You are a young soon-to-be mother. The healthcare in your country is almost non-existent. You have two options, cross the border into a neighboring country with lower infant mortality rates to give birth or risk the health of yourself and your newborn. Any sensible parent would choose the best for their child, hands down. When faced with the risk of death or displacement, for so many displacement is the only option.

Displacement should only be associated with car keys or glasses. Sadly, humanity suffers deeply from the impact of international and domestic displacement. Many across the world are labeled stateless, illegal immigrants and other labels of misplaced identity. In modern times, this discussion of immigration and granting asylum for refugees has become disgustingly politicized. All too often, humanity is forgotten. Families are not afforded their dignities. Political policy, international tension, discrimination, and war destroy the institution of family leading to vast uncertainty and unstable environments for huge populations.

Beginning on the home front, immigration has become one of the most popular policy conversations in the past decade in the United States. On Monday, April 20, 2016, the fate of many families like the Pintos of Fairfax, VA was argued by the Supreme Court. In their session, “the justices [heard] oral arguments in a challenge...to President Obama's effort through executive action to give immigrants legal work permits and protection from deportation.” Legislative decisions and discussion like this directly affect families in the similar situations as the Pintos. Jerry Pinto, originally from Bolivia, and his wife Elvira, emigrated from Mexico in 2004 with their two children Ambar and Jerry Rodrigo. Their son Christian, now eight years old, was born in the United States and is the only United States citizen in the family. Jerry works as a carpenter having dreams of a life without secrets and an open storefront. Elvira cleans homes during the week to help support her family. Ambar, thanks to immigration policy initiated by the Obama administration started college at George Mason University this past fall after completing community college. Though the family seems to be getting by, they face many uncertainties in their future. Elvira told New York Times reporter Julia Preston that she fears leaving her home every morning knowing she may never come home again and never see her family again (Preston). The fate and the unity of their family lies many times removed from their hands.

A little farther out into the world off the coast of Miami, Florida lies the island of Hispaniola. The two countries of Haiti and Dominican Republic share the island. Haiti is classified as the most impoverished country in the Western hemisphere. Due to the difference in the poverty rate, Dominican is seen as a place of opportunity and prosperity for the Haitian people, specifically expectant mothers. Though 17 of every 1000 newborns died in 2009 in the Dominican Republic, 27 out of 1000 newborns died in Haiti. The Dominican Republic, specifically the border city of Jimani, has a reputation of taking in expectant mothers and offering adequate healthcare regardless of citizenship. For many mothers such as Ludia Baptiste, the dream of Dominican citizenship for their children is a very real, tangible goal. In reality, children born of Haitian parents in the Dominican Republic are not issued a Dominican birth certificate, and in many cases, have to fight to be recognized as Haitian. The choice to deliver a child in respectively safer, healthier conditions is followed by “statelessness”. Children born into this situation are children of no nation. They are completely undocumented, almost as if they do not exist. Their life and the life of their families are filled with uncertainty about the future, especially after the 2012 decision by the Dominican Supreme Court to deport Haitians back into a country consumed by poverty(Gilger). Statelessness strips away united family identity and fragments families across borders.

Across the Atlantic Ocean from Haiti and Dominican lies the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) where war has been fragmenting the nation and its families for years. War is one of the greatest offenders against the family. World Vision states, “as many as 15 million children are caught up in violent conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Central African Republic, and South Sudan—including those internally displaced or living as refugees.” Wynn Flatten, World Vision’s Director of Syria Crisis Regional Response, was quoted saying, “If the world continues to turn its back on Syria, it is the children who’ll continue to suffer the most.” War is actively fragmenting families and the lives of children in Syria and neighboring regions. Countless children and their families share stories that tell of dreams and childhood dismissed by the threat of war. One grandmother of twenty-nine, fears that her grandchildren’s lives are forever scarred by the destruction of war and robbery of childhood (Omer).

The tragic devastation of families and collective fear, tears down societies internationally. When we neglect our humanity, we create displaced peoples. The effects of displaced families will continue to impact society for generations to come.

References:

Gilger, Lauren. "Haitian Women Cross-Border to Give Birth." Stateless in the Dominican Republic. Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.

Preston, Julia. "Family of Immigrants, Only One a Citizen, Anxiously Awaits Supreme Court Ruling." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Apr. 2016. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.

Omer, Sevil. "Syria Crisis: Scars of War." World Vision. World Vision Inc., 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.