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30717: Hermantin (news) Activist aims to help detained Haitians (fwd)




From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Fri, Jul. 06, 2007
Activist aims to help detained Haitians
BY TRENTON DANIEL
Three months after a flimsy sailboat ran ashore in Hallandale Beach, the noisy protests over the lockup of the Haitian migrants who were aboard have subsided. But fledgling activist Henry Petithomme wants to keep the spotlight on what he and others say is unfair treatment of their fellow Haitians. He cites the federal ''wet food, dry foot'' policy that allows Cuban migrants to stay once they reach U.S. soil while all others are returned to their country of origin. ''There's a little bit of noise for a week or two and then they're forgotten about,'' Petithomme, 32, said about the migrants. ``Our goal is to keep the community involved.''

With this in mind, Petithomme and a colleague will pay a visit to the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach this morning -- not so much to wage a protest but to lend a hand. They plan to drop off a number of personal hygiene supplies, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and sandals and clothes for the Haitians for their eventual release.

Petithomme said the donated items should serve about 100 detainees.
Days after the wooden 40-foot overcrowded sloop from Haiti landed in Hallandale Beach and the 101 passengers ended up in a detention center, Petithomme launched a 15-day hunger strike at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Little Haiti in Miami-Dade.
He subsisted on a diet of Gatorade, Vitamin Water and maple syrup.

The Miami-Dade Realtor garnered further attention through his website -- tpsforhaiti.com -- a reference to temporary protected status, or TPS, which extends to Nicaraguans, Hondurans and Salvadorans here, but not Haitians.
Prior to his cot-ridden protest, Petithomme had no political experience.

But he said the routine detention and deportation of Haitian migrants gave him a cause. ''I was a simple businessman,'' said Petithomme, who moved to the United States at age 3 with his Haitian parents. ``I got tired of seeing the same thing over and over and nothing was being done.'' Last month Petithomme created his own nonprofit organization called Youth Power Movement, the goal of which is to encourage Haitian youths to be actively involved in political matters concerning their homeland.
Petithomme and the nonprofit's other members collected the hygiene items.
Today, many of the Haitian adult migrants remain at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach and 14 minors are at the Boystown shelter in Miami-Dade.

At least 18 of the adults may have already been deported.
''We saw one of our clients and we immediately contacted the deportation officer and he informed us that they were scheduled for deportation for this week,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.
FIAC attorneys have been representing the migrants.
Little said she was hopeful the children could stay.
A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement couldn't be reached for comment on Thursday.


© 2007 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.http://www.miamiherald.com
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