MASS MIGRATION? OBAMA ADMINISTRATION GRANTS "TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS" TO HAITIANS WHO LIVED AS ILLEGAL ALIENS IN THE UNITED STATES

From Drudge:

RED CROSS plan to bring 45,000 evacuees from Haiti to Florida; 'Mass migration'...

2,000 already flown into Orlando area...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The American Red Cross says a plan to bring 45,000 evacuees from Haiti to Florida, and 4,000 of those to Orange County, is not set in stone. The Red Cross clarified Friday who could be involved in a plan to move people out of Haiti.The Red Cross is preparing for two things: the repatriation of Americans living in Haiti and the possibility of a mass migration of Haitian nationals.

WTFf? This might end up being a lot worse than Carter's Mariel Boatlift.

From Wiki:

The Mariel Boatlift was a mass exodus of Cubans who departed from Cuba's Mariel Harbor for the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980.

The event was precipitated by a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy which led to internal tensions on the island ...

The Cuban government subsequently announced that anyone who wanted to leave could do so, and an exodus by boat started shortly afterwards. The exodus was organized by Cuban-Americans with the agreement of Cuban president Fidel Castro.

The exodus started to have negative political implications for U.S. president Jimmy Carter when it was discovered that a number of the exiles had been released from Cuban jails and mental health facilities.

From Mark Krikorian at NRO:

Haitian Boat People in Our Future?

The Post reports:

As a massive international relief effort lurches into gear, U.S. officials are stepping up measures to prevent last week's earthquake in Haiti from triggering a Caribbean migration not seen in two nearly two decades.

Likewise, the AP reports:

So far, fears of a mass migration have yet to materialize. However, conditions in Haiti become more dire each day and U.S. officials don't want to be caught off guard. . . .
The mass migration plan, known as "Operation Vigilant Sentry," was put in place in 2003 because of previous experiences with Caribbean migrations, said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, spokesman for the Homeland Security Task Force Southeast that would manage any Haitian influx.

I did a dozen radio interviews yesterday on this, and the hosts were repreatedly asking whether the administration's grant of "Temporary" Protected Status to Haitian illegal aliens already here would lead to a flood of boat people. I don't think it will — TPS is only for illegal aliens who were here before the earthquake (and temporary visitors whose visas are running out).

The decision that will determine whether we see waves of Haitian boat people will be made when the Navy and Coast Guard rescue the first few boatloads of Haitians headed for Florida. If the administration — through misguided humanitarianism or political pressure — admits them rather than returning them (or at least housing them at Gitmo), word will get back to Haiti immediately and things will rapidly spin out of control, making the Mariel fiasco look small in comparison.

But I'm actually optimistic that isn't going to happen — if only because the political price paid by President Carter and Arkansas governor Bill Clinton will be instructive to the White House.

I would advise Krikorian not to be too confident in Barack Obama's political savvy.