25678: (news) Chamberlain: Migrants Ashore (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   MIAMI, Julu 12 (AP) -- An orphaned Haitian teenager who was among about
200 migrants who waded ashore after their sailboat grounded off Miami in
October 2002 has been granted permanent residence.
   U.S. Immigration Judge Denise Slavin approved Ernso "Ernesto" Joseph's
application to become a legal resident Monday. "Happy birthday early," she
told the teen, who turns 18 Saturday.
   The teen, orphaned early in his life, had been fighting to prove his age
since he arrived in the U.S.; the Department of Homeland Security finally
agreed to recognize him as a juvenile, making him eligible for a special
immigrant visa.
   Slavin had earlier granted Joseph political asylum, but the federal
government balked at releasing him while his age was in dispute.
   "It's particularly a pleasure for me because I remember when you
appeared before me then. And I thought you should have been allowed to stay
from then," Slavin said.
   Joseph and his attorneys had maintained he was 16 when the migrants
landed. The claim was backed up by a birth certificate from Haiti, but
officials said the teen gave conflicting reports about his age.
   "I would like to become a policeman, but I have to think of my family in
Haiti whom I have to help," Joseph said. A brother had come with him to
America but was caught before getting to land and was deported. He also has
two sisters in Haiti.