23352: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Leader requests U.S. reprieve for Haitian migrants (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Oct. 07, 2004





IMMIGRATION


Leader requests U.S. reprieve for Haitian migrants

Haiti's top leader formally asked the Bush administration to provide tens of
thousands of undocumented Haitians in the United States with a temporary
relief from deportation.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES AND ALFONSO CHARDY

jcharles@herald.com


Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has asked the United States to give
thousands of undocumented Haitian migrants a reprieve from deportation while
his country recovers from Tropical Storm Jeanne's devastating floods.

In a letter late last week to U.S. Secretary Colin Powell, Latortue formally
requested that an estimated 20,000 Haitians living here illegally be given
Temporary Protected Status, which would provide emergency temporary
residence and work papers for up to 18 months.

IMPORTANT VOICE

Latortue is the most influential ally yet of the growing movement among
South Florida Haitian community activists who are pressing for TPS for
Haitians. They argue that it's an outrage for the U.S. to deport migrants to
a country where Haitian government officials say floods have killed at least
2,573 people and left more than 250,000 homeless.

''The floods of the last two weeks, which have devastated large portions of
the country, compounded with the extraordinary conditions which have beset
our country during the past year, have strained the meager resources of the
Haitian government and rendered us temporarily unprepared to handle
adequately the return of our nationals,'' Latortue wrote to Powell.

CHALLENGES

The recent disaster, Latortue said, has provoked a state of insecurity in
Haiti, causing food prices to rise, and a humanitarian crisis and economic
instability in an already impoverished country.

''The livelihood of the Haitian people is heavily dependent upon the regular
remittances from Haitians living and working in the United States,'' he
said. ``Returning them to Haiti would not only deprive large numbers of our
citizens of their sole source of support, but would also worsen Haiti's
chances for economic and political recovery.''

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department in Washington said Wednesday: ``To
my knowledge, we have not received anything. We are still continuing to
monitor the situation and we have made no recommendation on TPS for
Haitians.''

Latortue's official request joins a growing chorus of lawmakers and local
Haitian advocates who have been requesting that the U.S. halt all
deportations of Haitians and provide them with the temporary status ever
since the political situation in Haiti began deteriorating, long before
Jeanne.

OTHER SUPPORTERS

Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, reiterated his request
for the temporary immigration benefit reserved for nationals of countries in
crisis caused by either civil strife or natural disasters such as hurricanes
or earthquakes.

U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, both
Miami-Republicans, are also requesting TPS for Haitians.

''If there is ever a situation where [TPS] is applicable, it is now,'' said
Diaz-Balart, who was unaware of Latortue's request. ``Haiti has been going
through some difficult times but this crisis is of such magnitude that it
has created more awareness of the tragedy.''

Among those taking notice is Gov. Jeb Bush, who recently formed a task force
comprised of Haitian Americans and friends of Haiti to provide him with a
list of priorities that he and the state can tackle on behalf of the
troubled nation. Though TPS is not one of the issues the group will
consider, Bush ''continues to work the issue,'' said spokesman Jacob
DiPietre.

''He is educating himself on it, reviewing the facts,'' DiPietre said.

MATTER OF TIMING

Some political observers in South Florida said conditions seem right for the
Bush administration to grant the reprieve, which can be renewed indefinitely
as long as the government does not revoke it.

``Haitians need to mobilize aggressively in requesting this," said José
Lagos, head of Honduran Unity, who represents some of the 400,000 Central
Americans who currently have TPS. ``But it all seems like a perfect
opportunity to pursue their case.''

Haiti's situation, he said, reminds him of conditions that prompted
President Clinton in 1998 to grant TPS to Hondurans and Nicaraguans after
Hurricane Mitch devastated parts of those countries.

''We had been asking the Clinton administration for TPS and it kept saying
no. Then the hurricane hit us and we got TPS,'' recalled Lagos.

In addition to the growing support for TPS, U.S. politicians are also being
urged to do more to assist the humanitarian crisis in Haiti where three
weeks after the floods, thousands remain in need of food, water and medical
treatment.

United Nations humanitarian agencies say Haiti needs $32 million in aid over
the next six months.

''Today, I ask that we not lose sight in our own minds and hearts of the
grave catastrophe that exists for our sisters and brothers in Haiti,'' Roman
Catholic Archbishop John C. Favalora said Wednesday at Notre Dame d Haiti
Mission in Little Haiti, where he appeared with representatives of Catholic
relief agencies and 10 local Haitian pastors.

RELIEF EFFORTS

Catholic aid workers and priests who recently visited Haiti said efforts to
deliver food and supplies have been hindered by blocked roads and a shortage
of security forces.

They have also been crippled by an increasing rash of violence in Gonaives
and by armed gangs looting food before it can be distributed in
Port-au-Prince, the capital.

In the past week, at least 18 people have been killed in the wake of
increasing protests by supporters of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, demanding his return to office.

''The one concern they have there is security,'' said the Rev. Jean Pierre,
pastor of St. James Church in North Miami. ``They have plenty of food. They
would like to get the food to the people.''

Herald staff writer Alexander Alter contributed to this report.

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