15459: (Hermantin) -Miami Herald-Immigration crackdown snares arriving Haitians (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Miami Herald


Posted on Mon, May. 05, 2003

Immigration crackdown snares arriving Haitians
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@herald.com

A post-Sept. 11 crackdown on foreigners who use bogus documents to try to
enter the United States through Miami International Airport has snared a
significant number of Haitians, according to federal prosecutors in South
Florida.

The spike in arrests for document fraud is seen by immigrant advocates as
another effort to dissuade Haitians from coming to the United States -- a
charge federal officials deny.

While precise figures are not available, local federal prosecutors say they
are pursuing 20 to 40 fraudulent-document cases a month, compared to a
handful a year ago. In some instances, foreigners found to have suspicious
documents claim asylum.

The prosecutions involve ''individuals who have used false passports and
visas in an attempt to surreptitiously enter the United States,'' U.S.
Attorney Marcos Daniel Jiménez said. Cases are referred to prosecutors by
immigration inspectors at Miami International.

Jiménez's office did not provide details of the cases or a breakdown by
nationality of those arrested. Prosecutors said that Haitians make up a
significant portion but that other nationalities also are represented.

NATIONWIDE EFFORT

The aggressive law enforcement campaign against foreign arrivals with
suspicious immigration documents is occurring nationwide, according to
Justice Department officials. But offices of the U.S. attorney in several
major cities said they had not noticed a rise in such cases referred for
prosecution by local immigration inspectors.

Immigrant advocates say Miami airport authorities are arresting foreigners,
particularly Haitians, who seek asylum in violation of international
agreements stipulating that those claiming to flee persecution should not be
charged even if they enter a country illegally. Convictions on
document-fraud charges could derail asylum claims no matter how valid the
case, immigrant advocates say.

''It is important to note that many of the victims of the U.S. Attorney's
Office policy have been Haitian,'' Cheryl Little, executive director of the
Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, wrote in a recent letter to
Jiménez. ``Haitian asylum seekers in the Miami district already face
expedited removal and indefinite detention. . . . It is terribly ironic that
those who have been forced to flee persecution in their home country are now
being subjected to prosecution here in the United States.''

But Jiménez said that some foreign arrivals claim asylum only after their
immigration documents are challenged.

''Those individuals do not present themselves and seek asylum,'' Jiménez
said. ``They try to sneak into the country under false pretenses, and when
they are caught, they then may or may not claim asylum. We are not targeting
asylum seekers.''

New arrivals whose documents are suspicious are typically referred for
further questioning by a second airport immigration officer. That is when
some claim asylum and are arrested if their documents are believed to be
false.

But Haitians generally ask for asylum during the second round of questioning
at the airport because that is when Creole speakers are available, said
Kathleen Williams, federal public defender for the Southern District of
Florida. A Haitian client of Williams' office, Marie Edithe Michel, was
arrested at the Miami airport in December and charged with trying to enter
with someone else's U.S. passport.

Michel had asked for asylum from the second immigration officer who
questioned her, according to Williams' office. Michel claimed she had
political problems in her homeland, but her immigration attorney declined to
provide details, fearing it would undermine her asylum claim.

Michel pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to time served.

''The distinction of at what point a person can request asylum is without
merit,'' Little said.

A LEGAL QUESTION

Ira Kurzban, a Miami lawyer familiar with U.S. immigration law, said there
is no requirement that asylum be sought from the first immigration officer
who interviews a foreign arrival.

U.S. immigration authorities have adopted rules essentially requiring asylum
seekers to make requests promptly or risk being treated as undocumented
foreigners requesting asylum because they want to stay in the country.

A Department of Homeland Security website states that asylum seekers must
formally apply within one year of arriving in the United States.

The prosecution of asylum-seekers shows that U.S. officials are ''ignorant
of international standards,'' said Eleanor Acer, asylum program director for
the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

The United Nations convention on the status of refugees, which the United
States signed, says countries should not prosecute people who enter
illegally and say they are fleeing persecution.

''Many of these people are nervous and scared and don't know what to do,''
Little said. ``They don't know the law, and they request asylum whenever
they can.''






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