14897: Caze: PRESS RELEASE: Detainee Tastes Freedom Thanks to New Haitian Leg al Aid Fund (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Martine Caze <MCaze@nchr.org>


> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> February 21, 2003
> Contact:  MIAMI (305) 467-5132; NEW YORK (212) 337-0005, ext. 20
>
> Detainee Tastes Freedom Thanks to New Haitian Legal Aid Fund
>
> MIAMI, Fl  - More than 100 days after his arrival with 228 men, women and
> children fleeing Haiti's ever-growing instability, Henrilus Tertilus won
> his freedom Wednesday - at least temporarily - thanks in part to a new
> legal aid fund.
>
> "This is a great day," said Tertilus, 43, as he emerged from the U.S.
> Immigration and Naturalization Service's Krome detention center in South
> Dade.  "I'm happy to have the chance to be with my family and prepare my
> political asylum case," said Tertilus, who, like all refugees that land on
> U.S. shores, is legally entitled to apply for political asylum.
>
> The release of Tertilus comes as one of the first concrete accomplishments
> of the newly formed Haitian Legal Aid Fund, or HALAF, a South Florida
> initiative with national partnerships and support.
>
> In its short three-month existence, HALAF has emerged as a small, but
> growing broad-based coalition drawing donations from faith-based
> organizations like Catholic Charities and Camillus House and community
> groups including Cuban Women of Key Biscayne and the Shepard Broad
> Foundation.
>
> The Fund's fiscal agent is the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, a
> national Haitian human rights and immigration advocacy organization.
> Backers in New York, Boston, Chicago, Connecticut and California also
> support the fund.
>
> Donations to HALAF paid Tertilus' $4,000 bond - something his South
> Florida relatives could not afford.
>
> HALAF was born last November in the wake of widespread discontent over the
> INS decision to detain Tertilus and his more than 200 fellow refugees.
> The INS decision marked a dramatic shift in the agency's prior policy that
> released refugees applying for political asylum to their families.
>
> The revised, year-old INS policy sets what South Florida immigration
> advocates describe as a harsh double standard for Haitians, since asylum
> seekers from other countries are routinely released on bond. Detainees
> have at best a few weeks to prepare their asylum cases, while those who
> are permitted to post bond - like Tertilus - have about a year.
>
> The difficulty detainees face in meeting the compressed time frame was
> only compounded last month, immigration advocates added, when a tiny,
> dedicated lawyer-client space at Krome was closed.
>
> With his new-found freedom, Tertilus will have more time and greater
> flexibility to prepare his asylum case with his lawyers from the
> non-profit Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) which, along with
> Catholic Charities Legal Services (CCLS), has been representing the latest
> group of asylum seekers.
>
> The influx of more than 200 cases, combined with their already full legal
> plates, puts FIAC and CCLS into a crisis situation - with already tight
> budgets and limited resources forced to stretch even thinner.
>
> Recognizing the financial squeeze on FIAC and CCLS, HALAF will continue to
> focus its efforts on meeting the financial needs of the detainees, such as
> posting bonds like Tertilus', filing fees and other related expenses -
> costs the asylum seekers, their families and their non-profit lawyers
> can't possibly absorb.
>
> Tax deductible donations to HALAF can be made online via the fund's fiscal
> agent - the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) - at
> www.nchr.org.  Click on the "What is HALAF?" link and scroll to the lower
> left-hand corner of the page and click on "Donate Online."  Please be sure
> to specify HALAF in the "Designation" line.
>
> Donations may also be mailed to the NCHR offices in New York:
> HALAF, c/o NCHR, 275 Seventh Ave., 17th Floor, New York, NY 10001, (212)
> 337-0005, ext. 20
>
Martine Caze
Office Administrator
The National Coalition for Haitian Rights
275 Seventh Avenue, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10001
(212) 337-0005 Ext:10
(212) 741-8749 Fax
www.nchr.org
>
>
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