14307: Lemieux: Chi Trib: Haitians treated unfairly (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

Haitian detainees being treated unfairly, advocates assert
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; Dec 18, 2002; Dana Canedy,
New York Times News Service;

Full Text:
(Copyright 2002 by the Chicago Tribune)

Advocates for more than 200 Haitian migrants taken into
custody in October had expected that immigration rules
keeping them in indefinite detention would be eased after
President Bush and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, said they
should be treated no differently from any other asylum
seekers except Cubans.

Since then, the Bush administration has instead tightened
the immigration rules and broadened their scope, making it
almost impossible for the Haitians to be released soon.

Under a Bush administration policy adopted a year ago,
Haitian migrants who reach the United States are held in
indefinite detention until they are deported or, less
frequently, granted asylum. Critics have called the policy
discriminatory because until now it has applied exclusively
to Haitians.

Debate over the issue was renewed Oct. 29 when the Haitian
migrants' boat ran aground off Miami and they plunged into
the shallow waters in a desperate effort to avoid capture.
The scene was carried on national television.

Immigration advocates and lawmakers from both political
parties quickly called on the president and the governor to
order the Haitians' release.

Last month, Bush said, "Haitians and everybody else ought
to be treated the same way, and we're in the process of
making sure that happens."

The advocates and lawmakers interpreted the remarks to mean
the Haitians soon would be released and, as with all other
migrants, allowed to remain in the community pending the
outcome of their petitions for asylum.

Detention policy widened

Instead, the Justice Department has since announced that
the Immigration and Naturalization Service will apply the
detention policy to all non-Cubans who arrive in the United
States illegally by sea and will expedite the deportation
process for such migrants.

A White House spokesman said that the president supports
fair treatment for Haitians and that the new detention
policy is intended to ensure such treatment.

"It treats all people seeking to come to America illegally
by sea the same," said Scott McClellan, deputy White House
press secretary. "The president believes Haitians ought to
be treated fairly and humanely."

Advocates for immigrants and other critics of the Bush
administration's policy on Haitians contend that the
tighter detention regulations and expedited deportation
process for migrants claiming refugee status still apply
disproportionately to Haitians because most people who flee
by sea come from Haiti or Cuba. Cuban refugees who reach
American soil are allowed to remain in the United States
without detention during the processing of their asylum
claims because of the possibility of persecution if they
are returned.

Advocates say Haitians who are returned face a similar
threat that is largely unacknowledged by the U.S.
government.

"We were hopeful that there was going to be more equal
treatment, and I don't think this is quite what we were
expecting," said Jill Greenberg, press secretary for Sen.
Bob Graham (D-Fla.), who has spoken against the treatment
of Haitian migrants and has written to Bush urging the
October refugees' release.

"One of the things that we have seen with this issue is
that it is really unclear who is responsible for the
policy," Greenberg said.

Bush reneged, some critics say

Advocates for the Haitians say the Bush administration
simply never followed through on the president's pledge and
that Gov. Bush has not pressed the point with the White
House.

"I expected the president to do the right thing and treat
the Haitians fairly and humanely and permit them to be
released on bond," said Cheryl Little, executive director
of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.

Little said the detainees are being kept in unreasonable
confinement at local detention centers and hotels, without
adequate access to legal representation or interpreters to
assist them in preparing their asylum claims. She also said
about a dozen unaccompanied children were being detained
instead of being released to relatives or possible sponsors
in the community.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Bush did not return several
telephone calls seeking comment.

INS defends treatment

Immigration officials said the Haitians were being treated
well and the agency had extended the hours when they could
meet with lawyers. An official said the agency was working
on a solution to the detention of the unaccompanied minors.

A senior Justice Department official said, "I think there's
a lot of concern, particularly in Florida, that this is
aimed at Haitians in particular, which has a lot of
overtones to it." But the official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, said: "This really applies to anyone who
comes illegally by sea. Thousands of people use smugglers
and come through the Caribbean from all over the world."

The official acknowledged that Cubans are treated
differently:

"We treat everybody not as well as Cubans. That is because
Congress has created a statutory difference for Cubans."


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