Haitians who were living here when the earchquake hit can come to the U.S.; let the documentation fraud begin

A story in Saturday's New York Times on the recent influx of illegal Haitian migrants coming into the United States from Canada offers us a micro-preview of what might unfold if illegal immigrants in the U.S. are granted an amnesty. Ever since the Obama Administration unveiled its mini-amnesty for all Haitians in the U.S. at the time of the January 12 earthquake, Haitians, many of whom have been previously deported, have been coming to the U.S. to try to take advantage of the new (limited time only, cannot be combined with other coupons) "Temporary Protected Status" offer. (Void where prohibited, and see Mark Krikorian's blog on how "temporary" status is never temporary.)

But how will the recent migrants conjure up phony proof that they were living in the U.S. prior to the earthquake, you ask? If there is one thing I learned from my years adjudicating visa applications at American embassies overseas, it's that aspiring migrants are very, very good at procuring documents. Ask a visa applicant for an original copy of the Magna Carta, and they'll be back at the embassy the next day with a piece of paper they swear is the genuine article.

Anyone who doubts that migrants who are determined to live in the U.S. won't be able to figure out how to procure bogus apartment leases and other documents to "prove" that they've been living in the U.S. for a given amount of time is either hopelessly naive or willfully ignorant. If a full-scale amnesty becomes a reality, be sure that aspiring migrants from around the world aren't going to be deterred by any arbitrary "must have entered by" hurdles that Congress lays down.

It's also important to remember that would-be migrants from all over the world are following our debate over the fate of illegal immigrants already in the country. They won't know or care about all the fine print attached to any amnesty plan because all they'll hear is this: The Americans are giving out green cards, now is the time to go.

Pre-election tremor shakes Chicago, where Obama's political career was born; payback time

A 3.8 magnitude earthquake rattled Chicago-area homes early Wednesday, waking up residents from Indiana to Wisconsin. The quake struck at 3:59 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
"It shook the house, rattled the windows and doors," viewer John Bruno wrote in an email. "It woke us out of a sleep and got the dog barking! It shook our whole house!"

The tremor's epicenter was determined to be in a farm field on Plank Road near Hampshire, Illinois. The quake was originally reported as a 4.3 magnitude tremor emanating from Geneva, about five miles east of Sycamore, but the U.S. Geological Survey revised its statement.

Poverty = vulnerability: Despite $8.4 billion in foreign aid, Haiti is poorer than it was in 1980

Economic growth has made it possible for countries around the world, increasingly including developing nations, to mitigate damage done by "acts of God." Growth typically brings sturdier construction, insurance schemes, better infrastructure, a more diversified economy, an improved ability to respond to emergencies, access to savings and credit, and so on. Unfortunately, growth has bypassed Haiti. Despite receiving more than $8.4 billion in foreign aid since 1980, Haiti is poorer today than it was 30 years ago.

The sustained lack of freedom goes a long way in explaining the precarious nature of Haitian's lives.

Haiti's poverty—80 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 per day—is especially tragic given the strong link between poverty and vulnerability to natural disasters. A study by the Belgium-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters looked at a recent 30-year period comparing natural disasters in the world's 10 richest countries to those in the 10 poorest countries. The center found that the average annual number of victims per 100,000 population per rich country was 36; for the poor countries it was 2,879 even though rich countries experience the same amount of disasters.

Why is Haiti so vulnerable? Its insular economic policies and dysfunctional institutions have kept Haitians poor. While developing countries around the world have successfully implemented economic reforms and significantly increased growth by participating in globalization, Haiti has not. It ranks in the bottom half of nations listed in the Fraser Institute's economic freedom index, and its rating has barely improved since 1980. The sustained lack of freedom goes a long way in explaining the precarious nature of Haitian's lives.