Mean Spirited and Inhumane Treatment?

I guess this goes under politics. Am posting the whole article since it is otherwise by subscription to Miami Herald. (http://www.miami.com )

This is horrible. I wonder if there is anything that can be done? Letters to our senators?


Posted on Tue, Aug. 10, 2004



A mean-spirited decision on protected status
OUR OPINION: INHUMANE TO SEND MONTSERRAT EXILES INTO HARM'S WAY



Even those inured to the strange ways of the federal government are likely to be appalled by the mean-spirited nature of a recent decision to remove ''temporary protected status'' from a relative handful of exiles who fled to the United States from the Caribbean island of Montserrat.

Under TPS, persons from countries plagued by ''environmental disaster'' -- among other things -- are allowed to live and work here for a time. Thus, for example, some 87,000 Hondurans have TPS because their country hasn't recovered from the ravages of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Exiles from eight countries currently benefit from TPS -- four from Africa, three from Latin America and those from Montserrat.

Island uninhabitable

The people of this tiny Caribbean island received TPS in 1995 because a dormant volcano suddenly roared back to life. It rendered most of the island uninhabitable. Thousands fled, most to Great Britain, the colonial power, but 292 citizens of Montserrat managed to enter the United States and eventually were granted protected status.

The Bureau of Customs and Immigration Services (BCIS) has now determined that because the volcano remains active -- indeed, because ''the volcano could continue to erupt sporadically for years'' -- its citizens should be sent back. In other words, the condition isn't ''temporary,'' so TPS no longer applies.

In fact, the order accompanying the decision to end TPS explicitly declares that BCIS researchers found that conditions are worse than ever, given that the biggest eruption of all occurred in July, 2003. Another big eruption occurred last March. ''Volcanic ash settled on the ground up to four inches in places,'' BCIS's own research showed. Nearby islands were damaged by ashes, as well. But this finding apparently has no bearing on the decision to end TPS.

Illogical decision

So how is that for Alice-in-Wonderland logic? Even though things are worse than ever in your home country, we find that you must go back. Sorry about that.

It's hard to see what the denial of TPS to the people of Montserrat accomplishes. Given their small number, they do not constitute any sort of burden or threat in this country. In fact, it is probably due to the fact that they are so few -- and hence have no political clout or protection -- that they are so vulnerable to the whims of the bureaucracy.

Last year, in extending TPS to citizens of war-ravaged Liberia -- a designation they first won in 1991 -- BCIS Director Eduardo Aguirre said it was ''both the practical and humane thing to do.'' We urge him to review the decision affecting the people of Montserrat and apply the same ''practical and humane'' standard to them, or at least find a way to expedite lawful permanent residency here for those who can't go home anymore. To do otherwise would be cruel and pointless.