14368: Brian S: Florida Bishops Ask President Bush to Release Haitian Detainees (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Brian S. <bjsnyc@hotmail.com>

FLORIDA BISHOPS ASK PRESIDENT BUSH TO RELEASE HAITIAN DETAINEES

  	The Bishops of Florida express our escalating and grave concern to our
President, George W. Bush, over the plight of Haitian migrants who recently
landed on our shores.  We hear the plea of our brothers and sisters in
Christ seeking justice, and we call on President Bush to order the immediate
release of these detained Haitian asylum seekers.

  	The Gospel tells us that a human being’s dignity and the rights conferred
from that dignity are God-given and therefore irrevocable.  The right to a
life of security and safety, free from the violence of political repression,
is essential to realize this dignity.

  	On October 29, 2002, a teetering vessel from Haiti overloaded with the
souls of hundreds approached our land and ran aground on our shores.  The
mothers who lowered children clad in their Sunday best into the murky waters
below were driven by the desire of every mother – to see her children safe,
secure and able to realize their dignity as full human persons. For more
than two months now, these 228 Haitian asylum seekers have suffered the
humiliation of continued detention, separated from their awaiting families
and community sponsors.

    	When our government seeks to criminalize the flight of these men, women
and children who fled political repression, we do not strike a blow only
against refugees, but against our own fundamental belief in the strength of
justice, family, nation and God, beliefs upon which our nation was founded.

   	The continued detention and denial of adequate and appropriate access to
legal representation is both indefensible and inequitable.  The accelerated
hearing schedule dictated by the Executive Office of Immigration Review
denies detainees the fundamental due process right to adequate legal counsel
as guaranteed to all who set foot in our nation.
        The federal government, through the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service, has failed to articulate a compelling moral or
security-based rationale for the continued detention of those who seek only
freedom for themselves and their children from political persecution and
human rights violations in Haiti.

        As we mark the U.S. Catholic Church’s observance of National
Migration Week, we are reminded once again that we are a nation based on a
delicate balance of laws and faith.  We call on President Bush to apply the
same standard set for all others who seek political asylum to the detained
Haitians, and their children as well.  We also urge Governor Jeb Bush and
our federal and state legislators to contact the President, asking that he
immediately release these detainees.

Archbishop John C. Favalora
Archdiocese of Miami

Bishop John J. Nevins
Diocese of Venice

Bishop Norbert M. Dorsey, CP
Diocese of Orlando

Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ
Diocese of Pensecola/Tallahassee

Bishop Robert N. Lynch
Diocese of St. Petersburg

Bishop Victor Galeone
Diocese of St. Augustine

Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, OFM, Cap
Diocese of Palm Beach

Bishop Agustin A. Roman
Archdiocese of Miami

Bishop Thomas G. Wenski
Archdiocese of Miami

January 8, 2003






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