12069: Judge tosses out asylum lawsuit (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com> To: corbetre@webster.edu

Judge tosses out asylum lawsuit

By Jody A. Benjamin
Staff Writer
Posted May 18 2002

In a stinging setback for Haitian advocates, a federal judge dismissed a
discrimination lawsuit against the Immigration and Naturalization Service on
Friday, leaving the matter to the political process.

In a 34-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard said that, because
of her limited jurisdiction in the case, she was obliged to be "extremely
deferential" to Bush administration officials who in December secretly
changed INS policy toward undocumented Haitians who arrive in South Florida
seeking asylum.

"Petitioners' cry for freedom needs to be directed to those representatives
of the political branches responsible for enacting immigration laws," wrote
Lenard, who threw the case out without holding a hearing.

The ruling upholds a policy shift that, in effect, treats Haitians
differently from asylum seekers from other countries who are generally freed
until their claims can be decided by an immigration court. Lenard would not
take issue with the government's argument that the policy was needed to
prevent a "mass migration" from Haiti to Florida and to prevent Haitians
from taking life-risking trips aboard rickety vessels.

"In immigration matters, neither individuals nor the court can substitute
their policy perspectives for the judgments made by executive officials
based upon facially legitimate and bona fide reasons," Lenard wrote.

The decision shocked immigrant advocates.

"It's terribly disappointing that so much deference is given to government
officials who are clearly discriminating against the Haitians," said Cheryl
Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, which
helped bring the lawsuit. "Some deference is in order, but certainly not
this much."

News of the decision came as immigrant advocates were planning a rally on
behalf of the estimated 250 Haitian detainees on Monday, when President Bush
is to visit Miami. The rally will be at 6 p.m. at Ingraham Terrace Park, at
the intersection of Ingraham Highway and LeJeune Road in Coral Gables.

"It's a shocking decision. Obviously, the judge is just passing the buck,"
said Marleine Bastien, founder of Haitian Women of Miami. "It's a very sad
day for our community."

An INS spokesman said he could not comment on the ruling before the agency
reviewed it.

The ruling comes two months after legal groups sought emergency court action
because they said INS discriminated against Haitians based on their race and
nationality. The lawsuit had asked the court to force INS to end the alleged
practice.

INS initially denied that it had changed its policy toward Haitians. It was
only in court documents filed in response to the lawsuit that the agency
acknowledged the shift to detaining most Haitians had occurred on Dec. 14.

The change followed an incident on Dec. 3, when a boat carrying 187 Haitians
ran aground in Biscayne National Park.

In bringing suit, lawyers for the detained Haitians relied on a 1985 federal
court ruling in another case of detained Haitians in South Florida, Jean vs.
Nelson. The ruling requires INS to make individual parole decisions in a
non-discriminatory manner, the Haitian advocates argued.








Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel


_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com