14196: (Chamberlain) Haitian Migrants (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   MIAMI, Dec 25 (AP) -- A young Haitian migrant named Noel, one of the 11
unaccompanied minors who came ashore with more than 200 other Haitians when
their wooden freighter ran aground in October, was released on Christmas
Eve, officials said.
   Jimmy Noel, 16, was released from detention by Immigration and
Naturalization Service officials and placed into the custody of his sister,
Chimene Noel, 24.
   "This is the best Christmas I can remember," the boy said in his native
Creole. "It's the best Christmas gift I've ever had."
   INS spokeswoman Ana Santiago said she believed Jimmy Noel was the first
person released from custody since the boat carrying about 220 Haitians ran
ashore near the Rickenbacker Causeway on Oct. 29. She could not say why the
boy was released or when the other unaccompanied minors would be freed.
   Haitian activist Cheryl Little, a Miami-based attorney, said the boy
will still have to fight deportation, but could stay in the United States
through the asylum process or sponsorship by a close relative.
   Most of the adult Haitian migrants who came ashore have been held at the
Krome Detention Center in southwest Miami-Dade County, despite many
protests from activists and pleas to government officials to free the
detainees.