19336: (Hermantin)Palm Beach Post- Turmoil rekindles fears of new Haitian exodus to South Florida

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Turmoil rekindles fears of new Haitian exodus to South Florida

By BILL DOUTHAT and GARIOT LOUIMA, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 27, 2004

WEST PALM BEACH -- The interception of 546 Haitians taking to the seas this
week to escape political violence is raising fears of another wave of
refugees landing on South Florida shores.

The increase in refugees on boats leaving Haiti slowed Thursday and U.S.
Coast Guard officials in Miami said there are no signs of an impending
exodus.

"It does not represent a mass migration," said Chief Warrant Officer Steve
Sapp, who said thousands of Haitians a day were picked up at sea during
periods of Haitian unrest in the 1990s.

But for refugee-weary South Florida, a Caribbean insurrection often means
thousands of new immigrants headed this way.

"It could turn into a colossal mess," said U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, a West Palm
Beach Republican. "We can't take care of them. Our state is straining to
take those who are entering legally."

Cheryl Little, head of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami, said,
"The numbers at this point aren't alarming, but given the current political
crisis in Haiti, I think it's reasonable to expect greater numbers in the
coming days and weeks."

The Coast Guard has added ships to the waters around Haiti to stop refugee
flotillas before they can get near the United States. Most boats fleeing
Haiti head straight for Miami, but some Haitians go to the Bahamas looking
for boats heading for Palm Beach County or Martin County.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokesman Paul Miller said the
department's marine unit is at the ready, and he has not been told of any
change in its regular patrols.

Gov. Jeb Bush said Florida is in coordination with the federal government in
case of an influx.

"We have a good plan in place," he said.

The 546 Haitians in 12 small vessels stopped near Haiti this week are being
held on Coast Guard vessels. The U.S. government has plans to transport any
Haitians detained at sea to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba. Coast
Guard officials said Thursday none of the refugees picked up at sea this
week has been sent to the Navy base.

The Coast Guard beefed up its force around Haiti after an uprising flared in
the country three weeks ago. President Bush has said those who try to enter
the United States without valid claims for political asylum would be
returned.

In Miami, Haitian-American elected officials and community leaders pleaded
Thursday for the United States to grant refugees "temporary protection from
being sent to a place of turmoil."

The group asked the Bush administration to suspend the deportation of
Haitians until calm is restored in Haiti, and that refugees intercepted at
sea be brought to land for political asylum hearings.

Immigration officers were interviewing 21 Haitians who were aboard a Haitian
freighter that was detained about 10 miles off Miami on Wednesday.
Authorities are trying to determine whether the vessel was hijacked and
whether the immigrants should be returned home.

"They should be sent back to Haiti. They hijacked a boat, a large vessel,
and unless they have a well-founded fear of persecution that is specific and
meets the criteria of our laws, they should be sent back," Gov. Bush said.

But the group that was meeting in Miami said that, even if refugees have no
valid asylum claims, they shouldn't be sent back to Haiti, where President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government is battling an uprising that has
inflamed half of the country and killed 80 people.

"You send refugees now, there is no government to receive them, process them
or resettle them," said state Rep. Phillip Brutus, D-North Miami, an
immigration attorney.

Like the thousands of refugees who fled the country following the 1991 coup
that removed Aristide from office, Brutus and other community leaders said
Haitians would face brutality or death if returned.

"If they have to go to Guantanamo Bay, it's better than having them go to
Haiti," he said.

"The people are bleeding," said North Miami Beach Commissioner Philippe
DeRose, the director of the community center in Little Haiti where
Thursday's news conference took place. "Even if they don't have oil or gas
or something else that you want, they are people, human beings and they need
your help, as the leader of the superpower of the world."

Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
said Haitians have not been granted temporary protection, which would
protect refugees or deportees from being returned to Haiti.

"Haitians ordered removed from the United States will be removed under
existing regulations," she said.

In January, 351 Haitians were deported following immigration hearings,
Gonzalez said, adding that February statistics have not been compiled and
she was unsure how many have been deported since rebels began their revolt
Feb. 5.

bill_douthat@pbpost.com and gariot_louima@pbpost.com

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