Thousands of Haitian Refugees With No Place to Go
VELSHI: All right, for thousands of earthquake victims in Haiti, the wharf in Port-au-Prince is the only home have right now. Let's take a look at pictures from that wharf. Some of them have to stay there for a while. The government is paying to ferry them to the western tip of the island. So, if you -- when we show you a map of Haiti, we'll show you what we mean. They're getting away from the earthquake zone. The earthquake zone is where Port-au-Prince is on the north, all the way down to the south, the southern tip of the island. But there's a long, skinny part on the left and that's where they're going to. Some of these refugees are just trying to get away from Port-au- Prince, from the havoc that is being wreaked on that city. The seating on these ferries is limited. You have to get a ticket first in order to get on one of these ferries to get out of Port-au-Prince. Where else can these survivors go? What do they have to look forward to when they get there? The United States and some other countries have been generous with aid, but as far as taking refugees in, that's an entirely different story. The U.S. has said that any Haitians who are in the U.S. as of January 12, when this earthquake occurred, can apply to remain here for 18 months. But that doesn't address the number of people in Haiti who have nothing to do while they're there. No income, no home, where do they go? Mark Hetfield joins us now, he's in New York. He is with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which helps resettle refugees. Mark, let's talk about this. What are the options for the masses, and we're talking of possibly of hundreds thousands of Haitians, who at this point don't have a home, don't have a livelihood. What can happen to them?</s>MARK HETFIELD, HEBREW IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY: Well, there are essentially no options for those who are simply trying to escape the natural disaster. The U.S. is exercising humanitarian parole to bring those who need medical treatment. They're bringing in orphans. But there is no right to flee natural disasters. So my understanding is the strategy is to find places in Haiti -- safe places in Haiti -- for them to stay essentially as IDPs or Internally Displaced Persons. And they'll be setting up IDP camps for that purpose.</s>VELSHI: Is there any push underway to get these refugees out of Haiti? To somewhere else? Is there going to be enough in Haiti to sustain and to bring these people back to a way of living that is at least sustainable?</s>HETFIELD: Well, in a matter of years, hopefully. But Haiti has a wonderful history, but it's got a long history of natural disasters, political repression and people trying to flee to the United States by boat. And it's clear that the U.S. government is afraid that that's going to happen yet again. So they're taking every measure they possibly can to make sure that people stay within Haiti.</s>VELSHI: How would this -- I mean, what happens if people come to the U.S. from Haiti and claim that they are refugees? I mean, would they -- do they qualify as refugees after this earthquake?</s>HETFIELD: Yes, there's no right to flee natural disaster. That's not a ground for refugee status. To apply for refugee status you have to who that you have a well-founded fear or persecution due to your political opinion, your race, your membership in a social group. So there really is no legal recourse for them to come here. But that being said, Haiti is becoming an increasingly lawless country. There are many serious problems that people may want to flee from. Some people may have a refugee claim and the U.S., unfortunately, has a long history of discriminating against Haitian asylum seekers and returning them, whether they have a claim or not. That was a policy that's been in effect for several decades. It was started by --</s>VELSHI: Why is that?</s>HETFIELD: -- George H. -- Well, there's a big fear about thousands and thousands of them getting in boats and coming to the U.S. There was a fear under the Duvalier regime. There was a fear of that when Aristide fell from power. And there was a fear of that during the last political crisis in 2005. So, the unfortunate thing that the United States has done, has taken a position, starting in the George H.W. Bush administration, that there is no right to refugee status on the high seas. That the United States can return people, they interdict on the high seas, to a country, even if they have a claim of persecution there. And sadly, that policy remains in effect. It's particularly offensive to my organization because we have memories of the St. Louis, which you may remember, fled Nazi Germany in 1939, and was not allowed to disembark in Cuba, or in the United States. So the boatload had to return in Europe. It's our opinion that the refugee convention definitely applies to the high seas --</s>VELSHI: So, let's just be clear about what you're saying. You're saying, applies on the high seas, which means there's a different standard for people who've set foot in the United States, than there is if you leave your country and are en route to the United States and claim refugee status. So, in other words, to claim refugee status here, they've got to be here?</s>HETFIELD: That's exactly right. Once they're here, they can apply for refugee status. But that's why so much energy and resources has been poured over the years to keeping Haitians from getting to Florida.</s>VELSHI: All right. And what is happening right now? There are some efforts, obviously, to get some aid to Haiti as much as possible, even do it offshore if necessary. We've reported on the USS Comfort, the hospital ship that has pulled up along shore. That's it right there. You're looking at it. To try and give people treatment. But the bottom line here is that there's not an effort under way to send in big ships to get people out of Haiti, and get them somewhere else for the meantime.</s>HETFIELD: Absolutely not. All resources are focused on keeping them there.</s>VELSHI: And that's -- that looks like the way it's going to go for a little while. Mark Hetfield, thanks for joining me. It's a pleasure talking to you. Let's go to the White House now. We told you a while ago that the President is talking, meeting with the country's mayors. He is talking now. Joe Biden, right there. Vice President Joe Biden introducing the President. Let's listen in.</s>JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know. I know. I know. But -- a constant source of our conversations, Mr. President.</s>BIDEN: Well, look, a great many of the -- the -- the Recovery Act projects can be described in any mayor's favorite six words. I think it's six. I've got to make sure. I've got to count my words these days, Mr. President. Six words: ahead of schedule and under budget. That has been the real news of the Recovery Act. And thank you all. Thank you all for the management you have exercised in seeing to it that happens. And all in all, we're helping working men and women get through some very, very tough times today while building an economy of tomorrow. And the man making this all possible, literally, the single engine, the piston that's driving this whole operation, making sure that we don't walk away from our cities, we don't walk away from this recovery, we don't -- we -- we take the chances we're taking to generate growth here, is a man who came from a big city himself. I see his mayor, Mayor Daley, sitting right here in front. And the president understands. He understands your distinct needs. And he knows that nothing we do around here means anything if men and women don't have jobs, not just any job, but jobs that you can raise a family on, jobs that serve as a foundation for the 21st century economy we're determined to build. He also knows that, as Walt Whitman put it, a great city is that which has the greatest men and women. He knows your cities are full of great men and women. And his leadership is going to help give them the ability to overcome this difficulty, summon their greatness, and put them in a position that they're stronger at the end as we come out of this recession than they were before they went in. So, ladies and gentlemen, it's my great honor to present to you the president of the United States, Barack Obama.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Thank you.</s>VELSHI: That is the President talking to the nation's mayors in Washington, D.C. at the White House. We're going to take a break. We'll come back with more of today's important news, including updates from Haiti, and from Capitol Hill. Stay with us.