16961: (Hermantin) Sun Sentinel-Haitian teen's release demanded (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Haitian teen's release demanded


By Tanya Weinberg
Staff Writer

October 16, 2003

Miami · About 250 protesters outside federal immigration offices demanded
the release Wednesday of Haitian refugee Ernesto Joseph.

Joseph won a 30-day reprieve from deportation Oct. 2 after his attorneys
submitted evidence he is 16, and U.S. congressional representatives asked
officials to let him press for relief in juvenile court. U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement detained Joseph that same day and is currently
reviewing the Haitian birth certificate Joseph's attorney recently acquired,
along with authentication from the Haitian national archives director.

Joseph is one of more than 200 Haitian refugees who landed in Biscayne Bay
on Oct. 29. and one of 11 still detained. He spends his days watching
television, confined to a guarded hotel room. Immigration spokeswoman Nina
Pruneda said detainees are allowed to walk around within the hotel, but
attorneys dispute that.

Amid protestors was Stephen Baptiste Jr., a wiry retiree dressed in a blue
suit, furiously shook a small Haitian flag.

"He's a child, 16 years. He has no family. They must stop the deportation!"
said Baptiste, 68. "Freedom. Justice. Respect the Haitian people!"

As the afternoon crowd grew, police officers carried barricades across 79th
Street, placing metal bars between the protesters and traffic. The officers
were met with a chant.

"Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!"

Joseph had lived freely with his uncle in north Miami-Dade County for three
months. Before that, he was detained for eight months despite winning asylum
in court halfway through. The government appealed the decision and,
contending he was 19, kept Joseph at the Krome Detention Center for adult
detainees.

Joseph's attorneys last week asked officials to release the teen to his
uncle's custody while he awaits a decision.

"He's clearly not a flight risk, because he showed up believing he was going
to be on the next plane to Haiti," said Cheryl Little, executive director of
the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. "This is a boy who was clearly
traumatized in Haiti, and now our government is traumatizing him."


Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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