2010 Earthquake

The earthquake of 2010 that occurred in Haiti was the driver of the increase in Haitian immigrants in the Bahamas. With so many cities being destroyed and increasing homelessness, many Haitians sailed to the Bahamas. A quarter of the Bahamian population is accumulated by illegal Haitian immigrants because of this earthquake, to this day, there are still hundreds of Haitians coming abroad. This event became a major contribution to the upset of the Bahamas community because they did not want an entire region coming into their home invading their territory. The people in the Bahamas worked very hard to build a community that is developing with more stabilized resources and did not want Haiti to come in and reap the benefits that they created for themselves. 
 
Hurricane Dorian 

This devastating event that occurred in the Bahamas in August of 2019 left them in shambles. There was major destruction that left many people homeless and desperate for help. With the rise of immigrants that came before and after this hurricane, the people of the Bahamas felt that they were not given the right treatment they deserved. Many of the help centers were overpopulated with immigrants taking away Bahamian's resources that they preserved. Locals demanded that Haitians should not be held at the priority for resources because they are just immigrants. Bahamians have very little respect for the Haitians because they could not sustain themselves in their own country and are seen to just be stealing resources elsewhere. Hurricane Dorian was the biggest differentiator between the Bahamas and the Haitians because Haitians were already a part of the lower class. They were getting the most help and shelter compared to the everyday Bahamian. Given that the resources were already being used even before a disaster in the Bahamas, locals did not see Haitians as beneficial to the Bahamas. They are coming in and taking all of their resources and giving nothing in return. With so many people in the Bahamas supporting the immigration of Haitians, this led to the risk of deportation towards the Haitian community. Those who were targeted the most were the undocumented and illegal immigrants since they had no certification to be living in the Bahamas.