13521: Hermantin: Miami Herald: Source of U.S. policy on Haitian migrants a well-kept secret (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Source of U.S. policy on Haitian migrants a well-kept secret
BY TIM JOHNSON
tjohnson@herald.com

WASHINGTON - Ten months after it was put into effect, the origin of the
policy of incarcerating Haitians who arrive on Florida shores seeking
political asylum remains a mystery that even veteran legislators apparently
can't solve.

Critics decry the policy as discriminatory, saying that no other nationality
is singled out and jailed. But where the policy came from within the Bush
administration -- or even who established it -- remains unknown.

In a brief statement on the latest arrival of Haitian migrants in South
Florida, and without explaining the incarceration policy, Attorney General
John Ashcroft said the Haitians ``are being treated fairly, appropriately,
and humanely.''

In recent months, some legislators on Capitol Hill have sought details from
the Bush administration on how the policy was established to keep Haitian
asylum-seekers in jail while their cases were weighed. The administration,
however, won't say.

''We've been trying to put a face to this policy,'' said Stephanie Cutter,
spokeswoman for Sen. Edward Kennedy, who chairs a Senate subcommittee on
immigration.

Meanwhile, concerns about Haitian immigration are soaring. As the hurricane
season winds down, and as Haiti's political and economic conditions
deteriorate, many officials fear that it would take little to entice a flood
of Haitians to head for Florida, enduring dangerous trips in rickety
vessels.

In the past month, Haiti has approached an economic tailspin. Its currency,
the gourde, has plunged 25 percent in value. Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, a former priest, is attempting to forestall a run on his nation's
banks. Violence by thugs -- usually against opponents of Aristide -- is on
the rise.

The policy of detaining Haitian asylum-seekers while they await a
determination of their status began in mid-December, shortly after a
boatload of 187 Haitians foundered off Miami.

A directive from the Immigration and Naturalization Service headquarters in
Washington ordered federal authorities in South Florida to keep Haitian
asylum-seekers locked up unless otherwise authorized by Washington.

INS officials initially denied the directive. But in response to a lawsuit,
INS Acting Deputy Director Peter Michael Becraft said in a March 19
affidavit that the new policy was designed to avert a ''mass migration'' and
``to discourage Haitians from contemplating dangerous voyages to the United
States.''

Becraft was unavailable for comment, and a spokesman declined to address the
issue.

''This is hypersensitive,'' a senior U.S. policymaker said, noting concerns
in Washington that a new wave of Haitian migrants may be in the offing. Any
green light from the United States ``would entice a lot of Haitians to
attempt to come. And you're talking about unseaworthy old boats in the open
sea.''

Legal migration from Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is
already high. Ashcroft noted in his statement that 58,000 Haitians have come
legally to the United States since 1999.

Advocates for Haitian immigrants, however, say the policy of detaining
Haitians who ask for political asylum is discriminatory. They charge that
the policy originates in higher circles in the Bush administration.

''We think the decision was made way above INS's head,'' said Dina Paul
Parks, executive director of National Coalition for Haitian Rights, a New
York City-based group. ``No one really wants to take responsibility for it.
They know it is very ugly.''

''It is our understanding that the decision was made at the highest levels
of the administration, and that the Department of Justice was charged with
implementing it,'' said Cutter, the spokeswoman for Sen. Kennedy.

Kennedy called a hearing Oct. 1 on the policies of detaining Haitian
asylum-seekers, but the Justice Department declined to send anyone to
testify.

''No one takes responsibility for it. Everybody passes the buck,'' said
Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center,
who testified at the hearing.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, peppered a midlevel State Department
official at a different hearing the same day about the genesis of the
policy, only to be told it was an inter-agency decision.

Some question whether jailing Haitian asylum-seekers would succeed in
slowing further immigration.

''Detention in and of itself is not a deterrent,'' said Doris Meissner, a
former INS chief in the Clinton administration. ``The best way to handle it
is a policy of interdiction on the high seas.''






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