Mr. Speaker. I just returned from the Fort Allen refugee camp near Ponce. Puerto Rico. The Fort Allen camp has 800 Haitian refugees. most of them have been there since August. These men. women. and children sit and wait for news of their release. for news of their fate. There is nothing to do at the camp. The refugees are treated like prisoners in a concentration camp. isolated. depressed. their spirits broken. Now that Christmas is approaching. the depression from which these forgotten people are suffering is intensified. Christmas is a time of joy for most of us. but for these Haitians. incarcerated in refugee camps both in the United States and Puerto Rico. there is little reason to celebrate. Instead of gazing on Christmas decorations. they will only see barbed wire. guards. and rows of canvas tents. The Haitian refugees are not violent. They have no ax to grind. Haitians are traditionally hard working and spirited.
Identified stereotypes
Haitians are traditionally hard working and spirited.