15404: Holmstead: Miami Herald: Diplomats puzzled by claim (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: John Holmstead <cyberkismet@yahoo.com>

Posted on Fri, Apr. 25, 2003
Diplomats puzzled by claim migrants use Haiti to enter
U.S.
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com


U.S. consular officials are ''scratching our heads''
over U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's claim that
Pakistanis, Palestinians and others are using Haiti as
a staging point for trying to get into the United
States.

Ashcroft made the claim in a ruling Wednesday that
Haitians need to be detained while they seek asylum.

Among other reasons, Ashcroft cited national security
concerns. A State Department declaration, he said,
'asserts that it has `noticed an increase in third
country nations (Pakistanis, Palestinians, etc.) using
Haiti as a staging point for attempted migration to
the United States. This increases the national
security interest in curing use of this migration
route,' '' he wrote.

A spokesman for the State Department's Consular
Service said his agency is puzzled by Ashcroft's
comment.

''We all are scratching our heads,'' said spokesman
Stuart Patt. 'We are asking each other, `Where did
they get that?' ''

Patt said he doesn't know the source of Ashcroft's
information. He said the agency has no published
reports addressing that concern, though he did not
rule out any internal documents on the matter.

Petty Officer Anastasia Barnes, a Coast Guard
spokeswoman, said none of the migrants picked up in an
Oct. 29 incident near the Rickenbacker Causeway -- or
any other time by cutters stationed near Haiti -- fit
the profile listed by Ashcroft.

Jorge Martinez, a spokesman for Ashcroft's office,
could not immediately say where the attorney general
got the information. He directed inquiries to the
Department of Homeland Security. A DHS spokeswoman
redirected questions to Martinez.

SPEAKING OUT

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, who is on the House
Homeland Security Committee, said he has not heard any
evidence, testimony or briefing from the CIA or FBI
indicating Haiti harbors or promotes terrorist groups
or activities.

''This is outright discrimination and racism by this
Bush administration. There is justice in America for
everybody but Haitians,'' Meek said.

``Someone needs to call the president and let him know
we are at war against the Taliban and al Qaeda, and
not the Haitian people.''

Miami Immigration attorney Ira Kurzban, who represents
the Haitian government in the United States, said the
ruling ``is part of a concerted plan involving the
destruction of the Haitian people by creating the
chaotic economic conditions in Haiti while forcing
people to go back there.''

`A FALSE CLAIM'

As a result of Haiti's ongoing political turmoil, the
United States has cut off aid to the Haitian
government. It does, however, support health and other
projects by funding private groups.

''There is no basis of fact for the attorney general's
claims. No information of this nature has been
presented to the Haitian government,'' Kurzban said.
``It's a false claim. It's used to perpetuate a
discriminatory policy against Haitians.''

Kurzban said that unlike Cuba, Haiti is not on the
United States' terrorist watch list.

''The attorney general has no problem in allowing
Cubans in,'' he said. ``Yet Haitians are looked at as
a national security threat, not withstanding our
relations with Haiti and Haiti has never been
designated as a terrorist state.''

Current U.S. policy calls for the detention of any
foreign national -- except Cubans -- who arrive by sea
without proper documents. Cubans are an exception
because of the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows
Cubans who reach the United States to apply for
residency one year and a day after their arrival.

SOME INQUIRIES

A source close to the Haitian government, dismissing
Ashcroft's claims, noted there is a long-standing
Lebanese community in Haiti. The source did say,
however, that Haitian government officials have
received inquiries from Pakistanis asking how they can
get visas to come to Haiti.

Some may want to go on to the United States, but they
aren't terrorists, the source said.

``They are just people like the Haitians, looking for
increased economic opportunity and to improve their
lifestyle. Why would a terrorist want to go through
Haiti when chances are great they've got relatives in
Dearborn, Mich., home to one of the largest Arab
communities outside the Middle East?''


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