Danticat interview starts at 34:24
Writers Cristina Henriquez and Edwidge Danticat talk with V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell about the urgent issue of keeping immigrant families together and resisting their mass incarceration and detention. Henriquez, author of The Book of Unknown Americans, talks about the tragic real-life inspiration for her short story “Everything Is Far from Here” and the differences between Obama-era immigration policy and the policy of the current administration. Danticat, a National Book Award Finalist and author of The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story and Breath, Eyes, Memory, discusses the treatment of Haitian immigrants, the impossible choices immigrants face while pursuing better lives for their families, and what might lie ahead for detained children after the news coverage fades.
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International condemnation of Donald Trump is growing after reports the president used an expletive during a meeting about immigrants from Africa, Haiti and El Salvador. While meeting with lawmakers, Trump reportedly said, "Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They're shithole countries ... We should have more people from Norway." Trump also reportedly said, "Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out." Earlier this morning, Trump wrote on Twitter, "The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!" Trump's remarks come weeks after The New York Times reported Trump had also disparaged Haitians and Nigerians during a closed-door meeting in June. Trump said Nigerians would never "go back to their huts" if they came to visit the U.S. As for Haitians, Trump said they "all have AIDS." Trump's latest remarks come just after his administration announced it is ending temporary protected status for up to 250,000 Salvadorans who have been living in the U.S. since at least 2001. Last year, the Trump administration announced it is also ending temporary protected status for tens of thousands of Haitian, Nicaraguan and Sudanese immigrants living in the United States. Trump's remarks from Thursday have been condemned across the globe. We speak to Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat as Haitians mark the eighth anniversary of the devastating 2010 earthquake.
Almost 60,000 Haitians have until July 2019 to return to their country from the U.S. following a decision by the Trump administration to end their temporary protected status, granted to them in the wake of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake. The Center for Immigration Studies says most of them have lived in the U.S. for 13 years and many have U.S.-born children. What effects will the Trump administration decision have on them? VOA's Immigration reporter Aline Barros reports.