27298: (news) Chamberlain: Haitian Deportations (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By JENNIFER KAY

   MIAMI, Jan 19 (AP) -- Attorneys for hundreds of Haitian immigrants
nationwide on Thursday asked judges to halt deportation proceedings to
avoid returning their clients to a country wracked by political turmoil,
violence and devastating natural disasters.
   "What we are asking the government to do is to temporarily stop the
deportations to give Haiti some time recoup, to settle the internal
conflicts," said Ariol Eugene, a Miami attorney who said he would be filing
the motion on behalf of 50 clients through next week.
   Simultaneous motions were filed in Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, New York
and Washington.
   Thomas Griffin, a Philadelphia attorney who filed the motion on behalf
of three clients, said between 200 and 300 attorneys nationwide have
inquired this week about filing the motion for their clients.
   The motion also criticized the Department of Homeland Security's
decision not to grant Haitians the "Temporary Protected Status" that allows
immigrants fleeing civil strife or natural disasters to remain in the
United States.
   The protected status has been granted to immigrants from a handful of
African and Central American countries.
   "All these countries have a temporary halt to deportations because it is
immoral to deport anyone to such conditions. Why aren't Haitians good
enough for such basic protections?" said Steve Forester, an attorney and
senior policy advocate for Haitian Women of Miami.
   The U.S. government is closely monitoring the situation in Haiti, said
Dan Kane, a Washington-based spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services.
   "We don't feel at this time that Haiti fulfills the very narrow criteria
provided by Congress," Kane said.
   More than a dozen national religious and immigrant organizations
supported the motion.
   "I believe that racism is at the root of this because if there is any
country that qualifies for TPS, it is Haiti. We've met all the criteria and
beyond. We've suffered natural disasters, we suffered political disasters
and now we have a country at the brink of civil war," said Marleine
Bastien, executive director of Haitian Women of Miami, an immigration
advocacy and social services agency.