14964: Hermantin: Miami Herald-Letter to the Editor (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Miami Herald

Letter to the Editor

Posted on Fri, Feb. 28, 2003

Detainee defense fund created

IN RESPONSE

Re Jim DeFede's Feb. 25 column, Visit shows depth of detainees' pain: It is
important to underscore that Haitians who arrive here by boat are not
criminals. They have committed no crime. Any refugee who arrives on our
shore is entitled to apply for political asylum.

But only in Miami are Haitian refugees denied release to prepare their
asylum cases. When immigration advocates spoke out against this policy last
year, INS changed it to include all arrivals by sea, though Haitians
continue to remain the group most impacted.

Award-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme said this week after visiting Krome
Detention Center that the policy of detaining Haitian asylum seekers is
inhumane and shameful. Only by strengthening the ties within our community
and working collectively to insure justice for people of all nations can we
hope to bring about peace in the world. If we believe in the principles upon
which our country was founded, we must not stand idly by.

A group of concerned citizens from different ethnic and religious
backgrounds have created the Haitian Legal Aid Fund. Its efforts are focused
on meeting the financial needs of the detainees to ensure that they receive
the same rights afforded asylum seekers from other countries.

These legal costs, which are above and beyond those absorbed by their pro
bono lawyers, are frequently out of reach for the detainees' families. This
month the fund paid a $4,000 bond to release Henrilus Tertilus, a 43-year
old refugee who had been held at Krome since he landed on Key Biscayne Oct.
29.

For more information on the fund, call 305-467-5132.

KATHIE KLARREICH







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