12164: Joseph replies 2 Racine125 again (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dotie Joseph <dotiej@hotmail.com>

As uninteresting as this discussion has become (for me at least), I am
responding if for no other reason than to be polite. Ms. Sans Bout, I did
answer your original question and have no idea why you are asking me to
enumerate “conditions [in Haiti] today which justifies an asylum claim” or
why these individuals are eligible. I am not those people and do not know
each of their circumstances. I can tell you that among the said Dec ‘01
detainees was a family with 1 girl, 3 boys, a daddy and a mommy who all came
here together, yet only the daddy and 2 of the boys were released. Why? I
have no idea, nor should I. I am not the INS, a Haitian official, or anyone
else in a position to pass any kind of judgement on these suffering
individuals. But you know what? THAT WAS NOT MY POINT (no, I’m not internet
yelling, just trying to put emphasis since I can’t highlight or change the
tone of my voice).

Now, I am going to try this one more time (I beg you to excuse me in advance
if I choose not to reply to further messages on this particular aspect of
the topic because I think we may have to just agree to disagree—or for me to
accept that you’re just not hearing what I’m saying).

Ms. Sans Bout, you mentioned being familiar with the asylum process. That
being the case, I am sure you are aware of the fact that one of the first
steps to asylum is establishing “credible fear”—defined as a well-founded
fear of persecution in the given country—in a preliminary interview
determining whether the claims merit being heard before an immigration
judge. Once that preliminary interview happens and the claimant passes
(according to the Supreme Court, this means there’s at least 50% likelihood
of persecution), they are released/paroled usually within 4-5days. Now, Ms
Sans Bout, please pay attention since this is the part where I seem to
either lose you or I fail to write clearly: The asylum process I described
above has been the case for aliens from China, Columbia, the other C and
even Haiti until late last year when this process remained the same for
everyone, but suddenly and inexplicably (I’m still waiting to see if the INS
finally comes up with an excuse) changed for one group—guess which one? The
aliens from you very own, Ayiti. But since you asked so nicely, I will try
to help point you in the right direction to get your questions
answered--since these inmates (a.k.a. detainees) passed the preliminary
credible fear interview, you can check with INS to see what “conditions [in
Haiti] today” justified an asylum claim and “why these individuals [were]
eligible.”

Lastly and arguably leastly:
>If I run away from a place where people are trying to kill me
>and I arrive at a place where I am safe, I am given food and medical care
>and
>access to lawyers, and must simply remain there until my claim is
>processed,
>I think that I would be relieved - that is, *IF* my life were truly in
>danger!  If I were using an asylum claim as a ploy to get to the USA and go
>to work, then I would not be willing to wait, I would want to leave and go
>"marron" and work as an illegal, right?

I don’t know what kind of response you are expecting from me because I can
not just say “right.” Allow me to give you just a little taste as to why.
After rereading that excerpted comment of Racine125 several times, I can
honestly only think of the late Rev. Dr. King’s book entitled “Why we can’t
wait” (which I highly recommend to those scholars of the list although not
directly tied to Haiti). Ms. Racine Sans Bout, if were in the positions of
those people, where as u put it, “people are trying to kill me and I arrive
at a place where I am safe, I am given food and medical care” (the access to
lawyers is questionable), I would be very grateful indeed. However, I will
not just be content staying behind bars, heavy steel doors, or even a hotel
room for an indefinite (yes, indefinite because there is no promised date of
anything) period of time for no reason. If I were in the detainees’
position, I would be fighting like hell, without trying to raise hello, to
get equal treatment just to have the chance to maybe, just maybe, be able to
live my life out of confinement. Thank God, I am not in their position and
neither are you, and as such I realize that I am in no position to be making
ASSUMPTIONS about them going “marron.” I’m sorry that you have yet to see
that not all Haitians—even after you did your asylum case work—are not
coming here for the same reason. Luckily for those detainees, the US
judicial system (flawed as it is) does take into account that each case is
not the same.

Hoping for the Best,
D. Joseph