13611: Craig-Article: 2 pregnant migrants could be released (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <dgcraig@att.net>

Posted on Fri, Nov. 08, 2002
2 pregnant migrants could be released
INS blocks the release of other Haitians from the same voyage
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES, WANDA DEMARZO AND ALFONSO CHARDY
jcharles@herald.com

Two pregnant Haitian women who came onto U.S. soil at the Rickenbacker
Causeway last week could be released on bond today, the first people
from the boatload of 235 migrants whose release was not opposed by the
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

A federal immigration judge at a detention center in Pompano Beach said
the women could be released on $1,500 bond each, sending their families
scrambling for money. Meanwhile, the INS blocked the release of other
migrants from the same voyage, citing national security concerns.

At the Krome detention center, the immigration court changed its
procedure in response to bitter complaints from advocacy groups that the
Haitians were brought to bond hearings with no opportunity to talk to
attorneys.

The migrants' victories were small, but they came on a day when
President Bush gave them hope for more.

Responding to a question at a news conference, Bush said Haitian
migrants should be treated the same as migrants from anywhere else
except Cuba.

Cubans are granted asylum if they reach U.S. soil. Migrants from most
other nations can request asylum but have a difficult time obtaining it.
Under an 11-month-old Bush administration policy, Haitian migrants can
be detained indefinitely while they seek asylum, unlike migrants from
other countries.

Bush said Cubans are singled out because they are persecuted once they
return to the island. Local activists say Haitians suffer the same sort
of political oppression. A brief glimpse of this was offered Thursday in
Pompano Beach as attorneys with the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center,
speaking through a Creole translator, asked each of their clients a
series of questions beginning with: ``Why did you come to America?''

''My father died on a Sunday, Sept. 11,'' said Youland Ducatel. ``My
aunt came to my school and told me they killed my father. My cousin said
we had to leave.''

Ducatel spoke about fear and persecution, a theme that echoed throughout
hearings in the cramped courtroom at the Broward County Work Release Center.

As the women were asked whether they had family here, they produced
scraps of paper with scribbled phone numbers of relatives and handed
them to their attorney.

Over INS' objections, the judge agreed to release them on bonds ranging
from $1,500 to $4,000.

But the INS promptly appealed most of the cases, almost certainly
delaying their release for months.

Jose Jean, an unemployed Tamarac mechanic who came to the hearings in
hopes of a reunion with a sister, cousin and sister-in-law who were on
the boat, says the amounts are high. But he is determined to find the
money if it means his family can be released.

''I don't have money, but I know how to borrow money and give it back,''
he said, moments after catching a brief glimpse of the three women.

The INS made exceptions for two pregnant women and did not appeal their
bonds, and indicated a willingness to allow a third pregnant woman to
temporarily go free as long as she could produce information on
relatives living in the United States.

''I am encouraged by their release and I hope INS will continue in this
path and free all of the refugees that make it to land,'' said Marleine
Bastien, executive director of Haitian Women of Miami and a lead
activist in the Haitian community.

At Krome, hearings continued for a second day, but the procedure had
changed.

On Wednesday, Immigration Judge Scott Alexander granted bonds to more
than 25 Haitian men, but the INS appealed, blocking their release.

After advocates complained that the detainees had no opportunity to talk
to attorneys first, Immigration Judge Rex Ford on Thursday advised
detainees of their rights: They could seek a bond hearing to be
released, get an attorney or represent themselves.

All the detainees requested attorneys, and Ford rescheduled hearings for
Tuesday.

Michlet St. Prius, 28, had a question.

''What I want to know is that if I decide to get an attorney, do I have
to pay the attorney all at once, or can I pay him a little at a time, in
installments, because I don't have any money right now?'' St. Prius asked.

Ford urged each of the detainees to make their decision as quickly as
possible so they can seek bond and, if appropriate, be released.

''It's to your advantage to move expeditiously toward a bond hearing and
see if you qualify for release,'' Ford told Alfred Prudhomme, 28,
another detainee.