23449: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Activists seek protection for Haitians (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Activists seek protection for Haitians



By Ruth Morris
Staff Writer

October 15, 2004

With violence simmering again in the streets of Haiti, local delegates will
join a group of advocates flying to Washington today to ask the government
to grant temporary protected status to Haitians who might otherwise be
forced to return to their unstable homeland.

Members of Miami's Haitian American Grassroots Coalition will join
colleagues from New York-based immigrant advocacy groups to pressure the
government to grant the status to Haitians already residing in the United
States.

The protection currently applies to foreign nationals from eight countries,
permitting them to reside and work here for a limited time. It also halts
deportation proceedings against foreign nationals from those countries if
they entered the United States without proper immigration documents.

The status is awarded to people from countries rocked by political turmoil
or reeling from a natural catastrophe. According to immigration advocates,
Haiti qualifies on both counts. Large swaths of the country are still
crippled, with food in short supply, after Tropical Storm Jeanne tore
through last month killing nearly 2,000 people. That compounds damage from
massive and deadly floods in May.

Meanwhile, politically motivated gunfights and beheadings plague the capital
city of Port-au-Prince.

"If they don't give protective status to Haiti they should just scrap it
from the book," said Jean-Robert Lafortune, who will travel to Washington
with the grass-roots coalition. His group has participated in unsuccessful
efforts to get the status applied to Haiti in the past.

Lafortune estimated the status would apply to 15,000 to 20,000 Haitians
currently residing in South Florida.

The delegation, which will also include representatives from Catholic
Charities, will meet with State Department officials responsible for making
recommendations to the Department of Homeland Security on such cases. Since
its formation two years ago, DHS has been charged with determining whether
or not to grant or renew the protective status.

Haiti's interim Prime Minister Gérard Latortue appealed to President Bush
last month to extend the protective status to Haitians.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, said looming presidential elections might
work in the delegates' favor.

"I believe [the Bush campaign] will start reaching into the bag trying to
pick up votes, and temporary protective status may be one of those
turn-around policies to garner some," Meek said.

A State Department official could not comment on whether temporary
protective status was being considered.

Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4691.


Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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