23970: Hermantin( Pub)Deportation fears sweep S. Florida Haitian community (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Sun-Sentinel



Deportation fears sweep S. Florida Haitian community



By Ruth Morris
Staff Writer

December 22, 2004

Bus stops, Caribbean markets, the corner barbershop. These spots have become
sources of alarm and fury for South Florida's Haitian immigrants, who say
federal agents are scouring their neighborhood's workaday places for people
to deport.

As the Department of Homeland Security pushes forward with immigration
enforcement, Haitians say their communities are being hit hard with ID
checks, surprise arrests and ramped-up deportations. On Creole-language
radio stations, fear tinges the voices of listeners calling daily to relate
their reluctance to take a bus, or visit the doctor, or eat out.

"Everyone is afraid to go out right now," said Tony Jean-Thenor, chairman of
the Veye-Yo political watch group in Miami's Little Haiti. "I have been here
since 1981, and it's the first time I've heard such stories. This is the
talk of the town in the Haitian community."

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency under the Department of
Homeland Security makes no secret of an aggressive effort to apprehend and
deport more criminals, as well as immigrants who overstay their visas. But
the agency says it's simply acting on its congressional mandate, and it
adamantly denies focusing on Haitians over other groups.

"Our enforcement operations do not target one particular nationality, race
or ethnicity over any other," said agency spokesman Dean Boyd, echoing
comments by other federal immigration agencies, such as the Border Patrol.
"The laws are applied evenly across the board."

The assertions contradict claims by Haitian activists, who say U.S.
immigration policy is tilted against them. They point to a two-month surge
in calls to their offices, reporting more and more deportations to their
hobbled homeland.

Whether based in a lopsided policy or rumor, fear of deportation has gripped
the listeners of Variety and Vibration, the Creole-language radio program
with host André Joseph on WLQY, AM 1320. Inundated by calls about
immigration operations, Joseph has taken to reminding his audience not to
leave home without their immigration papers -- advice the community is
taking seriously.

If Joseph hears of an enforcement drive while he's on the air, he pushes a
button on the control board in his studio that produces the jarring sound of
a pack of barking dogs.

"We get treated like dogs, put in jail and deported. It's not fair. It's a
discrimination," said Joseph, known as Yéyé Boul to listeners.

His sentiments were echoed throughout the Haitian communities in Lake Worth,
North Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where the perceived spike in deportations
has reignited charges that Haitians are sought by immigration officials,
while Cubans face softer policies.

"When the Cubans get here they get water and a blanket," Joseph said,
referring to the law that allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil to be released
to their families and stay here legally. "How can you send somebody back to
Haiti right now? It's a jungle."

Carline Paul, a youth organizer in Miami, said 10 of her students had
stopped coming to after-school programs, fearing they might run into an
immigration agent.

"Their parents are afraid our office could be a good place to knock and ask
for papers, so they're not letting them come," she said.

Even Haitians with their documents in order said they are feeling a strain.
Lyvie Fatal, a health educator and a naturalized citizen, said she recently
canceled a visit to her sister in North Miami because she couldn't find her
passport and was afraid to leave home without it.

"It's a humiliation," she said of U.S. immigration policy toward Haitians.

With such stories coursing through the grapevine, Haitian community leaders
requested a meeting last week with representatives from three branches of
the Department of Homeland Security that deal with immigrant issues. Only
the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent a representative to the
Wednesday meeting; those present said that official, too, denied that his
agency was going after Haitians with more intensity than other immigrants.

"We have law enforcement agencies doing the operations but not making
themselves accountable for those operations," said Jean-Robert Lafortune,
executive director of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition. "It's like
a shadow operation. It has become very difficult for advocates to track the
actions of these law enforcement agencies, which escape public scrutiny."

Reached by phone, Victor Colon, a South Florida spokesman for Border Patrol
at the Customs and Border Protection agency, said he wasn't informed about
the meeting. He said Border Patrol agents routinely ask people for their
papers at transportation hubs, such as bus stops, but those checks have not
increased in recent months.

There's no question, however, that deportations are on the rise. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement announced last month that it had deported 157,281
illegal immigrants during fiscal 2004, a 7 percent increase in removals of
criminals and a 10 percent increase in removals of noncriminals such as
tourists who overstayed their visas, compared with 2003.

The agency did not respond to a request for month-by-month statistics on
deportations to Haiti. Local Haitian leaders said the removals dropped off
in September when flooding unleashed by Tropical Storm Jeanne on the island
swept thousands to their death. In recent weeks, they said, deportations
have increased.

Haitian civil leaders, immigrant advocates and legislators have long cited
the chaos in Haiti in their campaign to grant temporary protected status to
Haitians who are already in the United States. The status would come with a
work permit and an exemption from deportation for the time being, but the
campaign has been fruitless so far. In a partial concession, Homeland
Security has said it won't deport Haitians to storm-ravaged areas of Haiti
such as Gonaïves.

Immigration lawyer Mark Citrin said his Miami office has also seen an
increase in calls from immigrants fighting deportation proceedings, but he
said the wave began six to eight months ago and was not limited to Haitian
clients. Haitians tend to live in more concentrated enclaves than other
groups in South Florida, he added, making it easier for immigration agents
to focus searches.

"We have a very large community of Haitians in South Florida with
deportation orders," Citrin said. "If you're a fisherman, that's a good
place to fish."

Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4691.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel