a1444: Sun Sentinel: INS admits new policy (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.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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