a926: Haitians protest INS detention of countrymen (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

Haitians protest INS detention of countrymen


Associated Press


MIAMI, Feb. 24 – Dozens of Haitians braved the rain
Saturday to march in protest of the indefinite
detention of 185 of their countrymen by the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service.



The protesters chanted "no justice, no peace" as they
marched through Little Haiti, a neighborhood in the
northern end of the city, to the INS' Miami
headquarters.
"We are outraged at the way the United States is
treating the Haitians," said Marleine Bastien, head
the group Haitian Women of Miami.

"The U.S. is now violating its own laws by keeping in
jail people who have shown they are qualified to be
released until their case can be heard in a court of
law," Bastien said.

The protesters want the INS to release the group of
185 Haitian migrants who have been held at the Krome
Detention Center in south Miami-Dade County since
their boat ran aground just off the South Florida
coast Dec. 3.

The U.S. government usually repatriates illegal
Haitian migrants, but the status of the group has not
been determined.

"It's a not a Haitian issue it's a race issue," said
Shirley Vilsaint, whose cousin is among those being
detained. "There is no reason why Haitian refugees
should not receive the same treatment as Cuban
refugees."

Cubans who reach American soil generally are allowed
to stay while those intercepted at sea are
repatriated.

Local INS officials did not return calls for comment
Saturday.



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