23448: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Kerry: Haitians deserve temporary U.S. status (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Oct. 14, 2004

HAITI | AFTER THE FLOODS


Kerry: Haitians deserve temporary U.S. status

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry came out in favor of allowing
Haitian migrants to stay in the United States while their country deals with
a flood emergency.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES AND LESLEY CLARK

jcharles@herald.com


In his strongest statement to date on the issue, presidential candidate John
Kerry said Wednesday that he supports giving emergency temporary residence
and work permits to thousands of undocumented Haitian immigrants while their
country recovers from deadly floods.

Kerry criticized President Bush continuing to repatriate Haitians, saying it
is ``completely unacceptable.''

Kerry's support for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and his criticism of
Bush comes as Republicans have strengthened their efforts to peel off
Caribbean-American voters in the final stretch to Election Day. While
courting Haitian-American voters on behalf of his brother last weekend, Gov.
Jeb Bush said a ruling on TPS could come within a week.

JOINING THE CROWD

Kerry joins a chorus of lawmakers, Haitian Americans, and immigrant
advocates who say sending Haitians back to a country where Tropical Storm
Jeanne killed more than 3,000 is inhumane.

The Massachusetts senator stopped short of saying how long the temporary
reprieve should be granted. Kerry's campaign has said he supports granting
three- to six-month temporary status to Haitian migrants.

''In 1998, President Clinton gave Temporary Protected Status to Hondurans,
Nicaraguans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans in the wake of Hurricane Mitch --
we should do no less for Haitians,'' he said.

``International aid agencies are struggling to provide Haitians with
sufficient food and clean water and to rebuild Haiti's sanitation services.
And since the storm, political violence has increased. These are not the
type of conditions to which the United States should force people to
return.''

A REQUEST

Haiti's interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue recently sent a letter to the
Bush administration requesting the reprieve on behalf of about 20,000
undocumented Haitians in the United States for up to 18 months.

On Wednesday, a state department official said, ``The State Department has
not yet made a decision to recommend TPS for Haitian nationals residing in
the United States. We continue to monitor the situation closely with regard
to the requirements for TPS.''

AID IS `LATE'

Meeting with the Herald editorial board last Sunday, Kerry, as part of a
broader conversation about Latin America, criticized the administration's
efforts in Haiti.

''Our aid to Haiti is late,'' he said, adding that the U.S. has not had a
consistent strategy toward.

``There's devastation down there, help is needed, very serious help. The UN
authorized 6,700 troops. There's something like 3,000 there today. What's
going on folks? We've got to be serious about these kinds of things.

Herald staff writer Alfonso Chardy contributed to this report.


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