Is Helping Haiti Harming America?

A massive cloud of dust rises above the city of Port Au Prince on January 12, and was not the result of a riot, construction, nor an accident; it is the aftermath of a series of earthquakes ranging from 6.3 - 7.0 magnitudes (Than, 2010) that shook Haiti and its people to their core. As the dust begins to settle on startled and injured faces, the extensive damage begins to come to light, and devastates the people of Haiti. Thirty five seconds ripped the lives of nearly 3 million people to shreds, and set into motion a humanitarian effort to put the pieces of Haiti’s puzzle back together again. Americans rallied to help Haiti. The President of the United States pledged our troops and financial support. The people of the United States donated via text message, phone calls, and sent checks in the mail to help the people of Haiti. Other nations around the world pledged their time and support as well. Within hours of the intense earthquake that killed thousands and injured just as many, Haiti was on its way to being restored.

Approximately 3 million people were affected by the earthquakes in Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. (C.I.A., 2010) The number of dead has still yet to be confirmed as roadside graves are dug and filled with human remains daily. The number of injured citizens is in the tens of thousands with more to come, of this I am sure, and the earthquakes left approximately 1.2 million Haitians homeless, hungry, and scared (Time, 2010) Included in these staggering statistics are soldiers and officials from the United Nations. UN has had an active presence in Haiti since 2004 to carry on the Minustah Operation, a peacekeeping mission that utilizes over 9,000 multi-national peacekeepers. The States Department confirmed U.S. deaths now number 60, and another 37 Americans were killed but their identities have not yet been officially established as of yet (State Department, 2010).
With the criticism of Bush’s extremely poor response to Katrina on the back of his mind undoubtedly, President Obama pledged to help the people of Haiti with $100,000,000 of funding (Shear, 2010) from an already stretched United States budget and a military that is bearing the weight of two wars, with more financial support to come as well. This brings the question; will helping Haiti harm America and its people? The victims of Hurricane Katrina are still waiting for their homes to be fixed, for their aid to come through, yet the American government is shelling out money and support to victims of national disasters and widespread government corruption worldwide. Can we help others when we as a nation are a broken vessel? How much will that cost us? Why can’t private donors and other parts of the world be sufficient means of assistance? Heavy questions that will surely bring answers that the humanitarians in each of us to our knees- we simply cannot afford to help Haiti.
The American Red Cross’ one month report on the situation of Haiti states that their organization alone has raised more than $255 million dollars for relief in Haiti. (American Red Cross, 2010) They have provided meals, water, funding, established hospital and mobile medical response teams, and sent upwards of 600 volunteers to Haiti. (American Red Cross, 2010) Other not-for-profit organizations have raised millions of dollars themselves on behalf of the American people. American Airlines have sent over four relief flights of food and water and are offering mileage incentives for contributing to the Red Cross. Jet Blue is flying relief workers to the neighboring Dominican Republic free of charge. Spirit, United Airlines, and Delta are all offering monetary donations, as well. Doctors without Borders have been on the ground and providing medical attention to Haitian citizens in need of medical help. (Doctors Without Borders, 2010) These are just a few of the charities and companies that are donating time, money, and effort into helping Haiti to stand on its own two feet again.
Tracking the immense amount of pledges and donations is a daunting task, but the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is giving it its best shot. According to the latest total, the funding received thus far exceeds $1,877,097,594 USD. The uncommitted pledges received so far exceed $903,346,125 USD. (OCHA, 2010) The cost for the United States to help logistically, with the transportation of troops and supplies are already exceeding $234,000,000 USD (OCHA, 2010). America is in the middle of trying to dig ourselves out from a recession, yet we are spending money we don’t have to help Haiti. I know Haiti needs help, and I am proud of the American people for giving so generously to help those who are in need worldwide. However, there comes a time where we need to step back and let others step up, and now is that time. America must be able to get itself on track before we are in a position where we can’t even help ourselves.
Haitian refugees are being shipped to America to receive medical treatment. Hospitals are reporting a saturation of refugees and cannot handle the volume of patients being seen or that are requiring treatment. We are residing in a land where a hardworking mother with medical issues that could result in death and orphaned children does not qualify for social services or Medicaid because they make too much according to the government. Meanwhile, a Haitian refugee is given priority medical treatment at the cost of the United States government, and will never see a bill for those services, we as Americans will pay for their aid with taxes. I am not saying that Haitians don’t need or deserve our help, I am merely stating the obvious, that America is doing a great disservice to its citizens by helping others to the extent at which it currently is.


Many states are confronting the inevitable influx of refugees from Haiti. Late January, Floridian officials stopped medical flights from the Caribbean, after a letter from the Governor was sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, stating that “their state’s health care system is reaching saturation with hundreds of patients whose care is expected to cost millions of dollars.” (Florida Governor Charlie Christ, 2010) New Jersey democrat Ray Lesniak stated that "The federal government is under a moral obligation to provide the resources," in a recent interview with ABC News. He also stated that the State of New Jersey would be reimbursed dollar for dollar for all expenses by the federal government. (Star-Ledger, 2010) New York is also preparing for the influx of Haitian refugees, and will no doubt be seeking retribution as well.

The government is extending a temporary protected status (TPS) for the 100,000 – 200,000 Haitian nationals who were currently here in the United States when the earthquakes struck. (American Visa Bureau, 2010) Temporary Protected Status is not a right to enter, but is the right to stay for those Haitians who are already here; even if it was under illegal pretenses. TPS also gives them permission to work for the duration of their acquired status. Estimates have not been given to the amount of refugees who will come to America to escape the damage in Haiti, but the United States is bracing itself for the refugees. The individual states are fine with this, as long as they receive federal funds to cover expenses. Since the States are willing to help as long as reimbursement is coming their way, are they thinking into the future and considering where it will come from or how we will come up with the funding to pay those who shelled out millions in order to help? The federal funding that they are looking for comes straight out of the hardworking citizens pockets. So whether or not you donated to Haiti, somewhere down the line you will be supporting and paying for the refugees, and the pledge that America made to help the disaster ridden country.

It is time to run numbers and see where exactly where America stands financially. All numbers are approximate running totals reflecting from Feb of 2010, and all were retrieved from the government organization in which is referenced. The United States National Debt is over $12,000,000,000,000 (U.S. Treasury, 2010) alone. This means that of the $308,704,727 (U.S. Census) approximate population of the U.S., and the $109,391,900 (Internal Revenue Service, 2010) reported taxpayers, the debt per taxpayer is $113,191 (Federal Reserve, 2010). $3,847,048,600 (U.S. Treasury, 2010) is the amount we currently owe foreign countries. American citizens have a total personal debt exceeding $16,600,000,000,000. Over $14,214,479,000,000 is owed in mortgage debts, $2,453,860,313,000 is consumer debt and $852,118,100,000 is owed in credit card debt. These debts total $53,993 per citizen, while the documented average family income is $61,701. (Federal Reserve, 2010)

Americans and the government need to take a step back and recognize how badly of a situation we are actually in. We are close to bringing in less than we are earning. America is officially “living outside of our means”. The humanitarian thing to do is to help Haiti. The smartest thing to do is to allow private organizations, charities, and corporations the ability to assist Haiti and its people on their own time, their own dollar and of their own free will. America needs to let other countries step up to the plate and donate more time and resources in our place. If another National disaster were to occur, where would we get the funding? Can America afford another Hurricane Katrina? Seeing as Louisiana isn’t rebuilt yet, we truly couldn’t afford the first one!

A child born in the United States today starts out life owing approximately $38,000 - about the price of two years of college. If you spent $10 million every day towards payment of the national debt for the next 2000 years, you still would not pay off the debt. Today, every American household owes about $7600 to the Chinese. Scary facts aren’t they? But they are real, and they need to be addressed. When an individual is in debt, there are certain actions that must be taken in order to reduce debt. You can either increase income, decrease spending, or both. My proposition is not for Americans to stop helping Haiti, it is for the American government to step back and allow others who can help do so. Those who can and want to donate should, whether it be monetary or physically.

Private organizations and charities are there for a reason, and could help Haiti in amazing ways and continue to make a huge difference. Any and all agencies and other governments willing should work together and take over logistically. Send the Peace Corps instead of our tired troops, as they are stretched thin and are constantly away from their families as it is. The cost of having them over there can be saved and applied to the money we owe other nations. Whenever in a situation of helping others, always ask yourself how they would survive without you, or who would help if you were unable to. The truth of the matter is there are plenty of people, organizations, and other nations that are willing to donate more time, money, and resources if they have to. If America steps back, I would be willing to bet that someone else would be willing to step up and take their place.
Our government needs to take responsibility for its actions, whether or not they were made with good intentions, with a humanitarian mission in mind, or with politics and earmarks playing a heavy hand in the matter. If your account is overdrawn, you can’t pull money out to pay bills, or do extracurricular activities. I feel like this is the same approach that America needs to take with our current spending. Sure, Obama pledged $100,000,000, and we had that in the bank, but we owe so much more than that it is almost inconceivable. We have more than doubled that number in costs already, and are barely 30 days out from when Obama the pledge. The longer we stay in Haiti, the more refugees that flee here, the more America and its citizens will pay the price.

It is often said if you have time to complain about something you better be able to offer up a solution. So what do I propose; how do we fix this? How can we fathom just walking away from something we have already started? America has come through monetarily as we pledged. I suggest we slowly pull out of Haiti, leaving only private organizations in place alongside other nations who are willing to rebuild Haiti. We need to consider coordinating with other countries to see if Haitian refugees would be able to flee to their locations as well. This would ensure that America is not taking the brunt of the wave that is sure to increase as time goes on. President Obama already signed the temporary protected status, but we need to ensure that it stays temporary. The Temporary Protected Status for the refugees from the Tsunami still is in place.

Charity begins at home. America as a whole has a deep need for its own people and our financial situation requires immediate attention. As much as America and its people would like to contribute to Haiti, we need to take a realistic view at what is actually going on and realize that we cannot afford to do this. If a national disaster were to strike America now, we would not have the financial resources needed to recover; we still have yet to recover from Katrina. As selfish as it sounds to some, you have to ensure that you are taken care of before you can take care of others, and this is most definitely the approach America needs to take from here on out. Americans can still help Haiti. They can volunteer their services, or they can donate money to organizations that will ensure Haiti is on its way to being put back together again. Once America is out of the recession, out of debt, and we don’t have a vast amount of citizens homeless, hungry, and deprived of a life outside of poverty, that is the time to address poverty and disasters worldwide.