September 11 Digital Archive

Nation's organizations shore up support for Haitian detainees in Miami

Title

Nation's organizations shore up support for Haitian detainees in Miami

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Original Name

It's been more than five months since immigration officials detained the latest wave of Haitians fle

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-05-14

VTMBH Article: Edition

19

VTMBH Article: Article Order

3

VTMBH Article: Title

Nation's organizations shore up support for Haitian detainees in Miami

VTMBH Article: Author

Macollvie Jean-François

VTMBH Article: Publication

Haitian Times

VTMBH Article: Original Language

English

VTMBH Article: Translator

VTMBH Article: Section

news

VTMBH Article: Blurb

It's been more than five months since immigration officials detained the latest wave of Haitians fleeing to the United States. Tired of the Immigration and Naturalization Service over its latest policy of detaining Haitians who come to Miami seeking asylum, their supporters are heading straight to senior government officials, including President Bush, to get the policy repealed.

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

It's been more than five months since immigration officials detained the latest wave of Haitians fleeing to the United States. Tired of the Immigration and Naturalization Service over its latest policy of detaining Haitians who come to Miami seeking asylum, their supporters are heading straight to senior government officials, including President Bush, to get the policy repealed.

The first group affected by this policy was a boatload of 167 Haitians that the Coast Guard captured off the shores of South Florida Dec. 3. The INS instituted a policy detaining Haitian refugees at South Florida facilities, instead of releasing them while they prepare their political asylum applications. This policy targets Haitian refugees only.

Some of the nation's influential organizations have joined the fight to free the detainees. Many of them plan to demand that Bush repeal the policy immediately when the president visits Miami on May 20 to help his brother's gubernatorial re-election campaign.

"The message we'll be sending to the president and his brother is that unless the Haitians are treated fairly, people are going to remember that come election time," said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.

Dina Paul Parks, executive director of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights in New York, said the groups must raise the stakes and intensify political pressure if this policy is to be stopped.

Paul Parks will join the Haitian Neighborhood Center and the Haitian Grassroots Coalition in Miami in a conference call May 9 to plan a May 20 rally. On that day, Bush is scheduled to visit Florida in support of Florida Gov. Jeb Bushs reelection campaign.

Paul Parks said the rally will either applaud Bushs repeal of the policy of demonstrate against the Bushes if the president does not denounce it immediately.

Its simple: Free them, said Gespie Metellus, executive director of the Haitian Neighborhood Center. Haitians are not terrorists.

The Florida Immigration Advocacy Center filed a lawsuit against the INS on behalf of the Haitian detainees in March, alleging that the policy is discriminatory since it applies only to Haitian refugees.

While the case is pending, the NAACPs Miami-Dade Branch as written a letter to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, urging him to treat Haitian as all asylum seekers are treated.

Recently, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees declared that the Immigration and Naturalization Services new policy of deporting or detaining Haitians is against the international laws of asylum.

The INS has said that the policy was adopted to curb a possible influx of Haitians who may take to the high seas as the political situation in Haiti worsens.

The 167 Haitians were the first of a total of 270 that the INS has detained. Of that number, INS officials sent some Haitians back to the Caribbean country and released others to their families, but the majority of them are still in detention.

The INS requires that asylum seekers pass a credible fear test, in which they must prove that they had valid reasons for fleeing their country.

Before the INS instituted the policy, it released Haitian asylum seekers within days of landing on Floridas coast, and gave them about a year to find lawyers to help them prepare their cases before coming before a judge.

Currently, Little and other organizations say, Haitian detainees cases are processed within weeks of their arrival while they are detained, causing them to present ill-prepared asylum documents that have resulted in their removal of some applicants.

Were in the fight because its a clear example of racism and discrimination, Brad Brown, president of the NAACPs Miami-Dade branch, said. Both locally and in the national office, were trying to put pressure on Attorney General Ashcroft to repeal this policy.

The letter to Ashcroft was written on behalf of almost 60 organizations nationwide that are against the policy.

At an April 29 news conference, Florida Congresswoman Carrie Meek denounced the policy and deplorable conditions to which the INS subjects its detainees.

After some women at the Krome Detention Center complained about guards sexually harassing them, they were transferred to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, a maximum security prison, where they are not allowed to get sun and fresh air, according to published reports.

Members of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in Washington, D.C., responded to a Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center request for an opinion on the matter, stating that this INS policy is contrary to international standards for granting asylum.

The High Commissioner said seeking asylum to avoid risk of persecution is a right, and listed four instances when asylum seekers may be detained, but that keeping them at bay is not one of the reasons.

UNHCR has repeatedly state that asylum seekers should not be detained for purposes of deterrence, the High Commissioners Office said. A policy to deter future arrivals does not fall within any of the exceptional grounds for detention and is contrary to the principles underlying the international refugee protection regime.

Amnesty International added its voice to the outcry, saying that it is disturbed at reports that substantial numbers of Haitian asylum-seekers who have shown a credible fear of persecution in Haiti have been ordered deported and that it fears that more Haitian asylum seekers may face the same fate.

Little said Haitians who arrive by plane instead of boat are being discriminated against. She said though most of the detainees have passed the test to determine whether they have sufficient reason to flee Haiti, the INS has asked that they provide documents such as bank statements and affidavits notarized by family member pledging to support them before it releases them.

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-05-14

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

113

Citation

“Nation's organizations shore up support for Haitian detainees in Miami,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 27, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1402.