16957: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Detainees get support (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Oct. 16, 2003

NORTH MIAMI BEACH
Detainees get support
BY CARLI TEPROFF
cteproff@herald.com

In an attempt to call community attention to the plight of Haitian children
detained in Miami, the North Miami Beach City Council has passed an
emergency resolution that seeks justice and humane treatment for the
children.

Councilman Raymond Marin said he proposed the resolution at the city's Oct.
7 meeting to help prevent two orphaned Haitian teenagers from being deported
to Haiti.

''All we are asking is for fairness,'' Marin said in a later interview. The
United States, he said, ``needs more compassion.''

The proposal came after Marin read about Rose Thermitus, 16, whose parents
are missing and presumed dead. The teen will be homeless if she is sent back
to Haiti, her lawyers have said. Rose has been detained in a shelter in West
Miami-Dade County since Oct. 29.

Ernesto Joseph, also believed to be 16, is facing a similar situation. He
also arrived Oct. 29, and was detained at Krome detention center; he was
released to his uncle in June only to be detained again. ''It is inhumane to
hold children in jail and then send them back to be homeless,'' Marin said.

The measure, which passed unanimously, is the second time within a year the
council has sought to address the plight of detained Haitian children. In
November, the council passed a resolution that dealt with fair and equitable
treatment of all Haitians arriving in the United States.

Mayor Jeffrey Mishcon said council members feel strongly that the
immigration laws for Haitian immigrants are unjust.

''By making another resolution dealing specifically with children we are
just continuing to put the issue in the spotlight,'' Mishcon said.

The resolution will be sent to President Bush, the Justice Department, and
Florida congressional members.

''We need to continue to keep the pressure on decision makers to not let
them forget that this terrible inequity exists,'' Mishcon said.

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