Ouest, Haiti, alleged shithole.
The Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is the story of the month in terms of immigrants who probably shouldn’t be force marched back to the their countries of birth.
But, if you remember, talks between Democrats and Republicans really broke down when the President of the United States referred to people from Haiti and “Africa” come from “shithole” countries who are “not needed” in this country.
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That (alleged) comment wasn’t about DACA, it was about Temporary Protected Status. Trump has revoked Temporary Protected Status for people from Haiti and El Salvador. These are people who came here in response to disasters back home, the Trump administration has decided that it’s time for these people to leave.
The NAACP is suing to stop the deportations. They argue that the Department of Homeland Security is carrying out “clearly racially motivated” orders from the President. From Politico:
“The action by the Department of Homeland Security to rescind TPS [temporary protective status] for Haitian immigrants is clearly racially motivated,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in organization’s press release. “The U.S. Constitution prohibits singling out certain immigrants for harsh treatment based on their skin color and/or ethnicity. But more than that, basic fairness militates against this draconian action taken by DHS under the direction of President Trump.”
The thing that this president chronically doesn’t get is that anything he says can and will be used against him. Other presidents get away with racist policies because they pretend those policies are not racist. This one is under the impression that “politically correct” speech is bad, and he should be allowed to state plainly when he’s being racist. Or sexist. Or… obstructing justice.
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This lawsuit is particularly exciting because Trump’s feckless enablers in the Republican party have been trying to muddy the waters in the media, trying to cast doubt on whether the president said what he allegedly said. Please, allow those people to be deposed. I want you to testify under penalty of perjury that you didn’t hear Trump say that Haiti was a “shithole.”
It’s, of course, going to be very hard to prove Trump revoked the status of Haitians and El Salvadorians because they were non-white. The white justice system is especially reluctant to find that other white men acted out of solely racial animus. For whatever reason, the quest to find a plausible, non-racial explanation for the President’s bigotry never ends. I don’t necessarily think the NAACP can win here.
But I’m glad they’re trying. I’m glad they’re making a FEDERAL CASE out of whether Trump cursed out other people’s countries.
It might be that “regular” people call Haiti a shithole all the time. But Donald Trump is not a regular person, he’s the President of the United States of America. He has the power to get people deported. Somebody should try to hold him accountable for his words and deeds.
DHS sued over ‘racially motivated’ decision to rescind protected status for Haitians [Politico]
Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.