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| Secretary Napolitano: Grant Haitians a Stay of Deportation | January 26, 2009 |
| (Miami, Jan. 26, 2009) – As immigrant advocates see a growing number of Haitians deported, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) urged new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to immediately stay the inhumane deportations and to seriously consider granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians already in the United States. In a letter to Secretary Napolitano, FIAC executive director Cheryl Little wrote: “While resuming deportations to Haiti was not a regulatory action, it was a DHS policy reversal that we believe is not in keeping with the Obama administrations’ values of fairness, transparency or human rights.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abruptly resumed deportations to Haiti in early December 2008 after having stopped them in September in the wake of four devastating storms and hurricanes. Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff also denied the Haitian government’s request for a stay of deportations through TPS on December 19, 2008. The FIAC letter also notes that Louiness Petit-Frere, 31, was deported on Friday, January 23. Here 10 years with no criminal history, he leaves his U.S.-citizen wife behind along with his mother and four siblings, all of whom have legal status. Mr. Petit-Frere was detained by ICE at the Citizenship and Immigration Services interview while he and his U.S.-citizen wife were in the process of legalizing his status. In fact, his wife’s petition on his behalf (the I-130) had been approved. One of his brothers U.S. Marine Sgt Nikenson Peirreloui, served and was injured in Iraq. Sgt Peirreloui said, “I don’t think it’s right to deport him after he was doing the right thing in trying to legalize.’’ About Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) is one of the nation’s largest non-profit agencies providing immigration legal services. FIAC is dedicated to protecting and promoting the basic rights of immigrants of all nationalities. Since its founding in 1996, FIAC’s multilingual and multicultural staff has closed more than 60,000 cases. FIAC has influenced national policies; successfully litigated or otherwise challenged patterns of abuse; and taken a leading role in educating the public about the impact that immigration laws and directives have on our communities. FIAC is nationally recognized as a powerful advocate for immigrants’ rights. FIAC’s Annual Awards Dinner is taking place on February 17, 2009. It will feature keynote speaker Hon. Rosemary Barkett, U.S. Circuit Court, United States Court of Appeals. **** The letter to Janet Napolitano follows - January 26, 2009 The Honorable Janet Napolitano Secretary, Department of Homeland Security 2001 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201 Fax: 202-282-8401 RE: Haitian Deportations and Temporary Protected Status Dear Secretary Napolitano, Congratulations on your new appointment. We understand that yours is a tough job. There are pressing issues to address as you begin to reshape DHS in the values of the new administration. In that spirit, we bring an urgent concern to your attention: The former administration’s late-term decisions to resume deportations to Haiti and to deny the Haitian government’s request for a stay of those deportations through Temporary Protected Status (TPS). We ask that you stay the deportations while you consider reversing the former DHS secretary’s denial of TPS on Dec. 19, 2008. Continuing these deportations hampers Haiti’s recovery from devastating storms last summer while increasing the misery in Haiti and in Haitian-American communities here. Given Haiti’s current conditions, deportees will face hunger, homelessness and unemployment – and some could die because of the recent Bush administration decisions. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abruptly resumed deportations to Haiti in early December 2008 without public notice or explanation. Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff denied TPS in a letter to Haitian President René Préval on December 19, 2008. ICE had stayed deportations to Haiti on September 19, 2008, following strikes there by four tropical storms and hurricanes in August and early September 2008. We were heartened by President Obama’s quick move to suspend regulatory changes initiated in the waning days of the last administration. While resuming deportations to Haiti was not a regulatory action, it was a DHS policy reversal that we believe is not in keeping with the Obama administration’s values of fairness, transparency or human rights. The agency abruptly resumed deportations in December. The storms killed 800 and have left tens of thousands of people homeless, living in shelters, on roofs and in mud-filled homes. Flooding wiped out livestock and most of the food crops, deepening already desperate hunger among more than 2 million Haitians. The four storms destroyed 15 percent of Haiti’s fragile economy, the equivalent of eight to 10 Hurricane Katrinas hitting the United States in one month. As The Miami Herald reported recently, “The gloomy prognosis is widespread [in Haiti] and comes amid a global financial meltdown that has largely detracted world attention from the storms\' devastation, the worst humanitarian disaster to hit Haiti in 100 years.’’ Haiti’s government is overwhelmed. Sending deportees who will need food and shelter only adds to Haiti’s misery and the government’s burden. Haitian President René Préval said as much last October in Miami, and TPS exists exactly for such natural calamities. “Haiti will no longer be able to receive the deported individuals that the United States sends us on a regular basis,\'\' President Préval said. “This is the occasion for the United States administration to put in place for Haitians the benefit of TPS, the Temporary Protected Status, that has already been granted to other countries in the region, such as El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.\'\' The United States typically grants TPS when foreign governments cannot handle the return of their nationals due to “ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.” Six countries currently are designated for TPS. For example, the U.S. government granted TPS for nationals of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua due to Hurricane Mitch in 1999 and severe earthquakes in El Salvador in 2001. In extending the period of TPS for those nationals in September 2008, DHS said “those countries are still recovering from the devastating effects of natural disasters” – a decade later. Imagine now the devastation in Haiti, the hemisphere’s poorest country, only four months after the last of four killer storms. It is mind-boggling that under the previous administration ICE resumed deportations “based on the circumstances in Haiti.” If anything, the prospects for Haiti’s recovery are worse today than four months ago when ICE properly stayed the deportations in Hurricane Ike’s wake. It is mind-boggling that former Secretary Chertoff could conclude that Haiti did not “currently warrant a TPS designation,’’ with no further explanation. If not now for Haiti, when? Some U.S. officials have argued that stopping deportations for Haiti would encourage a Haitian exodus. That old saw doesn’t cut. When Haitians were granted a stay of deportation during the Clinton administration, no mass migration to U.S. shores materialized. Nor were there signs of frenzied boat building or Haitians fleeing when deportations were stayed recently. TPS would only be available to Haitians already here on the date it is granted, not to new arrivals. So TPS would not encourage more Haitians to come. On the contrary, TPS would help Haiti recover. Haitians in the United States could obtain work permits and would increase the already significant flow of remittances to their homeland. Haitians who receive that aid are more likely to stay and rebuild Haiti. Many depend on those remittances for their very survival. That flow of dollars is among the best foreign aid that the United States can provide, and it costs taxpayers nothing. For years, Haiti has been deserving of TPS. Too often the country has been wracked by political violence and natural disasters. Yet the U.S. government has not granted TPS. We do not raise concerns about racism lightly. Nonetheless, we are hard pressed to find any logical reason for the Bush administration’s policy reversal on deportations to Haiti. Beyond policy issues, lives are on the line. Haitian families will have to decide whether to subject U.S. citizen spouses and children to Haiti’s disastrous conditions or to leave them behind and be torn apart. Louiness Petit-Frere (A- 77 004 720), 31, for example, was deported last Friday, January 23. Here 10 years, he had no criminal history. Yet he was detained at the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) interview while he and his U.S.-citizen wife were in the process of legalizing his status. In fact, his wife’s petition on his behalf (the I-130) had been approved. His mother and four siblings all live in the United States legally. One brother, U.S. Marine Sgt Nikenson Peirreloui, served and was injured in Iraq. Sgt Peirreloui said, “I do not think it’s right to deport him after he was doing the right thing in trying to legalize.’’ In September President Obama, then a Senator, issued a statement. “The Haitian-American community is doing its part by supporting family and friends in Haiti in their time of need,” he said. “Now the United States government and the international community must intensify relief efforts to bring food, water and shelter to the storm victims.” Haiti still needs our help. We urge you to immediately stay the inhumane deportations to Haiti and to seriously consider granting TPS for Haitians here. Not only will this speed Haiti’s recovery, but it is in the best interest of the United States. Attached is additional information for your review. Sincerely, Cheryl Little Executive Director Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center cc: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy Senator Edward Kennedy Senator Bill Nelson Senator Mel Martinez House Speaker Nancy Pelosi House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee House Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren Representative Sheila Jackson Lee Representative Corrine Brown Representative Alan Grayson Representative Bill Posey Representative Tom Rooney Representative Kendrick B. Meek Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Representative Robert Wexler Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart Representative Ron J. Klein Representative Alcee L. Hastings Representative Suzanne Kosmas Representative Mario Diaz-Balart White House Political Director Patrick Gaspard White House Intergovernmental Affairs Director Cecilia Muñoz | |