23732: (pub) Hermantin-Miami-Herald-U.S. may yet suspend removals to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Nov. 06, 2004




DEPORTATIONS


U.S. may yet suspend removals to Haiti

As U.S. policy toward Haitian illegal migrants is debated, an activist says
nothing less than full suspension of deportations will help Haiti.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES AND ALFONSO CHARDY

jcharles@herald.com


A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said late Friday
that the agency was ''premature'' in declaring that it would not support a
reprieve in deportations of undocumented Haitians.

Another agency spokesman told The Herald on Thursday that the department
opposed temporary protected status for the Haitians.

''At this time, the Department of Homeland Security does not believe it is
appropriate to recommend TPS for Haitian nationals residing [illegally] in
the United States,'' he said.

But on Friday, Angie Alfonso -- press secretary for U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services -- said: ``That statement was premature, because
temporary protected status for Haiti is still being reviewed.''

She added that a recommendation to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to
provide an estimated 20,000 undocumented Haitians with temporary residence
and work permits ``has not been made.''

Both Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue,
meeting Friday at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, said they continue to
advocate a reprieve, which they believe will help Haiti's recovery from
Tropical Storm Jeanne.

The September storm caused flooding that ravaged Haiti's northwest region,
killing at least 1,900 people and leaving more than 200,000 homeless.

''We are asking for it, we are insisting on it,'' said Latortue, who flew to
South Florida on Friday to provide the governor and members of the
governor's Haiti task force with ideas on how to help rebuild Haiti and
develop democracy in the volatile Caribbean nation.

Latortue's requests ranged from pushing for the United States to lift an
arms ban so that Haiti can purchase guns for its police to investing in
building roads and providing electricity.

Bush said that while he supports requests to halt all deportations to Haiti,
that doesn't mean he would also welcome an exodus of Haitian migrants to
Florida.

''I have recommended TPS . . . as long as it does not create a pull factor
toward the United States,'' he said.

In a private meeting with Latortue and Assistant Secretary of State for
Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega, Bush said the secretary made it
clear ''that while the possibility of TPS across the board may or may not
happen and is under review,'' there are other ways to assist Haiti, such as
by supporting the interim government.

Earlier, Noriega said that he feared granting TPS would have an adverse
effect.

''I think there will be a rush to come here,'' he said of Haitians risking
their lives by taking to the high seas. ``We would end up taking people back
to Port-au-Prince and making the situation worse.''

The Department of Homeland Security stood by its decision to suspend -- for
now -- deportations of certain noncriminal Haitians who can show that they
are from the storm-ravaged areas.

Noriega added that a suspension of deportations could be expanded to
criminals because of the ongoing political violence in Haiti.

Cheryl Little, executive director of the Miami-based Florida Immigrant
Advocacy Center, insisted that the only solution is a full reprieve, not
just suspension of certain types of deportations, which she said ``will give
false hopes to the Haitian community.''

``It is much ado about nothing.''

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