On Friday, the Obama administration granted temporary protected status to any Haitian immigrants in the United States that were awaiting deportation. That means that about 30,000 Haitians will be able to stay in the United States and work legally for up to 18 months. And in yet another example of Republican projection, Rep Steve King (R-IA) suggested that the order was an example of the “Never let a crisis go to waste” philosophy.

Are political calculations being considered in the decisions made by the White House? Certainly. Politics is always one of the factors in all decisions made by any president. Sometimes those politics keep a president from doing the right thing. This is one of those cases where it hasn’t. The Obama administration knew that it was going to get whacked eventually on granting legal status, even temporarily, to immigrants set for deportation. Probably they didn’t think anyone would be callous enough to respond so quickly, but then again they have been dealing with Republicans in Congress for a year, so maybe they aren’t surprised. In any case, they went ahead and did it anyway, because it was the right thing to do. In Haiti, the infrastructure, such as it was, has been destroyed, bodies litter the streets, more people are sure to die, and getting them basic humanitarian aid is complicated by numerous factors. Forcing 30,000 Haitians back into this situation would be madness.