HAITIAN-AMERICANS, ADVOCATES, CONDEMN RETURN OF MIGRANTS TO HAITI

MIAMI - Haitian-Americans and immigrants advocates criticized the Bush administration Friday for sending more than 500 Haitian migrants back to face a violent uprising in their homeland, with one saying "we could be returning people to their death."

The U.S. Coast Guard said it returned 531 people, including infants, near the capital of Port-au-Prince on Friday. That was the total number of Haitians who had been intercepted at sea near their nation's coast since Feb. 21.

"It is our intention, upon rescuing Haitian migrants from peril at sea aboard grossly overloaded and unseaworthy vessels, to immediately repatriate them in a safe and secure manner," said Rear Adm. Harvey E. Johnson Jr., commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District.

Haitian-American groups and immigrant advocates wanted the government to consider the rebellion in Haiti that has left about 80 people dead.

"Given the current political crisis in Haiti, we could be returning people to their death," said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. "It is unconscionable that the world's greatest democracy is not doing more to welcome refugees from a tiny neighbor that is teetering on the edge of political chaos."

The Rev. Jonas Georges, a Haitian-American activist, said the decision showed a "lack of consideration for human suffering."

"One would think that the American government would at least give these people a chance to sort of catch their breath until things calm down," he said. "But taking them back home, I think, is outrageous."

President Bush has repeated the government's policy to turn back any Haitian migrant trying to reach U.S. shores.

The activists called on Bush to take more action to stop the fighting in Haiti to avoid a mass exodus of Haitians to Florida. Under Haiti's military dictatorship between 1991 and 1994, more than 65,000 Haitians were intercepted at sea by the Coast Guard. Most were sent home.

"While we have seen a recent surge in migrants from Haiti, at this time there are no indicators of a mass migration," Johnson said in a statement.

While not addressing the issue of Haitians caught at sea, nearly 30 more congressional members echoed a statement made by a bipartisan congressional group made a day earlier. They urged the Bush administration to let Haitians facing deportation remain in the country.

U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, a Fort Lauderdale-area Democrat, and 28 other congressional Democrats from around the nation wrote Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge asking him to give Temporary Protected Status to Haitians. It would apply to students and workers on visas that are about to expire, and to would-be immigrants subject to deportation as they lose asylum appeals.

"Given the severely deteriorating circumstances, the United States has a moral and legal obligation to protect those Haitian nationals already in our country," the letter said.

"To put people in this situation is just wrong. It's inhumane," Deutsch said at a news conference.

Homeland Security spokesman Bill Strassberger said he could not comment on whether the department was considering the request.

Strassberger said Temporary Protected Status is an option the secretary can "grant to nationals of countries experiencing ongoing civil unrest or environmental disaster."

In the last two weeks, three Haitians have been deported, he said. From Oct. 1 to Jan. 31, 64 were sent back, he added.

Authorities finished their investigation Friday of nearly two dozen Haitians on a ship the Coast Guard intercepted off the Florida coast. They were trying to determine whether the vessel was hijacked and if the migrants should be returned home.

The FBI has turned over the case to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami, which must decide whether to charge the Haitians, FBI spokeswoman Beverly Esselbach said. She had no further comment and a U.S. Attorney's spokesman did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The freighter, carrying 21 Haitians and seven Filipino crew members, was stopped about seven miles off Miami Beach on Wednesday. Three shotguns and a handgun were turned over to U.S. officials. If evidence shows the Haitians hijacked the ship, they could be brought ashore and arrested on federal charges.

Mission:
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) is a not-for-profit legal services organization whose mission is to protect and promote the basic human rights of immigrants of all nationalities.

Purpose:
It serves the ever-growing and ever-changing needs of Florida's large immigrant population by providing both free direct legal services to individuals and impact advocacy work to address broader issues that will result in improved treatment for immigrants. This holistic approach is unique in the immigration field in Florida and in much of the nation.

History:
FIAC was founded in 1996 because of pending restrictions and funding cuts to Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funded agencies, which eventually passed and prevented many organizations in the state of Florida from serving the immigrant population. Sweeping changes in immigration law and welfare reform also increased the demand for services from FIAC. Since its inception, FIAC has been able to meet many challenges faced by immigrants and it has done so not only by representing individual clients with difficult cases, but also by influencing policy decisions, encouraging favorable clarifications of rulings, participating in effective and ongoing dialogue with senior INS officials in Washington, and litigating or otherwise challenging patterns and practices of abuse.

Five present and former FIAC attorneys have received prestigious fellowships for work at the agency: three from the Echoing Green Foundation and two from the Skadden Fellowship Foundation. Recently, the law firm of Holland and Knight named FIAC as one of three recipients (Miami, Washington and Boston) of a full-time attorney, who will be selected for the newly established Chesterfield Smith Community Fellowship Program for a two year placement with the agency. Most recently FIAC received a NAPIL Fellowship through the Greenberg Traurig law firm.

FIAC was named "Best Attorneys" by The New Times (Miami) and has been recognized by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild for its immediate impact in the immigration arena. Jonathan Demme and Edward Saxon, director and producer of the recently released film Beloved, held a screening of the movie in Miami in October, 1998, to benefit FIAC. In February, 1999, New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis was the keynote speaker at FIAC's sold out inaugural awards dinner and in February, 2000, Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) addressed more than 320 guests. In a very short time, FIAC has established itself as an agency that plays a significant role in the protection of immigrant rights and as a national leader in the immigration field.

http://www.fiacfla.org/left.html

Rev. Jonas Georges, Vice President
All Nations Presbyterian Church

Several local pastors called the committee’s attention to the plight of Caribbean immigrants, many of whom are vulnerable to exploitation as dirt-cheap labor because they are in the country illegally and have families back in Antigua or Jamaica or Haiti that depend on them. The ministers spoke about facing a painful professional risk: that by trying to help such people, they might do them harm, causing them to lose their jobs or even getting them deported. “Working with illegals also raised a moral question,” said one, the Rev. Jonas Georges of the well-named All Nations Presbyterian Church in North Miami Beach.

Society for Haitian Advancement, Recognition and Educations (S.H.A.R.E)

Dr. Jonas Georges
Executive Director,
S.H.A.R.E.
5000 Biscayne Blvd.
Suite 102
Miami, FL 33137

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