15692: (Hermantin) Sun-Sentinel-Advocates blast Haitian teen's detention for seven mont (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Advocates blast Haitian teen's detention for seven months



By Tanya Weinberg
Staff Writer

May 23, 2003

With his eyes focused low, Ernesto Joseph replied that he was not sure of
his age. He said he did not remember his birthday, and no, he had never
celebrated it, not even before he was orphaned in Haiti at 12.

His recent 18th birthday was just another day of waiting and wondering for
Ernesto, who remains in immigration detention seven months after more than
200 Haitians sailed into Biscayne Bay on Oct. 29. Four months ago a judge
approved his asylum application. It is the last time he remembers feeling
happy.

"I don't feel that I can stay here any longer in detention," he said,
speaking in slow and listless tones through an interpreter at a Thursday
interview at the Krome detention center west of Miami.

"I've seen the people who came with me; they're released or being sent back
home, but I don't know why I'm still here."

As government attorneys appeal Ernesto's case, advocates say unduly harsh
treatment to an already traumatized youngster underscores the government's
unfair treatment of Haitian refugees. Homeland Security officials say that
the release of the detained asylum-seekers would compromise their policy to
deter mass migration, which would endanger seafaring refugees and drain
national security resources.

Officials have made 31 exceptions for those who arrived on the October boat,
releasing unaccompanied minors protected by a federal court settlement and
others on humanitarian grounds, including pregnant women and toddlers. So
far Ernesto, 17 when he arrived, has not qualified for release.

"Even if an individual establishes a credible fear of persecution, [the
government] retains the authority to detain individuals without bond while
their immigration hearings and any appeals take place," said Barbara
Gonzalez, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman.

Bureau policy prevents officials from speaking about the details of an
individual's case, she said.

Although an immigration judge concluded Ernesto has a credible fear of
persecution should he return to Haiti, the U.S. government is appealing the
decision and has turned down two requests to release him to the custody of a
willing aunt and uncle. Ernesto's lawyer recently filed a third request that
included a trauma specialist's assessment that the teen suffers from extreme
depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and is deteriorating
irreparably from prolonged detention.

Several groups have put out an alert to draw attention to Ernesto's
situation.

"Amnesty International believes that Ernesto Joseph's continued detention
has violated not only international law and standards but also the United
States' own rules on the detention of unaccompanied juveniles," the Amnesty
alert says. " ... As a person whom a judge has already recognized as a
refugee, and who has family ties to the United States, Ernesto Joseph is
unlikely to abscond, and even the immigration authorities do not contend
that he is dangerous. That they continue to detain him suggests a practice
of discrimination against Haitians."

Amnesty's U.S. refugee program director dismisses the government's stated
reasons behind its policy.

"They're making a hypothetical argument that if you release one person from
detention more people will come," Bill Frelick said. "That's not a national
security threat."

FAIR, a Washington-based group that favors curbing immigration, backs the
policy, and says undocumented asylum applicants should generally be detained
while they await asylum decisions.

"We also think that those asylum claims should be processed expeditiously so
that people are not detained for extended periods of time," said Jack
Martin, special projects director.

The group does not object to detention during appeals, but in Ernesto's
case, Martin said, "It seems like it has been unnecessarily extended."

A judge found credible Ernesto's testimony about violence at the hands of
those who could have served as the orphan's protectors. She also accepted
expert testimony that a life on the streets for Haitian children puts them
in danger of deadly state-backed persecution.

"I heard people say Miami is a good country," Ernesto said Thursday. "I
heard people say that when you come here as a minor they would open their
arms and accept you."

At Krome, Ernesto said his only distractions are praying, which helps him
sleep and eat, and playing dominoes or cards with older Haitians. But he
does not talk much with them, he said. Is there anyone he feels close to in
his life at all?

"No," he said. "Only God."

Tanya Weinberg can be reached at tweinberg@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5029.
Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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