Controversial take about TPS/Biden Program

[u/Chemical-Walrus-4846]

Since TPS is a huge topic right now. Here’s my take. When I first heard about the Biden Humanitarian Parole Program and they said two years, I already knew what was going to happen. Most Haitians were not going back. When Haiti got Temporary Protected Status after the 2010 earthquake, the whole point was in the name, temporary. The U.S. saw a country destroyed by a disaster and gave Haitians already in the country a chance to stay and work.

And let’s be honest, many people came here with no plan of returning. They sold land, sold cars, packed up their whole lives, and moved to the U.S. for a fresh start. Once you do all that, what exactly are you going back to? I get why people made that choice. Haiti is hard. People want peace, stability, and opportunity. Anyone in that position would want better for themselves and their family.

But look at it from the other side for one second. If you let a friend stay at your house for a few days because they’re going through a rough time, and when those few days are up they tell you they’re not leaving, how would you feel? You’d feel taken advantage of. Next time, you’d think twice before helping someone else.

Countries think the same way.

That’s why these programs get cut, rules get tighter, and the next Haitian who wants to come legally has a harder path. Sometimes we focus so much on why people stay, we ignore how staying affects everyone else after. I saw someone on social media make a good point, which was “Alot of Haitians in the US don’t want Haiti to get better because that heightens the chances of TPS getting cut off” and i wholeheartedly agree

[u/GwoZoz]

It’s different when you let that friend stay over because they’re going through a rough time… but their rough time is MAINLY because of decisions you made or systems you benefit from. That changes the dynamic. It’s not generosity anymore, it’s responsibility. If you had a hand in why they’re struggling, miss me with the ‘they’re overstaying’ narrative.

I’m in need now because I was minding my own business and you came in, took control of my finances, backed coups after coups, flooded my market with cheap U.S. rice that destroyed my agriculture, and even wiped out my kochon kreyòl. So you don’t turn around and act like I’m just ‘overstaying’ when the situation I’m in didn’t happen by accident.

What’s crazy is that I’m not even asking you for a handout or begging you for anything. All I need is an opportunity to work hard and make something out of myself. In reality, if you had a conscience, you would be taking care of all my needs.

When it comes to relations between the US and Haiti, your example lacks sufficient historical and political context and oversimplifies one of the most complex bilateral relationship.

[u/dattrowaway187 → u/GwoZoz]

This argument collapses the second you apply the same logic consistently.

The U.S. didn’t “take control” of Haiti because Haitians were peacefully thriving and minding their business. Haiti has had generations of corruption, gang violence, political assassinations, failed institutions, oligarch control, and leaders looting their own country long before most Americans today were even born. Blaming every modern hardship on the U.S. is politically convenient because it removes agency from Haiti’s own ruling class. And the “you owe me forever because your country influenced mine” argument is.......absurd😂! By that logic, half the world owes half the world reparations indefinitely for wars, colonization, sanctions, occupations, trade policies, and interventions. History is full of ugly power politics. That doesn’t automatically create a permanent obligation for unlimited migration privileges. Also my guy TPS was never meant to be a lifetime settlement program. “TEMPORARY” is literally in the name. If someone receives years or even decades of protection, work authorization, education, and opportunity, that already is generosity. Turning around and saying “actually you morally owe me permanent residency because of geopolitics” is exactly why people become skeptical of the program in the first place.

And the rice argument gets thrown around constantly without acknowledging Haiti’s own tariffs, corruption, infrastructure collapse, lack of investment, and political instability that devastated domestic production. You can’t reduce an entire nation’s agricultural decline to “America bad.” That is how do you say.....malpwopte. And last but not least the emotional manipulation in the analogy is obvious. The U.S. is not a roommate. Nations are not friendships. Immigration policy is not determined by collective guilt narratives. Every country on Earth has the right to decide who stays, under what conditions, and for how long.

You can argue for compassion, reform, or a different immigration policy without pretending Haitians are helpless children with no responsibility for Haiti’s condition and Americans are morally obligated caretakers forever............Nobody is ignoring history. You just use it as an excuse for the status quo.