12172: Sun-Sentinel Editorial (on asylum seekers

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Fair Rules For Asylum Seekers

South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
Posted May 27 2002


Ernest Moise and his two teenage sons won a shot at asylum after making it
to Florida on an overcrowded boat last December. An immigration judge found
that Moise, a 39-year-old fisherman, had a credible reason to fear
persecution if sent back to Haiti.

But the woman who shared a life with Moise and bore him two sons wasn't so
lucky. Jesiclaire Clairmont, 45, remains behind bars in a maximum-security
prison. While her companion and children forge a new life in South Florida,
Clairmont's fate is uncertain.

What's clear is that U.S. asylum laws are being applied unevenly and
unfairly to Haitians. More than 240 Haitians find themselves in jail with
little hope of gaining asylum.

Not all Haitians who enter the United States without permission should stay.
But those who may be able to prove they have been persecuted should be
treated like asylum seekers from other countries. This is not what's
happening.

Last December, after a boat carrying 187 Haitians ran aground in Biscayne
National Park, the Immigration and Naturalization Service changed a policy
regarding Haitians. While other asylum seekers are released, Haitians are
automatically detained.

The INS says the policy change is meant to prevent an exodus from Haiti.

Yet the same thing could be said about Cuba or any other nation. One boat
wave is as bad as another. Then why are Haitians singled out for special
treatment?

Eight years ago, the Clinton administration changed U.S. policy and began
sending Cuban rafters to the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Today,
the Coast Guard patrols waters near Cuba and Haiti and intercepts boats
carrying undocumented immigrants. Most are returned to Cuba and Haiti,
unless they can present a credible asylum claim.

Some illegal boats make it to U.S. shores. Cubans get to stay and now
Haitians are routinely locked up. Cuba has a Communist regime while Haiti is
a troubled democracy. But not all Cubans are political refugees -- some come
for economic reasons. Likewise, not all Haitians are economic refugees. Some
have suffered real persecution. They should get the same consideration as
asylum seekers from other countries.

Last week, federal Judge Joan A. Lenard upheld the INS policy toward
Haitians, saying plaintiffs should turn to politicians rather than the
courts for help. A few days later, a group of Haitians demonstrated
peacefully as President Bush attended a $25,000-a-plate fund-raiser in
Miami. The Bush administration should pay attention to this Haitian request.

It appeals to America's sense of fairness and due process.




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