One of the positive effects of immigration was the spur of cheap labor and smugglers. Though there are some Bahamians who welcome Haitians in, they offer it at a large cost. Smugglers exploit their journey to the Bahamas at a very high cost of $500 to $5,000 (Jacobs). Given that the majority of Haitians are unemployed and those who are employed make about $5 a day, to be able to pay for a route to the Bahamas is losing their life’s savings. Bahamians also bring in Haitians to use them as a source of cheap labor. Giving them this lifestyle is not any better than the one that they have in Haiti, but many Haitians take this as an opportunity to escape poverty. Haitians are blinded by the exploitation of many islands that they escape to because even though they are not accepted, they are willing to do anything to leave Haiti.

The biggest Haitian outbreak in the Bahamas is due to the 2010 earthquake that happened in Haiti, destroying the majority of the population and infrastructures. It was immediately after the earthquake that the Bahamas spotted over 1,000 Haitian boats attempting to arrive overseas. This created an issue amongst the Bahamians because they did now want the Bahamas to become overpopulated with migrants and wanted more protection towards their people.