Haitian Refugees: A Cast Study in Discrimination

Abstract

During Winter Quarter I interned and researched my SIP at World Relief, a immigration and refugee services agency in Chicago, under director Tim Amstutz. I volunteered there because I wanted to learn about immigration and refugee law within the larger sphere of issues such as cultural assimilation, neo-imperialism, and overpopulation. In addition, I became married to a Chinese man in March 1991 and wanted to be aware of what he would face in becoming an American citizen. In doing so I became more aware of what sort of elements determine who can come into the United States, and the arbitrary nature of the criteria. The example of the Haitian refugees seemed to me the most disturbing example of this problem, and the constant changes in the legal situation of the Haitians kept my research current.