Thousands of people were feared dead in Haiti and the capital city, Port-au-Prince, lay in ruins Wednesday after a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the impoverished Caribbean island nation. “Parliament has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed. There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them. All of the hospitals are packed with people. It is a catastrophe,” the Haitian president, René Préval, said in describing the scene to The Miami Herald. The worst earthquake in two centuries left the country without electricity or phones. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said Haiti faces “major humanitarian emergency.” President Obama ordered a massive relief effort. “The earthquake in Haiti has been devastating for the people of that poor nation, with news reports indicating that thousands are dead, the capital is in ruins, and three million people are in desperate need of emergency aid," Sen. Bernie Sanders said. “Our hearts go out to the citizens of Haiti as they deal with this tragedy.  And not just our hearts – President Obama has pledged a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives.  I will do all that I can to assure that our nation delivers humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, to the people of Haiti as they cope with this natural disaster.”

In a small measure of support, Senator Bernie Sanders was among senators signing a letter to President Obama asking him to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians living in the United States. Citing the devastation, the senators said “now is certainly not the time to deport Haitians into an overly burdened country.” 

To read the letter, click here.