16512: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Haitian free to pursue asylum) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Aug. 23, 2003

Haitian free to pursue asylum
False papers jeopardized application
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@herald.com

Federal prosecutors on Friday dropped criminal charges against a Haitian
asylum seeker indicted for traveling to the United States on false papers.

Yvon Bleus was one of hundreds of migrants charged under a recent local
policy of prosecuting people with legitimate asylum claims but who arrive
with false papers. His trial had been set for Monday.

It's the first such case dropped by the U.S. Attorney's Office, said Cheryl
Little, executive director of Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.
Little has spearheaded a campaign against the practice of criminally
charging asylum seekers.

But Reuben Camper Cahn, chief assistant federal public defender, said
federal prosecutors dropped the charges because they would not have been
able to substantiate initial allegations that Bleus failed to ask for asylum
immediately on arrival.

Internationally accepted standards for dealing with foreign asylum seekers
indicate that they must not be prosecuted, even if they use false papers to
flee their country, as long as they present themselves to authorities in the
new country and ask for asylum quickly.

Also, in a recent interview, U.S. Attorney Marcos Daniel Jimenez said his
prosecutors were not targeting asylum seekers who sought asylum right away.

The ones they are charging ''try to sneak into the country under false
pretenses, and when they are caught, they then may or may not claim
asylum,'' he said. ``We are not targeting asylum seekers.''

Bill Barzee, another Assistant Federal Public Defender representing Bleus,
said he was ''guarded, but optimistic'' about his client's ``chances for
asylum.''

Assistant Federal Public Defender Hector Dopico, who represented Bleus, said
the judge agreed to drop charges at the request of prosecutors, according to
The Associated Press.

Bleus flew to Miami on Feb. 27 on another person's U.S. passport and told
the first Creole-speaking immigration officer he met that he wanted asylum.
Bleus described activities with a student-led, anti-government movement, The
Associated Press said.

Bleus said a senator who hired him was slain in 1999, a medical student
friend was shot to death in January and that he moved underground after
finding an arrest warrant when he got home one day early this year, The
Associated Press said.

''We are grateful the U.S. attorney kept his word,'' Little said. ``I would
hope none of these cases are prosecuted in the future. A significant number
of Haitian and Colombian asylum seekers have been languishing in detention
for months as a result of this policy.''

_________________________________________________________________
Help protect your PC: Get a free online virus scan at McAfee.com.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963