Where will they go? U.S. has no plan for a decimated Caribbean

With increasingly intense hurricanes like Dorian making life in the Caribbean more precarious, Florida nor the United States as a whole appear ready to offer refuge.

Breezy, tranquil days under blue skies. Soft, warm, turquoise waves lapping at the coast. And a relaxed lifestyle minus the high-pressure frenzy of balancing work, day care and long commutes.

About 44 million people call the islands of the Caribbean Sea home, and, for years, the great beauty and peace of their surroundings have drawn millions of visitors each year and no small amount of envy.

Now, though, with climate change adding to the ferocity of hurricanes like Dorian, the sun-splashed nations of the Caribbean — long a playground for Americans and part of Florida’s extended neighborhood — are learning they can’t necessarily depend on the United States to serve as a place of refuge.

Four times in the past three years, monster storms have blasted across the Caribbean, shredding housing and decimating bridges, roads and power lines.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017, thousands of Puerto Ricans resettled amid fellow Americans in Florida and New York. But the experience of the Bahamas, just 60 miles off the Florida coast, has been different.

Individual Floridians have dug deep to help, sending water, canned food, baby items and even generators. Private boaters and pilots have traveled to the devastated islands delivering assistance. The U.S. Coast Guard conducted life-saving missions. And some Bahamians have been allowed entry into the Sunshine State.

But large-scale resettlement of the type that could become needed with increasing frequency in this age of climate change seems off the table.

On Monday, with Bahamians still coming to grips with the scale of the catastrophe, President Donald Trump noted that they should not expect to be allowed entry to the United States unless they had “proper documentation.”

Northern areas of the Bahamas, a majority black nation, were blown away by Dorian, with houses ripped to shreds and streets flooded. Residents of those areas who could not be relocated to other parts of the Bahamas hoped to be taken to the United States for safe harbor, even if only temporarily.

Trump, however, echoing language he used to describe Mexicans seeking to enter the United States, wasn’t rolling out the welcome mat.

“We have to be very careful,” the president told reporters on Monday, a day after some Bahamians were kicked off a ferry to Florida because they did not have travel documents.

“Everybody needs totally proper documentation because, look, the Bahamas had some tremendous problems with people going to the Bahamas that weren’t supposed to be there,” Trump said. “I don’t want to allow people that weren’t supposed to be in the Bahamas to come into the United States, including some very bad people and some very bad gang members, and some very, very bad drug dealers. So, we’re going to be very strong on that.”

Those comments, viewed by many as callous and racist, briefly contradicted those of acting Customs and Border Commissioner Mark Morgan, who had said: “This is a humanitarian mission. If your life is in jeopardy and you’re in the Bahamas, you’re going to be allowed to come to the United States, whether you have travel documents or not.”

TPS for Bahamians?

The administration is insisting that Bahamians who want to travel to the United States must have a valid, unexpired passport. Those traveling by sea must also have a valid travel visa.

And CNN has reported the administration will not offer Bahamians temporary protected status, a designation previous administrations have offered to non-Americans coping with natural disasters. In fact, the Trump administration has been examining ending TPS for Haitian earthquake survivors.

The administration’s refusal to back TPS for Bahamians has drawn criticism from Trump opponents.

“The Trump administration just hit Bahamians while they are down,” said Terrie Rizzo, chair of the Florida Democratic Party. “The people of the Bahamas are in need, and granting temporary protected status would have allowed Bahamians to come to the U.S. and work while their country rebuilt.”

Asked what role, if any, she saw for Florida as hurricanes of increasing intensity force resettlement from Caribbean nations, a staff member for U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat and chair of the House Select Committee on Climate Crisis, pointed to a pair of letters the Tampa congresswoman signed supporting TPS and relaxed travel document requirements for Bahamians.

“We are deeply concerned about the unfolding humanitarian crisis and believe that immigration relief measures are much needed to support the Bahamian people on their long and arduous journey to rebuild their homeland and lives,” states one of the letters.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who campaigned last year with Trump’s endorsement, said the administration is taking its cues from the government of the Bahamas.

“The administration and I think the Bahamian government’s policy is to not facilitate any special migration,” DeSantis said. “And I think that’s probably the smart policy.”

Bipartisan call for help

The northwestern islands of the Bahamas, hardest hit by Dorian, are home to about 69,000 people.

A bipartisan group of 18 members of Florida’s congressional delegation, including each member who represents a part of Palm Beach County, signed a letter to Trump asking the administration to “expedite, waive, or suspend certain visa requirements for citizens of the Bahamas affected by the storm who are seeking shelter with relatives in the United States.”

U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat and former mayor of West Palm Beach, noted that Florida has “a close relationship with the Bahamas” and that she and other members of Congress will be “exploring access to federal resources to help with resettlements.”

While House members want to make it easier for Bahamians to resettle in the United States, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who initially blasted the uncertainty surrounding travel requirements, ultimately backed the Department of Homeland Security’s insistence that Bahamians meet stringent travel requirements.

“I applaud DHS for responding to our request and clarifying visa requirements for Bahamians fleeing the destruction on the islands to temporarily come to the United States,” Scott said in a statement. “We should all be supporting our friends from the Bahamas, and we want to make sure there is no confusion.”

Storms not going away

The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, an independent non-profit organization focused on climate change, notes that “although scientists are uncertain whether climate change will lead to an increase in the number of hurricanes, warmer ocean temperatures and higher sea levels are expected to intensify their impacts.”

Dorian and Maria are only two of the most recent Category 5 hurricanes to form in the Atlantic basin.

There have been 35 such storms since 1924, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported. Thirteen of them have formed since 2003. There have been four since Hurricane Matthew killed more than 600 people in October 2016.

In the aftermath of Dorian, many Bahamians are being resettled in other parts of the archipelago, mostly in Nassau, which Dorian largely spared. But what happens if another storm strikes a smaller Caribbean nation and makes resettlement within that country impossible?

That’s not a question for which policy-makers seem to have an answer.

Neither the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council nor the South Florida Regional Planning Council have planned for possible resettlement from Caribbean nations into the Sunshine State.

“The sort of planning issues that would arise concern housing availability, employment, school capacity, the provision of health care, and the degree of permanence of the resettlement,” said Thomas Lanahan, Treasure Coast executive director. “As far as the questions of a policy nature, I don’t have any position that I can offer because the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council has not explored these issues with our Council.”

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