16392: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Haitian gets another chance to stay in U.S. (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Tue, Aug. 12, 2003

Haitian gets another chance to stay in U.S.
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com

Six months after an immigration judge denied his political-asylum claim to
remain in the United States, David Joseph will get another crack at fighting
deportation to Haiti.

Late last week, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that Joseph's claims
should be sent back to an immigration judge to hear further evidence. His
claim had been denied on Feb. 12 by a Miami immigration judge.

The 18-year-old, who is being detained at Krome detention center, and his
brother Daniel, 17, who is at Boystown in western Miami-Dade County, were
among the more than 200 Haitian migrants who arrived in South Florida on
Oct. 29 near the Rickenbacker Causeway.

Daniel is among only two children from the boatload who remain in detention;
most of the people on the boat have either been sent back or released after
winning asylum. Only a handful of adults are still detained.

David Joseph became the center of attention four months ago when U.S.
Attorney General John Ashcroft used Joseph's request for bond, in a separate
motion, to affirm that he had final legal say in such matters. Ashcroft took
the opportunity to remind immigration advocates that the attorney general
has ``extremely broad discretion in determining whether or not to release an
alien on bond.''

Ashcroft denied Joseph's bond request even though the appeals board had
upheld an immigration judge's decision to release the 18-year-old on $2,500
bond while his request for asylum was weighed.

Citing national-security concerns that linked Haiti to possible terrorist
activity and concerns about a possible mass migration from Haiti, Ashcroft
said Haitians should not be released on bond while they file their claims to
remain in the United States.

Both brothers are seeking political asylum on the grounds that their father
was singled out by pro-government supporters who brutally beat him and
destroyed their home. Attorneys are working to get Daniel into foster care.

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