Former Bush advisor: We should open doors to Haitian immigrants post-quake

The Washington Post published an interesting op-ed piece on Thursday from Elliott Abrams, who served as assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs in the Reagan administration and was a deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush. This veteran of two Republican administrations makes the case that many Democrats would likely agree with: We need to open the doors to a new wave of Haitian immigrants as one way to help Haiti in the aftermath of Jan. 12.

Abrams writes in part:

"Rebuilding" and "recovery" would merely take Haiti, this hemisphere's poorest country, back to where it stood before the Jan. 12 earthquake. Surely, our goal is to do better. We must increase aid but also allow Haitians to help themselves, and there is no way they can do that sitting in a devastated nation. A substantial number of Haitians must be allowed to move to richer countries -- including ours."

The whole piece can and should be read here.