The US rescued her. Now it wants to return her to Haiti
Recently, the Trump administration announced that the Temporary Protected Status provision that had allowed Haitians to flee to the United States after the 2010 earthquake would expire, which means that tens of thousands of Haitians may face deportation if they don’t return home.
That includes kids like Schnaika, according to a new CNN report.
CNN’s report on Schnaika described how she was just 16 months old when her home fell on her during the earthquake. Doctors saved her and brought her to Atlanta for long-term care, but Schnaika still suffers from health problems.
Schnaika still needs medical care and therapy, since she is weak on one side of her body. She walks with a noticeable limp, and lately, she has suffered from life-threatening seizures.
And while Schnaika gets good medical care here in the United States, her mother worries that she simply won’t survive if she goes home.
It’s a heartwrenching decision facing thousands of immigrants.
A move back to Haiti could be life-threatening
Schnaika’s mother, Jean, has no idea what she will do when her protected status expires.
With no home to return to and no prospects of a job, even with two of her children still there, Jean doesn’t expect to find anything in Haiti to help her survive.
“It has been almost eight years,” she told CNN. “I have nothing in Haiti. I have nothing to show there.”
“I miss home a lot but I don’t want to go back,” she says. “Things are very bad there.”
Now, she and others have to make a choice. Do they stay and risk deportation? Do they fly under the radar as undocumented immigrants? Do they move to Canada or someplace else that will take them? Or do they go back to Haiti.
Haiti isn’t ready, either
The other problem facing Haitian immigrants is the fact that their home country may not be ready to receive such an influx of people when they are still recovering.
