In January 2018, the Trump Administration ended the temporary protected status (TPS) program for Haitian immigrants. The program had been expanded by the Obama Administration after the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The program allowed Haitians to work in the US until conditions were safe for their return. The Trump Administration, however, argued that eight years was long enough for a temporary program and ended it. In October 2018, a federal judge blocked the action, citing the economic hardship that would occur if the immigrants were suddenly removed. As of September 2019, the program’s status is still undetermined.
While the logic of ending a “temporary” program is understandable, the economic consequences feared by the judge are also real. One of the beneficiaries of the expanded TPS was the Butterball turkey plant in Mt Olive, North Carolina. It long had problems finding workers. The jobs involve working with animal organs and feces, and some jobs require lifting over 50 pounds. The influx of 1,500 Haitian workers solved much of the plant’s labor shortage.
The city of Mt Olive also benefited. The town of 4,700 had been losing population. Homes stood vacant, grocery stores were underutilized, and retail shops were empty. Suddenly people were buying homes, cars, groceries, electronics, and appliances again. Since many workers send much of their paycheck to family back home, the Haitian economy benefited as well.
This situation highlights the needs for a US guest worker program that embraces the full scope of job-labor synergy across the North American region. Arguably, illegal immigration is in part driven by a failure to grasp this; if the guest worker program were expanded, the US might see more controlled situations like Mt Olive. Regional synergy will only grow stronger over time as technology speeds-up our world and shrinks distances. Recognizing this now is to America’s benefit.
Source: Washington Post, “Haitian migrants revived America’s turkey town,” 22 Nov 2018. US Citizenship and Immigration Services website, accessed 2 Oct 2019.
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