choices. I pray that our leaders stand on the right side of history and do what we would have done to us if, God forbid, we were in such a situation.
Rev. John L. McCullough serves as the President and CEO of Church World Service, a global humanitarian organization and one of nine refugee resettlement agencies in the United States.
The views expressed by Contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.