a1368: INS admits new get-tough policy on Haitians aimed at preventing exodus (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

INS admits new get-tough policy on Haitians aimed at preventing exodus

By Jody A. Benjamin
Staff Writer
Posted March 20 2002

In a lengthy response Tuesday to a lawsuit charging it with discriminating
against Haitian asylum seekers, the Immigration and Naturalization Service
said it quietly changed its policy toward the Haitians in December because
it was trying to prevent an exodus from Haiti to Florida.

Lawyers for the INS argued in filings to U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard
that the change represented "sound policy." This decision by another branch
of government should not be reversed by a court, they said, because of the
doctrine of separation of powers.

The filing sets the stage for a bitter fight over the estimated 240 Haitians
still in custody.

On Friday, immigrant advocates sued the INS on behalf of the Haitians,
saying that the agency discriminated on the basis of race and nationality in
making release decisions. Most of the asylum seekers arrived Dec. 3 aboard a
crowded vessel named Simapvivetzi that ran aground in Biscayne National
Park. But about 30 percent of them later arrived by plane, according to
plaintiffs' attorney Ira Kurzban.

The plaintiffs presented statistics showing that the INS released 91 percent
of asylum seekers from other countries.

"The government is now acknowledging that they are using national origin as
a criteria for the determination of whether to parole Haitians, and the
Supreme Court has forbidden them to do so," said Kurzban, who won a landmark
1980s ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Haitians. "I think that
when the judge parses out the facts, she will realize that all the
government's factual presentation is constructed on thin air."

Kurzban and the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center have asked for an
emergency ruling to free the Haitians immediately, but no hearing has been
set.

In court documents, government lawyers said that a "case-by-case" review of
the sudden rush of asylum claims -- about double the normal caseload for
immigration judges at Krome detention center -- led the INS to release five
pregnant women and 10 unaccompanied minors to community sponsors. The INS
has released 32 Haitians since Dec. 3, according to court documents.

"Contrary to plaintiff's claim, the INS has not formulated its parole policy
upon the basis of [the Haitians'] race or their nationality," the government
said.

The agency is weighing the release of more detainees, according to its court
pleadings, but did not say how many.

For months, the INS has denied in statements released through its public
information offices in Miami and Washington that there had been a change in
INS policy toward Haitians. But in pleadings made to the federal court
Tuesday, the agency's lawyers said otherwise.

"On or about Dec. 14, 2001, the INS officers at Krome were advised by the
district director for Miami that INS headquarters had directed the district
not to parole Haitians from custody or transfer Haitians without prior
approval from INS headquarters," the attorneys argued.

Asked about the discrepancy, INS spokesman Dan Kane declined to comment
because of the pending litigation.

In its pleadings, INS said the new policy was needed to head off an exodus
of Haitians to Florida.

"Paroling the migrants from the [Dec. 3 boat] might cause others to attempt
dangerous maritime departures," said the documents.

The government's stated concern about dangerous sea crossings doesn't
address Haitians who arrived by plane, Kurzban said Tuesday.

Immigrant advocates have said the agency was expediting deportation
proceedings for the detained Haitians. They complained that there weren't
enough pro bono attorneys available to represent the Haitians.

The INS countered that the detainees were not being rushed, as advocates
claimed, and that immigration judges granted continuances to many of the
Haitians while they sought legal help.

But INS lawyers appeared to be taking no chances. If the court decides to
force the agency to release some of the asylum seekers, they asked the court
to impose $500,000 bonds. The money would offset the cost of handling a
possible mass Haitian migration, they argued.

Jody A. Benjamin can be reached at 954-356-4530 or
jbenjamin@sun-sentinel.com.





Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel





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