12388: Miami Herald: Agency to probe Haitians' detention (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>


 Posted on Sat, Jun. 22, 2002

Agency to probe Haitians' detention
INS policy biased, rights panel is told
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@herald.com

Members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, meeting in
Miami on Friday, agreed to open an informal inquiry into
why federal immigration authorities are keeping about 200
Haitian refugees in long-term detention in Miami-Dade
County.

Commission members acted after more than a dozen immigrant
and civil rights activists addressed the panel. Among them
was Barry University President Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin,
who -- moved by her own description of detention conditions
-- openly cried.

''I weep over this sin against these people,'' said
O'Laughlin, referring to the policy of keeping Haitian
asylum-seekers detained. ``It is wrong.''

Patricia Mancha, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service in Miami, declined comment on the
issue and referred questions to the Justice Department.
Susan Dryden, a Justice Department spokeswoman in
Washington, suggested that the detention of Haitians was
aimed at deterring an exodus of refugees from Haiti.

''Our number one concern is the safety of these individuals
who embark on very dangerous sea crossings to the United
States,'' Dryden said. ``INS policy is directed at
deterring a mass migration and saving lives.''

The commission met in Miami on Thursday to gauge whether
election reforms approved last year by the Florida
Legislature are effective. But at the request of immigrant
rights activists, the commission agreed to stay through
Friday to hear statements on the detention of Haitians.

The seven-member commission is an independent, fact-finding
body with subpoena power and staff investigators -- though
it lacks authority to mandate changes. Conservative critics
say the panel is not objective and accuse it of favoring
liberal and Democratic Party causes.

After the statements, commission members toured the
county-run maximum security jail Turner Guilford Knight
Correctional Center, where the INS keeps female asylum
seekers. Twenty-seven Haitian women welcomed commission
members and one, in an eloquent impromptu speech, appealed
for help to gain freedom.

''We all have left mothers back home,'' said Nicole Pierre,
39. ``We all have left fathers back home. We all have left
brothers and sisters back home. We all have left sons and
daughters back home. We don't know when we are going to see
them again. We don't know when we are going to be free
again. Please, please, please, help us.''

Mary Frances Berry, the commission's chairwoman, promised
to help but urged the women to be patient.

''We will do everything we can,'' Berry said. ``But that
doesn't mean you'll be out of here tomorrow.''

Earlier, Berry said the commission will look into the
issue. The first step, she said, will be to send letters to
the INS asking who is responsible for the detention policy
and who can change it.

Cheryl Little, executive director of Miami-based Florida
Immigrant Advocacy Center, told the commission that
detained Haitians were in such despair that one of them had
recently tried to commit suicide at the Krome detention
center in West Miami-Dade.

''On June 7, 2002, I tried to hang myself,'' Little quoted
the Haitian as saying in a letter. ``I thought I wanted to
die rather than stay here in Krome being humiliated every
day.''

The detention issue began after a boatload of Haitian
refugees arrived off Miami's shores of Dec. 3. The 31-foot
sailboat Simapvivetzi, which carried 187 people, foundered
within sight of Miami's skyline.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 167 people. Two others drowned
and 18 swam to shore. The men were sent to Krome, the women
to TGK near Miami International Airport.

All of the survivors asked for political asylum.

Until Dec. 3, the day Simapvivetzi arrived, the INS Miami
district generally released Haitian refugees while their
asylum petitions were reviewed, if they could show a
credible fear of persecution.

But the practice was halted when senior INS officials in
Washington concluded that releases after the Simapvivetzi
incident could trigger an exodus of migrants from Haiti.

Immigration advocates headed by Little sued the INS,
accusing the agency of discriminating against the Haitian
asylum-seekers because of their national origin and race.
Nearly all Haitians trying to reach the United States by
sea are black.

On May 17, Miami U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard dismissed
the advocates' lawsuit, saying she had no authority to
overrule the INS's decision to detain Haitian asylum
seekers to prevent a mass exodus from Haiti. Advocates
appealed and then asked the civil rights commission to
intervene.



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