23705: (pub) Hermantin-Miami-Herald-No halt on deporting Haitians (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Fri, Nov. 05, 2004


IMMIGRATION


No halt on deporting Haitians

The Department of Homeland Security opted not to grant thousands of
undocumented Haitians a wholesale reprieve from deportation.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES AND ALFONSO CHARDY

jcharles@herald.com


The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is recommending against a request
by Haiti's interim prime minister and immigration advocates to spare
thousands of undocumented Haitians from deportation while their country
recovers from devastating floods.

Instead of granting Temporary Protected Status, immigration officials have
decided not to repatriate -- for now -- undocumented Haitians in custody,
who have not been convicted of aggravated felonies and who come from areas
affected by Tropical Storm Jeanne.

The September floodwaters in Haiti's northwest region killed at least 1,900
people and left more than 200,000 others homeless.

''At this time, the Department of Homeland Security does not believe it is
appropriate to recommend TPS for Haitian nationals residing in the United
States,'' said Dan Kane, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services.

Kane said decisions on the temporary reprieve from deportation for Haitian
detainees from the flood region will be made case-by-case. It remained
unclear Thursday how many Haitians could benefit from the decision.

Local immigration advocates and South Florida elected officials have long
been advocating for TPS for an estimated 20,000 Haitians who they believe
are living here illegally. TPS would entitle them to temporary emergency
residence and work permits for up to 18 months.

A REQUEST MADE

Last month, Haiti's interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who will be in
South Florida today to meet with Gov. Jeb Bush and his Haiti Task Force,
officially asked the Bush administration for TPS. The request also had the
support of U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, both
Miami-Republicans.

A Bush administration official in Washington familiar with the discussions
that led to the TPS rejection said officials concluded that only a limited
portion of Haiti was affected by Jeanne, not the entire country.

The official said that TPS was granted to Hondurans and Nicaraguans six
years ago because those countries were more widely affected by Hurricane
Mitch.

Haitian community leaders and others had a mixed reaction to Thursday's
announcement on TPS and suspension of deportations.

''It's the continuation of the discriminatory treatment against Haitians
that have been implemented over the years and we are asking the Department
of Homeland Security to review its decision and do the right thing,'' said
Marleine Bastien, a leading South Florida Haitian advocate who called the
decision ``outrageous.''

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham said the decision stopped
short of meeting the Haitian community's needs.

''It's unfortunate that this decision has been made,'' said Meek, a Miami
Democrat. ``Hopefully some lives will be saved on a case-by-case basis.''

Graham said he is worried that ``people who should be eligible for this stay
of deportation will face an impossible burden to prove where they came from,
especially if they arrived years ago without documents or possessions.''

And that is why immigration attorneys from Catholic Charities Legal Services
will demand a stay of deportation for every Haitian detainee currently in
custody, said Randy McGrorty, the executive director.

''Everywhere in Haiti has been impacted by the storm,'' said McGrorty.
``There is a little bit of good news. This is something we have not been
able to get. They were deporting people and this is going to save some
lives.''

GOT A COPY

Still, McGrorty said the decision on TPS is disappointing. He learned about
it earlier in the day when he received a copy of an Oct. 29 letter from the
White house to Catholic Archbishop John Favalora of Miami.

The letter, written on behalf of President Bush, stated ``the decision has
been made to suspend the deportation of non-criminal Haitians living in the
United States who would be returning to areas of Haiti impacted by the
storm.''

''Despite the many challenges the interim government of Haiti has faced
since the resignation of former President [Jean-Bertrand] Aristide, progress
is being made,'' the letter said.


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