[Senate Hearing 107-973]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 107-973
THE DETENTION AND TREATMENT OF HAITIAN ASYLUM SEEKERS
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION
of the
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 1, 2002
__________
Serial No. J-107-107
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
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COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman
EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr., Delaware STROM THURMOND, South Carolina
HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa
DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania
RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin JON KYL, Arizona
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York MIKE DeWINE, Ohio
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas
JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
Bruce A. Cohen, Majority Chief Counsel and Staff Director
Sharon Prost, Minority Chief Counsel
Makan Delrahim, Minority Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Immigration
EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts, Chairman
DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JON KYL, Arizona
JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina MIKE DeWINE, Ohio
Melody Barnes, Majority Chief Counsel
Stuart Anderson, Minority Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Page
Brownback, Hon. Sam, a U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas..... 2
Conyers, Hon. John, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Michigan [ex officio]................................. 7
prepared statement........................................... 27
Kennedy, Hon. Edward M., a U.S. Senator from the State of
Massachusetts.................................................. 1
WITNESSES
Johnson, Stephen C., Policy Analyst for Latin America, Heritage
Foundation, Washington, D.C.................................... 12
Little, Cheryl, Executive Director, Florida Immigrant Advocacy
Center, Miami, Florida......................................... 10
Ocean, Marie Jocely, Haitian asylee and former detainee, Miami,
Florida........................................................ 8
Parks, Dina Paul, Executive Director, National Coalition for
Haitian Rights, New York, New York............................. 13
Wenski, Thomas G., Auxiliary Bishop of Miami, Florida, and
Chairman, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on
Migration, Miami, Florida...................................... 5
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
American Civil Liberties Union, Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, President,
Miami-Dade County Chapter, Miami, Florida, statement........... 22
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Oganizations, Washington, D.C., statement...................... 24
Carey-Shuler, Barbara M., County Commissioner, Miami-Dade County
Board of County Commissioners, Miami, Florida, statement....... 25
Department of Justice, Daniel J. Bryant, Assistant Attorney
General, Office of Legislative Affairs, Washington, D.C........ 30
Glover, Danny, Miami, Florida, statement......................... 33
Graham, Hon. Bob., a U.S. Senator from the State of Florida,
statement...................................................... 35
Johnson, Stephen C., Policy Analyst for Latin America, Heritage
Foundation, Washington, D.C., prepared statement............... 38
Kennedy, Hon. Edward M., a U.S. Senator from the State of
Massachusetts, and Hon. Sam Brownback, a U.S. Senator from the
State of Kansas, joint letter.................................. 45
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Anwen Hughes, Staff Attorney,
Washington, D.C., statement.................................... 47
Little, Cheryl, Executive Director, Florida Immigrant Advocacy
Center, Miami, Florida, prepared statement..................... 59
Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board, Adora Obi Nweze,
Chair, Community Relations Board, position statement........... 73
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Brad
Brown, President, Miami-Dade Branch of the NAACP, Miami,
Florida........................................................ 74
Nelson, Hon. Bill, a U.S. Senator from the State of Florida,
statement...................................................... 82
Ocean, Marie Jocelyn, Haitian asylee and former INS detainee,
prepared statement............................................. 83
O'Laughlin, Sister Jeanne, OP, President, Barry University,
Broward County, Florida, statement............................. 86
Parks, Dina Paul, Executive Director, National Coalition for
Haitian Rights, New York, New York, prepared statement......... 87
Ros-Lehtinen, Hon. Ileana, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Florida, statement.................................... 99
Russo, Monica, President, SEIU 1199 Florida, AFL-CIO,
International Executive Board, Service Employees Interational
Union, Florida, statement...................................... 101
United Caribbean African Alliance, Inc., Bernier Lauredan, M.D.,
Chairman, Washington, D.C., statement.......................... 103
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Guenet Guebre-
Christos, Regional Representative, Washington, D.C., statement. 105
United States District Court for the Southern District of
Florida, Miami Division........................................ 112
Wenski, Thomas G., Auxiliary Bishop of Miami, Florida, and
Chairman, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on
Migration, Miami, Florida, prepared statement.................. 118
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Wendy A.
Young, Director of Government Relations, New York, New York,
statement...................................................... 127
THE DETENTION AND TREATMENT OF HAITIAN ASYLUM SEEKERS
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2002
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Immigration,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:46 p.m., in
room SD-226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Edward M.
Kennedy, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
Present: Senators Kennedy, Brownback, and Representative
Conyers [ex officio.]
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD M. KENNEDY, A U.S. SENATOR
FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS
Chairman Kennedy. Thank you for your patience. We look
forward to our hearing today.
Senator Brownback and I had our consultation with the State
Department on the number of immigrants and we are disappointed
with the administration's decisions in terms of the total
numbers, but we are going to work with them to try and see if
we can't persuade the administration to respond to the great
human tragedy that is being experienced by refugees all over
the world and for many who meet the criteria which both the
United States and the international community have defined as
being the criteria under which they would be welcomed here into
the United States.
I want to welcome some special guests who are longstanding
advocates for Haitian rights. We have representatives here from
Massachusetts, Florida, New York, and Connecticut. I thank all
of you for your leadership and commitment and your support for
the fair treatment of Haitian refugees.
Many of us are troubled by the detention policy of the
Department of Justice. On December 3, 2001, a refugee boat
carrying 187 Haitians ran aground off the coast of Florida. The
Coast Guard rescued 167 persons and they were detained and
placed in removal proceedings by the Department of Justice.
The INS Deputy Commissioner instructed the INS field
officers to implement a new parole policy in cases of all
Haitians arriving by boat in Florida after December 2001. The
instructions stated that no Haitian should be paroled from
detention without approval from Washington.
One of the express purposes of this new policy is the
deterrence of future Haitian arrivals by sea. Last week, in a
letter from the Justice Department, they confirmed their change
in policy and explained their reasons for the change, that
detention was needed to ``prevent against a potential mass
migration to the United States.''
A major concern is that such a policy violates well-
established international refugee standards which are the basis
of U.S. law. As an advisory opinion of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees states, ``[t]he detention of asylum
seekers...to deter future arrivals does not fall within any of
the exceptional grounds for detention and is contrary to the
principle underlying the international refugee protection
regime.''
Another major concern is whether this detention policy is
discriminatory. It appears to be a policy based on the national
origin of the detainee, with no regard for the person's
individual record or circumstances. The policy applies only to
Haitian asylum seekers. Similarly situated asylum seekers of
other nationalities are routinely released.
Most of the Haitians in question have demonstrated a
credible fear of persecution, have family or community contacts
willing to sponsor them, do not pose a flight risk, and would
not pose a danger to the community. These factors would
normally have resulted in grants or parole from detention and
are the same factors currently used to parole other nationals
from detention. Yet, the Haitians have been singled out for
more restrictive treatment. Such a policy appears to violate
U.S. law, which according to a 1995 Supreme Court decision,
must be based on individualized parole determinations without
regard to race or national origin.
Prolonged detention has also interfered with the ability of
Haitians to present their asylum claims. Few of the Haitians
can afford to retain private counsel, and few legal service
providers have the staff and resources to represent all of the
detainees.
As a result, many Haitians have been forced to appear in
immigration courts unrepresented. In some cases, they have
relied on INS officers to assist them in completing their
asylum applications, a clear conflict of interest. Despite
these problems, requests from local legal service organizations
for adequate time and access to Haitian detainees has at times
been denied.
As of last week, only 16 of the 167 detainees from the
December 2001 boat have been granted asylum, despite a majority
having initially passed the credible fear interview. Fifty of
the detainees have been deported and another 54 are awaiting
removal. Given the current escalation of violence in Haiti, the
life and death implications of improper detention practices and
inadequate access to representation are very troubling.
The committee invited the Justice Department to testify
today. Unfortunately, the Department did not send a
representative to participate in this hearing to defend or
explain the policy they initiated, implemented, and stand
behind. I regret the Department's absence and I look forward to
the testimony of our witnesses.
Senator Brownback?
STATEMENT OF HON. SAM BROWNBACK, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF KANSAS
Senator Brownback. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
for calling the hearing. I too am disappointed in the numbers
that are coming out, the refugee resettlement numbers in the
United States, and we are going to continue to work together to
try to get those numbers up and to get a larger number of
refugees into the United States. We need to; it is the right
thing for us to do.
There are a number of people sitting in very difficult,
extraordinarily hostile circumstances in refugee camps around
the world and we really need to help these people out. I know
we have had difficulties after last September 11. Those are
well-known and documented, but it doesn't remove our need to be
able to help people that are in the most dire of circumstances.
I think it ennobles us as a country, and it also speaks
volumes to the rest of the world, when we open our country up
to help those in the worst of circumstances. So I am hopeful
that we can continue to put some pressure forward to get that
refugee population number up. I am eager to hear the testimony
by the witnesses here today.
It needn't be repeated, but it is always worth repeating
that our Nation has a long and noble tradition of being a
country or refuge. We are the world's leader in the protection
of refugees and asylum seekers, and I am pleased that we are
and I want us to continue to be that.
No other nation has made the political, financial, or
spiritual commitment that this Nation has made to sheltering
the persecuted from harm. It is the Book of Jeremiah for
guidance that we can read. This is what the Lord says: ``Do
what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor
the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the
alien.'' Then you can even look in the Book of Matthew: ``For I
was hungry and he gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and
he gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited
me in.''
Our Nation's commitment extends to all refugees,
irrespective of their race, nationality, religion, political
opinion, or social group. Our obligation is to rescue from the
hand of the oppressor, to treat the stranger with kindness and
respect, no matter where that person comes from.
I appreciate that with respect to Haiti, there are
political and administrative considerations that guide the
administration's detention policies and have done so with prior
administrations. However, the detention of Haitian asylum
seekers is neither a new topic nor an unfamiliar controversy.
To the contrary, it appears to be a chronic concern that
crosses administrations.
Mr. Chairman, I look forward to the testimony of our
witnesses and welcome their insights. I appreciate the passion
and compassion that they will bring to the issue. I hope that
with their help, we can bring the NGO community and the
administration together to work out a meaningful and lasting
solution to the problems that will be detailed before us today,
and that there will not be a prejudice based upon one certain
group or another or other considerations. We need to consider
and treat everybody as equal and the same in regard to refugee
policy and asylum seekers seeking asylum or refuge in the
United States.
Mr. Chairman, as the administration is not here to testify
today, I would like to submit for the record a document that
represents the administration's position. The correspondence is
from the Assistant Attorney General, Daniel Bryant. It is dated
September 25 and it is chronicling the development of the
current policy toward Haitian asylum seekers.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to the testimony we
are going to hear today, and I do hope we can start to move
forward toward some resolution of this chronic problem.
Chairman Kennedy. Thank you very much. We will include in
the record.
I would like to have our panel come up.
Bishop Thomas Wenski is the Auxiliary Bishop of Miami,
Florida, and Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops' Committee on Migration. He is also Director of
Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Miami. For more than
20 years, Bishop Wenski has been an eloquent and powerful voice
for refugees fleeing persecution.
Bishop Wenski speaks Creole and is especially well-known
both in the United States and Haiti as a defender of the rights
of Haitians, and I am honored to welcome him and look forward
to his testimony.
I would also like to welcome Marie Ocean, who is a Haitian
asylee and a former INS detainee at the Turner Guilford Knight
Correctional Center. Marie Ocean fled her native Haiti after he
father and brother were already assassinated by political
opponents and she feared for her life. She is one of the
original December 2001 boat refugees.
Ms. Ocean, I would like to thank you very much for being
here. I know it took a lot of courage to share your story with
us. I also want to thank Gepsie Metellus, who will be
translating for you.
Cheryl Little is the Executive Director of the Florida
Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami. Ms. Little co-founded the
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center that provides free legal help
to immigrants of all nationalities. FIAC serves the most
vulnerable immigrants, including asylum seekers, the homeless,
and victims of domestic violence. Ms. Little is a nationally
recognized, tireless advocate deeply committed to safeguarding
the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. I look forward to
her testimony.
I would like to welcome Stephen Johnson, a former State
Department officer who has worked in the Bureau of Inter-
American Affairs and Public Affairs. He is a currently the
Latin American policy analyst at the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom
Davis Institute for International Studies at the Heritage
Foundation.
During his time at the State Department, Mr. Johnson was a
writer and researcher, serving as the Director of the Central
American Staff Working Group, and later as the Chief of the
Editorial Division in the Public Affairs Bureau. We welcome him
and thank him for testifying. I look forward to your views.
Dina Paul Parks is the Executive Director of the National
Coalition for Haitian Rights, in New York City. She helps to
develop policy and recommendations on immigration, human
rights, and Haitian American community development. NCHR was
established in 1982 in response to the waves of refugees
fleeing the oppressive Duvalier regime. For over 20 years, the
NCHR has promoted human rights and democracy in Haiti, while
advocating for fair treatment and policies for Haitian
refugees. I am pleased that she will be testifying today.
We will hear from Bishop Wenski.
STATEMENT OF THOMAS G. WENSKI, AUXILIARY BISHOP OF MIAMI,
FLORIDA, AND CHAIRMAN, UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC
BISHOPS' COMMITTEE ON MIGRATION, MIAMI, FLORIDA
Bishop Wenski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me to
testify today. First, I would like to thank you and your
subcommittee for holding this hearing today. I thank you for
your longstanding commitment to immigrants and refugees in this
Nation.
I would also like to thank Senator Brownback for his
support of fair access for asylum seekers seeking protection in
the United States. Senator Brownback also took time out of his
busy schedule to visit with the United States Catholic
Conference of Bishops' Committee on Migration several weeks
ago. At that time, Senator Brownback spoke of his concern at
the treatment accorded Korean asylum seekers in China. I think
today's proceedings might point out some unfortunate parallels
between the way China treats North Korean asylum seekers and
our own policy toward asylum seekers from Haiti.
Before being ordained a bishop, I worked as a parish priest
among the Haitian population in South Florida for almost 20
years. During that time, my pastoral duties included visiting
Haitians detained at the INS Krome processing center.
The present policy, which holds a group of 160 Haitian
nationals in indefinite detention since December of last year,
recalls the ill-fated detention policies of the early 1980's
when thousands of Haitians were held in detention at Krome and
in other places for more than a year, until the Federal courts
forced the INS to release them.
At that time, USCCB's Migration and Refugees Services
assisted the Government in helping these detainees reunite with
family members in the United States, seek legal advice and
counsel, and to comply with periodic reporting to INS while
their applications for asylum were being processed.
In my work with Haitians in South Florida, I have found
them to be hard-working, honest, and God-fearing members of our
communities. They have been a positive influence in South
Florida and elsewhere. In recent years, Haitian Americans have
distinguished themselves in all areas of our community's life,
and indeed today several are elected public officials. In other
words, whatever fears there might have been that led to the
early policies of the 1980's have not been realized. They were
unfounded. So one must ask why do we return now to a policy
that is unfair and unjust?
The present policy is unfair because it singles out
Haitians for disparate treatment. Other groups of asylum
seekers similarly situated who arrive on the shores of South
Florida are not subjected to indefinite detention. Except for a
few cases, nearly all Haitians arriving by sea to Miami have
been detained, while more than 90 percent of other
nationalities arriving the same way during the same period have
been released while their claims are adjudicated.
The present policy is unjust, for the indefinite detention
of asylum seekers erodes refugee rights provided for under
international law. In my written statement I submitted to the
committee, the appropriate references to international laws are
cited.
As we have done since the mid-1970's, the United States
Bishops call for an end to a policy that unfairly and unjustly
discriminates against Haitian asylum seekers. Once again, we
call for a reexamination of current interdiction policies.
Haitians stopped on the high seas or in airports must not be
denied the opportunity to request asylum and to be heard
fairly.
Once again, we call for the reversal of the current policy
of indefinite detention of Haitian asylum seekers. Those
already found to have met credible fear criteria should be
immediately released and afforded a reasonable time to secure
counsel and to petition for asylum.
Once again, we offer our assistance to INS in helping to
resettle asylum seekers from Haiti while their cases go
forward. In the early 1980's when we collaborated with INS in
facilitating the release of Haitians, we helped them to report
their whereabouts to INS and to appear at their hearings. They
did not abscond, they did not pose a flight risk.
USCCB's MRS has long collaborated with INS and ORR in
helping Haitian and Cuban entrants process through Krome for
over 20 years. This offers a way that builds upon the successes
of the past, that serves the interests of justice, and provides
a cost-effective alternative to indefinite detention.
I remember how 1 day in the early 1980's officials from INS
in Miami contacted me at my church. They requested that I
accompany them to the home of a woman in Fort Lauderdale. Her
son was detained in Krome for several months after arriving
from Haiti after a harrowing voyage in a rickety boat. Fearing
for his life if forcibly deported to Haiti and despairing of
ever leaving the monotony of a then seriously overcrowded
facility, he committed suicide in Krome. The INS officials
asked me to interpret for them as they presented their
condolences to his mother.
Today, whether in Krome where the men are held or the TGK
correctional facilities, the county jail where the women are
held, the present revival of the old and cruel policy of
indefinite detention has recreated those same conditions that
breed fear and despair, and portend further tragedy. Mr.
Chairman, this is not worthy of the United States of America.
[The prepared statement of Bishop Wenski appears as a
submission for the record.]
Chairman Kennedy. Thank you very much, Bishop.
We are joined by Congressman Conyers, who has been a great
leader nationally on this issue. Certainly, if he had a word to
say, we would welcome it, and we would invite him, as well, if
he had the time, to listen to the rest of our witnesses as
someone who cares very deeply about this issue. We always
welcome our colleagues from the other side, and more
particularly welcome a friend.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN
Representative Conyers. Mr. Chairman, I am honored, first
of all, to sit with you anywhere, but in the U.S. Senate it is
even better, and at a committee that you are chairing is even
better yet. So please know that I am happy to be with you.
I would be happy wherever I was sitting, especially with
the witnesses that you have on this panel. Cheryl Little and
Marie Ocean and, our friend, Ms. Parks have all done incredible
work on this subject. It is a labor of love, and I am very
privileged to join with you, Bishop Wenski, in merely
discussing this subject for a couple of minutes.
I am going to put my statement in the record, and so what I
would like to do now is just lift up the main problem here,
which is that Haitian arrivals into this country, particularly
through Florida, seeking asylum are treated differently from
everybody else that comes to the United States--everybody.
There is a policy of, number one, turning them away right
on the spot, no questions asked. They turn the boats around.
You may say, do they need food or nourishment, or are they
sick, or is their little raft capable of going back? They turn
it around. That is it, no questions asked. That is in
violation, of course, of our immigration laws, but it more
seriously contravenes any spirit of the treatment that human
beings should be afforded anywhere in the world, much less
coming to the shores of the United States.
The other point is about Krome itself, which is a
nightmare. I was talking to the acting superintendent there.
Here are some of the problems encountered during this visit.
[The information referred to appears as a submission for
the record.]
Representative Conyers. The discriminatory process of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service has to end, and I sure
hope that they are scheduled to come before you today or
sometime soon. I would sure like to hear their statements under
oath about some of the things that are going on there. The
separation of mothers from their children is disgraceful.
Then the final point that occurs to me is the way the
lawyers representing Haitian asylum seekers are treated in the
INS courts. It is shabby, it is disrespectful, and it is not in
keeping with any sense of fairness that we try to operate our
system of laws with.
So I am delighted and congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, for
holding these hearings and I am very pleased to see all of
these witnesses with us. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Conyers appears as a
submission for the record.]
Chairman Kennedy. Thank you very much. We might join and
ask the American Bar Association to do a study about how the
attorneys are treated and give a report back to us.
Representative Conyers. I would like to join you in such a
request.
Chairman Kennedy. We might join with Senator Brownback and
others and see if it might make some sense.
Marie Ocean, we thank you for being here. We thank you for
coming and we know it is not easy to talk about the struggles
in one's life as you have had, and so we are very grateful to
you for telling us your story. By telling us your story, we
will try and make sure it doesn't happen to other people.
STATEMENT OF MARIE JOCELYN OCEAN, HAITIAN ASYLEE AND FORMER
DETAINEE, MIAMI, FLORIDA
Ms. Ocean. [speaking through an interpreter.] Good
afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. My
name is Marie Jocelyn Ocean. I am from Haiti and I am here
because of my difficulties, my problems, with Lavalas.
I suffered quite a few shocks, I suffered several shocks as
a result of Lavalas. They killed a brother of mine. They beat
up one of my brother's children. Fifteen days after my
brother's funeral, my father was killed. Subsequent to that,
another brother of mine was beaten and abused and suffered a
stab wound right above his eyebrow.
They came after me subsequently, but I ran. Because they
did not find me, they beat up on my 9-year-old girl. This year,
she is 10 years old. And these are the reasons that I fled the
country by boat--I along with the many other women who are
still detained for the same reasons.
I am not alone to have suffered this problem. My problem is
also the problem of the other women who are still detained. We
were detained by the Immigration and Nationalization Service on
December 3. I was taken to jail, I along with the other women
detainees. I was held in a motel that served like a jail along
with other women and we were not treated well at all.
We were in a room. Essentially, it had no windows and we
were not able to see the outside at all. We could not breathe.
The only opportunity to enjoy the outdoors was on our trips to
the court. And there was also a 7-year-old youngster also
locked up with us. A 7-year-old should not be detained in such
circumstances.
I was summoned by an official at the jail, supposedly
because I was going to court, and I found myself being
transferred to another facility, a jail, TGK. Upon my arrival
at TGK, I was strip-searched. I along with the other women were
equally strip-searched, and this process of being strip-
searched was absolutely humiliating and we were handcuffed and
escorted into the jail.
At the jail, one of the experiences was the evening check-
ups when the guards would come around to check the cells and to
make sure that all the detainees were in place. The locking of
the doors, the banging on the jail doors, and the flashlights
was absolutely traumatizing. The flashlights interrupting our
sleep that way was traumatizing and that made us even more
fearful, and that contributed to taking us back to the
experience we had in Haiti.
And certainly we were taken before a judge, but not being
able to speak English, not understanding the process, the
procedures, we were helpless. Among the other women detainees,
I was the only fortunate one to have been benefited from the
legal assistance of a FIAC attorney, and this attorney
accompanied me and represented me before the immigration judge
at TGK.
On May 31, 2002, I went before the judge and I was granted
asylum in the United States. I was very happy to receive
asylum, but I was still troubled. I was troubled for the other
women detainees because we were in the same boat together, so
to speak, because when we were all captured we did not know
where we would end up.
They were moved from one detention facility to another, and
I think that these women should not have been detained in that
manner. And all of the other nationals who subsequently
requested asylum were released, while the Haitians were kept
and were denied every time. All of us have the same blood
flowing through our veins and we are all God's children; we are
children of the same God.
We thought that coming before Americans, coming before
America with the problems we endured, with the troubles we had
to experience, and that if we came with our troubles before
America, America would consider this treatment we experienced,
as well as the torture we experienced. Unfortunately, this was
not the outcome that we anticipated or expected.
We were treated worse than common criminals because the
facility in which these women are detained is a jail facility
for criminals. They will have been there 10 months now. They
should not have been there for such a long time because they
are not criminals. They did not kill anyone.
I acknowledge that we arrived illegally, but we are not to
be blamed because conditions in our country forced us to flee.
According to the laws of this country, while it is true that we
arrived illegally and we could have been detained to be
punished for breaking those laws, we should not been punished
or detained for such a long time.
We were absolutely humiliated. We were devaluated as human
beings. Certainly, the authorities do not view it that way, but
we detainees certainly feel and experience it that way because
when an adult cries, certainly there are problems, and he cries
because he has problems.
Since my arrival in the United States, since my and the
other detainees' arrivals, we have not experienced the same
difficulties as in Haiti, because the conditions under which I
fled Haiti are certainly different from the conditions I live
in today. I am no longer afraid for my life.
I appear before you today to testify and to appeal to you
to help these women detainees because we are all one and the
same, because we must hang in there together, put our heads
together so that they too can be freed.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear before
you to testify on my behalf as well as on behalf of the other
women detainees.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Ocean appears as a
submission for the record.]
Chairman Kennedy. Thank you for that extraordinary story of
incredible pain, anguish and misery. No one should have to
undergo that kind of treatment here in the United States. It is
an absolutely despicable kind of treatment, and we certainly
find it as shocking an injustice as you do and we will see what
we can do to try to bring that kind of treatment to a halt. It
is very powerful testimony and we appreciate very much your
willingness to share it with us.
Ms. Little?
STATEMENT OF CHERYL LITTLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA
IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY CENTER, MIAMI, FLORIDA
Ms. Little. On behalf of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy
Center, I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Senator
Brownback for inviting me to testify today.
And it is always good to see Congressman Conyers. I saw
him, recently in Miami when he was visiting the detention
centers there and meeting with many of the Haitians. I want to
thank each of you for your leadership in defending immigrants'
basic rights.
My testimony today is supported by the Women's Commission
for Refugee Women and Children.
In December 2001, following the December 3 arrival of 167
Haitians who fled Haiti by boat, the Acting Deputy INS
Commissioner adopted a secret policy directed solely at
Haitians which resulted in the detention of virtually all
Haitian asylum seekers in South Florida, regardless of how they
arrived in the United States and whether they had demonstrated
a credible fear of persecution, which all but two did.
While adopting the Haitian policy, the INS continued to
routinely release those asylum seekers of other nationalities
who had passed their INS credible fear interviews. The INS
policy expressly applied to Haitian asylum seekers arriving
both by plane and by boat.
The effect of the December policy was dramatic and
immediate. The released rate for Haitians who had passed their
credible fear interviews dropped from 96 percent in November
2001 to 6 percent between December 14, 2001, and March 18,
2002. Even Haitians who had been granted asylum and could no
longer be legally detained by INS were not immediately
released.
As a result of the Haitian policy, the INS refused to
release over 240 Haitian asylum seekers, while it continued to
release asylum seekers of all other nationalities in the Miami
District at an extremely high rate. The Haitian policy
represents a radical departure from INS' prior policy, which
did not make distinctions based on nationality or race and
which expressly permitted the release of asylum seekers of all
nationalities who pass their credible fear interviews in the
Miami District.
For months after the Haitian policy was adopted, INS
officials denied the existence of the policy to advocates and
community leaders. Only in March 2002 did INS officials finally
acknowledge that they had indeed adopted a policy of detaining
Haitians.
According to Acting INS Commissioner Becraft, the INS
adopted the policy because of concerns that there was going to
be a mass migration of people arriving by boat from Haiti
rivaling that of the Cuban Mariel exodus and the significant
number of refugees held at Guantanamo in 1994.
Yet the overall number of Haitian interdictions in 2001
simply do not indicate a mass migration, nor do Coast Guard
interdiction statistics for 2002. Indeed, only 1,956 Haitians
were interdicted at sea by the Coast Guard in 2001. This number
is significantly smaller than the 1980 Mariel boatlift, during
which 125,000 Cubans arrived in the United States, as well as
in 1994, when over 25,000 Haitians and over 37,000 Cubans were
detained there.
On March 15, 2002, a class action lawsuit was filed on
behalf of all the detained Haitians in the Southern District of
Florida who arrived on or after December 3 and had passed their
credible fear interviews. The district court summarily
dismissed the case without an evidentiary hearing, saying it
was up to politicians, not the courts, to determine the
Haitians' fate. An appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of
Appeals is pending.
After the lawsuit was filed, INS changed its detention
policy to permit the release of certain Haitian asylum seekers
who arrived at the Miami Airport or other ports of entry.
However, the vast majority of Haitians who arrived by boat on
December 3 continue to languish in INS detention and suffer
irreparable harm as a result.
Unlike released asylum seekers of other nationalities, they
are forced to prepare for their asylum cases in an expedited,
Haitian-only docket and have limited access to counsel. Few
agencies are able to provide free legal help to the Haitians
and most are unrepresented. Without attorneys, the Haitians are
far less likely to win asylum than those with attorneys.
A study conducted by Georgetown University in 2000
indicated that asylum seekers in detention are more than twice
as likely as those who aren't detained to be without legal
representation, and persons with attorneys are four to six
times more likely to be granted asylum.
Most of the Haitians speak no English and are forced to
complete asylum applications in English. Their cases are
expedited and those attorneys who have agreed to represent them
face multiple barriers in gaining access to their clients. INS
itself admitted that it lacks adequate visitation space to meet
the needs of attorneys assisting the Haitians.
The conditions in the facilities in which Haitians have
been detained further compromise their ability to seek asylum.
These facilities have been terribly overcrowded, unsanitary,
and traumatizing for many. Families have been separated into
different detention centers, sometimes thousands of miles
apart.
From December 2001 through August 2002, the Haitian women
were held in a maximum-security county jail and subject to
frequent strip-searches, lock-downs, and hourly interruptions
of sleep during the night. In June of this year, a Haitian
asylum seeker at Krome attempted suicide.
In conclusion, FIAC is gravely concerned about the safety
of those Haitians already deported and about the likely
deportation of 107 of the Haitian asylum seekers who remain in
INS custody after 10 months in the United States. Virtually all
of the Haitians on board the December 3 boat are from Raboteau,
a section of Gonaives which has been the epicenter of recent
political violence and unrest in Haiti.
Our responsibility to protect persons among us who have
fled political persecution should not depend on politics.
Haitian asylum seekers come to the United States seeking refuge
from persecution. They expect to be treated fairly and equally
by the world's leading democracy and defender of human rights.
While we certainly understand the need after September 11
to protect our borders, to indefinitely detain Haitian asylum
seekers in the Miami District who have committed no crime and
treat them differently than any other group is a perplexing
waste of precious resources and a waste of U.S. taxpayers'
money.
To flee from persecution is not a crime; it is a basic
human right. It is the Government's responsibility now to treat
the Haitian asylum seekers as they treat asylum seekers from
other countries. Haitians deserve no less.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Little appears as a
submission for the record.]
Chairman Kennedy. We will include all the statements in the
record.
Mr. Johnson?
STATEMENT OF STEPHEN C. JOHNSON, POLICY ANALYST FOR LATIN
AMERICA, HERITAGE FOUNDATION, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Mr. Johnson. Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the
subcommittee, I feel honored today by your invitation to allow
me to speak to you on the political and economic conditions in
Haiti.
I do not study immigration or refugee policy, and therefore
cannot provide expertise on the immediate issue that you are
considering, but welcome the opportunity to address some of the
conditions that encourage Haitians to leave their home. I am
also keenly aware that many of you have experience on this
issue that far pre-dates my own.
One could conclude that Haiti has had a history of
political turbulence since independence almost 200 years ago,
and that has left little space for the development of durable
institutions and the idea that government is supposed to serve
the people as opposed to the people serving it.
Such rule has periodically triggered waves of immigrants
and migrants that impact Haiti's close neighbors, the Dominican
Republic particularly, which shares the same island, Cuba, the
Bahamas, and the United States. These migrations continue today
and are likely to continue into the near future as long as
Haitians and their leaders fail to agree on a social contract
and develop a society that honors the dignity of each
individual, the concept of cooperation, and free choice.
Haiti is not alone in its problems. In the 1980's, Central
Americans fled wars and civil conflicts impacting the United
States. Today, families are leaving Colombia, Venezuela,
Ecuador, and Argentina to flee violence or economic disaster.
My view is that asylum decisions can only be made fairly
when heavy migratory pressures are alleviated, and migration
numbers can only be reduced by helping to resolve the problems
that trigger flight to begin with in the country of origin.
Haiti is a country that has an abundance of democratic
thinkers and a wealth of people with entrepreneurial skills who
understand the virtues of consensus and compromise. The problem
seems to be that the playing field has always been arranged by
those who wish to act with an iron fist. Their preoccupation
with control has produced a legacy of impunity, corruption, and
criminality that belies the inherent goodness of the Haitian
people.
Political leaders have traditionally fought each other
using partisan mobs. Papa Doc Duvalier created an entire army
of them called the Tontons Macoutes. Supporters of President
Jean Bertrand Aristide's Lavalas Party now carry out attacks in
a similar manner against political opponents and journalists
using rocks, guns, and machetes, whether he wants them to or
not.
Human Rights Watch and the U.S. State Department report
that the judicial system and police, into which the United
States poured nearly $100 million after President Aristide was
restored to power in 1994, are essentially dysfunctional. Of
the 6,000 police trained when the new Haitian National Police
was organized, only about 3,000 remain, and many of them are
sympathizers of the Lavalas Party.
Haiti has a population of about 7.8 million people. By way
of comparison, El Salvador has 6 million people and a civilian
police force of 19,000, and that is barely adequate to deal
with common crime and drug trafficking.
On economic terms, Haiti's gross domestic product fell, on
average, 2.5 percent during the last 10 years. That is 2.5
percent every year. Gross domestic product per capita is about
$370, according to the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic
Freedom. Eighty percent of the water is contaminated. Half of
the adult population is illiterate, 60 percent are out of work.
Aside from the millions who eke out a living in subsistence
agriculture on environmentally degraded land, only about 30,000
have jobs in industry. As you can see, thousands, if not
millions more, are needed.
A commitment to good governance would solve a number of
Haiti's problems and unlock direct assistance from
international donors. But without progress on governance, such
aid would be wasted. To help current efforts gain traction,
Haiti must look to some kind of international oversight to help
establish a safe environment for fair elections to help develop
good citizenship and government from the grass roots up and to
check authoritarian impulses of any leader who would unfairly
interpret his wishes as being those of the people.
This is not something that is going to be solved overnight.
It is not going to be solved in a matter of weeks, months,
years. Most likely, it will be solved in a matter of decades,
and U.S. policymakers and lawmakers, I think, need to be
prepared for that long challenge.
Haiti does deserve our help. We should help Haiti resolve
its problems. We need to look at the long term and be realistic
about what it will take, but we must also think about the fact
that, along with Haiti, there are other countries experiencing
conflict in Latin America that present U.S. lawmakers and
policymakers with an extremely daunting task, and I respect
your initiative and your willingness to take this on.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Johnson appears as a
submission for the record.]
Chairman Kennedy. Thank you very much.
Dina Paul Parks?
STATEMENT OF DINA PAUL PARKS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL
COALITION FOR HAITIAN RIGHTS, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Ms. Parks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the
opportunity to be here, and I am particularly honored to
address the committee under your leadership, which has been so
instrumental in establishing and fighting to uphold this
Nation's refugee protection laws.
I would also like to acknowledge Senator Brownback for his
demonstrated commitment to the plight of the most vulnerable
immigrants and refugees, and the Haitian asylum seekers who are
the subject of this hearing today, I think, would certainly
belong in that category.
You have heard from several of our guests here about the
basic and most salient facts of this latest INS policy. As you
have learned by now, it is the just the latest in a very long
history of double-standard treatment for Haitians by the U.S.
Government.
Unfortunately, the corollary element to this dynamic is the
very long, painful tradition of political violence and
repression of human rights in Haiti, and it is that that over
the next few minutes I will focus on.
The latest bout of political violence and gridlock harkens
back to the flawed elections of May 2000. Since then, the
government and opposition have been locked in a political
stalemate in which neither side recognizes the legitimacy of
the other, and both sides have also rebuffed serious
negotiations, despite the intervention of the OAS in over 20
trips to settle the dispute.
Additionally, in June of 2001 President Aristide instituted
what was called a zero-tolerance policy. This basically
legitimizes the lynching of delinquents or those accused as
such and has been used as a pretext for these groups to
threaten or harass anyone perceived as a menace to Lavalas.
This was taken to the extreme on December 17, 2001, the day
of the attack on the national palace, branded as an alleged
coup attempt by the Aristide government. Less than 2 hours
after this attack, around of Port-au-Prince and in various
locations around the country, bands of armed Lavalas
supporters, known commonly as popular organizations,
occasionally accompanied by elected Lavalas officials, attacked
and burned down the homes and offices of opposition party
members and supporters, attacked journalists, and began to
force the censure of the reporting of these incidents by the
independent Haitian media.
Beginning in November and throughout December, journalists
and human rights defenders were threatened and attacked on a
daily basis. One journalist sympathetic to the opposition named
Brignol Lindor was lynched and assassinated on December 2 by a
crowd who claimed to be getting revenge for an anonymous attack
on a Lavalas supporter a few days earlier.
Shortly afterward, approximately 30 journalists,
particularly those from radio stations who did not auto-censure
their broadcasts after the attacks, fled Haiti. In addition, in
early 2002 a small number of high-profile judges and social and
political activists have continued to flee Haiti as pressure,
harassment, and attacks against person, family, and property
have continued.
A report on the investigation of the December 17 attack by
the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights of the OAS
issued on July 1 of this year concluded that the attack was not
a coup attempt and that the violent mobs had to have had fore-
knowledge of what was expected of them in order to retaliate in
such a manner.
However, as more recent incidents have shown, these armed
gangs are loyal to members of various factions of the Lavalas
government and not exclusively to one central figure. They are
disparate and operate chaotically, vying for power, and some
are beginning to lose their privileges. This is seen as a
betrayal by the gangs, resulting in increasing verbal and other
backlash against the Lavalas movement, which, although fomented
this violence, has to some degree lost control of it as it has
taken on a life of its own.
The U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International, and NCHR have considered Aristide's human rights
record in this second term as poor for a democracy. The biggest
problems identified include impunity for those claiming to act
on behalf or in support of the government, a politicized police
force, the lack of independence of the judiciary, and the
harassment and persecution of members of the opposition, those
journalists who do not self-censure, human rights defenders,
and other outspoken critics of the government, its policies,
and the armed popular organizations.
To run down a few of the recent developments and violations
in the past few months, in July a journalist, Israel Jacky
Cantave, and his cousin disappeared on the way home from work.
They were found beaten and injured several days later by
neighbors of the building where they were being held.
July through September: student protests against the
government for attacking the foundation of the Independent
Haitian University and retaliation against those student
protestors. The government unilaterally and without warning
decided to dismiss the vice chancellor of the university and
suspend all student and faculty elections and appoint its own
directors.
August 2: the jailbreak of Amiot ``Cubain'' Metayer out of
a prison in Raboteau, Gonaives, which is a word that you have
heard before and we will hear again. Cubain is a former
Aristide ally who was arrested for his role in the December 17,
2001, attacks on the opposition. The jailbreak also freed close
to 160 other prisoners and these armed gangs continue to roam
the streets in Raboteau.
September: a week-long gang war in the Cite Soleil slum
over a cache of arms resulted in at least 20 dead and 100
wounded. September 19: Haitian National Police shut down the
concert of a popular band for playing a song deemed critical of
Aristide. ``Revolution'' lists some of the country's ills and
says ``Mr. President, I am talking to you...'' Although
government officials declared it had not ordered the shut-down,
no action has been taken to offer an apology to the band or its
organizers, or to sanction the police officers responsible.
September 20: The disappearance of a popular pro-Aristide
community leader and two associates after being arrested by the
police over a traffic dispute with government officials sparked
tire-burning and violent protests in the streets of Carrefour
Feuilles for several days.
Heavily armed gang members demanded the release of Felix
Bien-Aime, and heavily armed members of the police retaliated
by firing tear gas and bullets into the popular neighborhood.
At least one journalist reported being assaulted by the police,
while other casualties included one death and several injuries.
A week later, there had been several attempts to burn down the
police station.
September 26: Three popular independent radio stations--
Radio Kiskeya, Radio Caraibes, and Radio Ibo--shut down after
receiving serious and credible threats by armed men. Just days
later, President Aristide is cited to have said that if the
Haitian press continued to repeat what the international press
is saying, it is a clear continuation of the damage of the 1991
coup. This type of statement is just what has incited people to
act within the guidelines of the zero-tolerance policy.
In spite of these recent and ongoing developments, there
are a lot of differences between what is happening in Haiti now
and what has been behind the mass exodus of the 1970's and
1980's, and it is very important to outline those differences.
First, refugees from the 1980's and during the coup d'etat
of the early 1990's show that the numbers of refugees
identified and interdicted are beyond comparison. From some
24,000 throughout the 1980's to 60,000 in just 3 years in the
early 1990's, these figures have dropped to a scant 1,400 since
October 2001.
During this period, according to its own website, the U.S.
Coast Guard reports only one or zero interdictions in the
months of October, January, February, June, and August, meaning
that even in the months before the INS policy on Haitian
refugees was known as such, the Coast Guard picked up no boat
people in January or February of 2002, despite the intense
turbulence the country experienced in December 2001 following
the attack on the national palace and the reprisal attacks on
members of the opposition.
Again, I would like to remind the committee that these are
the Coast Guard's own numbers and they do not support the
notion of a mass exodus. The interdictions from 1984 to 1989,
and then from 1991 to 1995, far exceed these statistics.
However, the reasons for the lack of a larger wave of
refugees are not merely to be found in the statistics. With
regard to Haiti, there are great distinctions to be made
between the political and human rights situations under the
Duvaliers, for example, the de facto Cedras regime that
overthrew Aristide, and the current administration.
Under the previous regimes, the forces of government and
repression were strictly regimented and part of a clear,
organized, and well-known hierarchy. Under the Duvaliers, they
were the military and the macouts, used to balance out each
other's power. Under Cedras, the military's power is
complemented by both the military group FRAPH and an elaborate
system of rural ``chefs de section'' and ``attaches.''
However, under the current administration no such
organization or consolidated, centralized power exists. In
fact, many human rights organizations, activists, and political
observers diagnose chaos and disorder instead. Haiti's 7-year-
old police force is politicized and corrupt, with staffing far
below the original 5,000 recruits, primarily due to attrition.
The country's many armed gangs, the popular organizations,
are primarily loyal to the Aristide government, but not
necessarily to Aristide himself. They are loyal to other
popular or local leaders within Lavalas, such as Senator Dany
Toussaint, a former military officer, and Senator Medard Joseph
of Gonaives, whose loyal gangs include the Cannibal Army,
responsible for August's spectacular jailbreak.
Chairman Kennedy. This is a fascinating story because it
tells with great authenticity what was happening in the country
by relating it to the flow of immigrants. It is very, very
powerful because generally the dialogue lacks that kind of
sophistication and understanding of these forces. I think it is
enormously compelling.
We will put it all in the record and I think it is going to
be helpful to us as we are trying to get some justice for the
Haitian detainees. I think it is going to be very helpful to us
in making that case.
I would like you maybe just to summarize and I will put it
all in the record. You have done a lot of background and study
of this. It is an incredible work product. I am very impressed
with all of it, but if you could summarize, I want to get some
questions in.
Ms. Parks. Absolutely. I will summarize by just saying a
few words, if I could, about the contributions of Haitian
Americans to this country.
Despite the treatment that sometimes we receive in this
country, our community has produced individuals such as Pierre-
Richard Prosper, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes
Issues; Dr. Rose-Marie Toussaint, the first African American
woman to head a liver transplant service in the world; Mr.
Dumas Simeus, Chairman and CEO of Simeus Food International,
the largest black-owned business in Texas and one of the top in
the country; Mario Elie, the power guard that helped the
Houston Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in the mid-
1990's.
We are doctors, taxi drivers, lawyers, home health aides,
journalists, entertainers. And we are elected officials--Marie
Ceflau in Massachusetts, Philip Brutus in Florida, Jose Listan,
mayor of North Miami. We are even executives, like our own
Board Chair, Eddy Bayardelle, First Vice President for Global
Philanthropy at Merrill Lynch.
We are a people who love our country, but when forced to
leave it, we make an extraordinary impact where we land and the
community is enriched for it. There is simply no reason that
year after year, decade after decade, we always, always, always
are treated like second-class citizens.
Again, I thank you for the opportunity to address this
committee, and I am confident that you and your colleagues will
exercise due diligence in addressing our concerns that these
Haitian asylum seekers be treated in a fair and humane manner,
consistent with U.S. and international law.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Parks appears as a
submission for the record.]
Chairman Kennedy. Thank you very much for an excellent
history.
I was just asking my staff to both listen to you and read
your testimony and remember the various fact. We certainly saw
in July 2001, the student protests against the government and
the suspension of student election; in August, the jailbreaks
of an Aristide ally and 160 other prisoners; the September gang
wars, 20 dead, 100 wounded; the resignation of two ministers.
Then, in December, the boat leaves.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand what
is happening at this time. And then to try and force people to
go through these hoops is mind-boggling. I think it is fair to
go on through these points that you raise and ask whether these
were motivating factors or not. I am sure there are other
considerations, but it certainly describes a horrific
situation. I think putting those numbers from the past about
the ebb and flow of the numbers, too, is important for us to
understand. That is incredibly important. So I am grateful to
you for this.
I was interested in the legality of the detention policy.
What was your sense about the legality of these detention
policies? Would you comment on that?
Ms. Little. Yes. We filed a lawsuit on the basis that the
detention policy is illegal.
Chairman Kennedy. We will include the lawsuit in the file,
not the record.
Ms. Little. We believe that the policy is illegal for a
number of reasons. First of all, the parole provisions of the
Immigration and Nationality Act call for facially neutral
parole decisions to be made. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court in
Jean v. Nelson held that parole decisions must be made without
regard to race or national origin, and that decision still
stands.
Also, U.S. law is based on the 1951 Refugee Convention, and
fundamental to that Convention is the principle of refoulement,
or non-return, the idea that asylum seekers are not to be
persecuted for irregular entry. Certainly, the Haitians that we
are speaking of are being punished and penalized by virtue of
their indefinite detention because they attempted to come here
and pursue asylum claims.
We also believe that international law is being violated as
a result of this policy. I believe, Senator Kennedy, you
referenced the UNHCR advisory opinion. The UNHCR recently said
that to detain asylum seekers in order to deter them is a
violation of international law. They also said that to detain
certain nationalities while releasing other nationalities is a
violation of international norms of refugee law. So for a whole
lot of reasons, including equal protection provisions of the
U.S. Constitution, we believe that this policy is illegal.
Senator Brownback. Mr. Chairman, I am going to have to go
on, unfortunately, to another meeting, but thank you for
holding this hearing. I appreciate the statements of the people
on the panel.
If you don't mind me making a brief statement here, I think
it is very clear what the situation is. This isn't new
information. The bishop, I think, articulated it probably best
when he said ``this time, and again and again.'' I really hope
that maybe we can move past this mistreatment of one group and
let's start to get this policy right.
I appreciate the articulate statements that each of you put
forward. Marie, thank you very much for coming here, in
particular, with the difficulty that your family has been
through. Hopefully, maybe we can join in a letter or some
advocacy together so that we can try to press to get this
policy changed so that everybody is treated the same, because
this is well-known and well-documented, and it is time to move
past it. So I would certainly give my help to do that.
Chairman Kennedy. Well, I want to thank Senator Brownback
because he certainly will be a very powerful ally in helping us
deal with this.
I want to thank you very much, Sam, for being here today
and for all your support.
Finally, a few points. Ms. Little, tell us about the
problems that your organization has in getting legal
representation. How difficult is it to find pro bono attorneys?
Ms. Little. Well, to their credit, the Executive Office of
Immigration Review--Steve Lang, who heads their pro bono
department, put out a press release trying to get pro bono
lawyers to take on some of these cases, but unfortunately it
was not successful. As a result, most of these Haitians have no
attorneys. Because their cases are being expedited, access to
them is paramount. Yet, we have faced numerous problems in
trying to help the Haitians. Let me just give you an example of
what I mean when I say expedited.
Additional immigration judges were detailed from the Miami
courtrooms to Krome in order to hear these cases. Some of these
cases are scheduled for only an hour, others for half an hour--
that is with translation--versus typically 3 hours in other
cases.
Judges are holding up to five merits hearings a day with
the Haitian cases. Some judges have told us that they simply
cannot grant continuances beyond 4 weeks. With other
nationalities, that is not a problem. In one week, we had over
165 requests for assistance from the Haitians. Yet, at a time
when we need more access than ever, access has been more
restricted.
For example, at the Krome detention center, we used to have
access to our clients virtually any time during the weekends.
Not long ago, INS officials told us that we could only visit
our clients there between 7 and 11 a.m. This is a serious
problem not only for us, but for private attorneys wanting to
take on some of these cases.
Also, we typically wait for hours at Krome to see our
clients because head counts can take hours. After the counts
finish, oftentimes we're told they don't have enough escorts to
bring the Haitians meet with us. And there is not enough
confidential visitation space for attorneys to meet with their
clients.
At the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where
Ms. Ocean was detained for several months, we typically wait up
to an hour for an escort. There are constantly changing
requirements for attorneys to get permission to go to the TGK
unit where the women are being held. We have no access at all
to the hotel where Ms. Ocean was originally detained. In fact,
the only time I have been there was when Congressman Conyers
was in Miami and he visited the facility and brought some of us
along.
The problems for us are exacerbated by the fact that our
clients are in four different facilities. The men are at Krome.
The women have been moved from TGK to the Broward County Work
Release Center. Women with children are at a local motel, and
we also have clients at a facility in Berks County,
Pennsylvania.
I don't think it is surprising that a number of our Haitian
clients are extremely depressed and demoralized. As a result,
they are having great difficulty articulating their claims.
Many of their asylum applications, which have to be completed
in English, consist of one or two sentences. The Haitians have
no idea how to go about dealing with the asylum process, which
is very complicated even for immigration attorneys.
Chairman Kennedy. Bishop Wenski, let me ask you about what
is your own experience in providing pastoral guidance to these
refugees. What amount are economic refugees and what amount are
those that fear asylum? Let's take the ones that you have been
working with, I imagine, in different locations. We are
interested obviously in the ones that you might have provided
counselor services to.
Bishop Wenski. I think it is kind of a trick question
because usually in this country when the economy goes bad, we
hang the politicians. So the economic and political factors are
very much interconnected, and I don't know that we can distill
somebody that is purely economic and somebody that is purely
political without having a mixture of both groups.
Chairman Kennedy. Well, I am not sure I agree with you. I
think we heard today from Ms. Ocean and that is an extremely
powerful case that you will hear for asylum, epecially all that
has happened to that family. It didn't have anything to do with
economics. Given what we have heard in terms of the political
anarchy that has existed, I am not sure I accept that.
Bishop Wenski. Well, I would agree with you on the issue of
political anarchy.
Chairman Kennedy. That is what we are talking about. The
point is you are a counselor, to people like Marie, and they
are parishioners. People are talking to you in ways that they
wouldn't talk to us. I was asking about whether these are real-
life stories or whether this is what we will hear from
opponents, saying anyone can get six witnesses to go up there
and say anything.
I listened in the Armed Services Committee about the danger
of the Iraqis of dropping weapons of mass destruction, and one
my colleagues said, well, Senator Kennedy, you can get six
generals to say anything. Well, they just happened to be some
of the most important generals that have led American forces.
So we are trying to find out what the facts are here, and
this is a serious problem and these are serious cases. This
isn't the first time I have heard them, but I was giving you an
opportunity to say----
Bishop Wenski. Well, in fact, I would say that Marie's case
is certainly based on fact. But even INS would say her case is
based on fact because almost all of her companions in detention
have been found to have a credible fear of persecution. So
there is no one that is questioning the credibility of their
basis for asylum, which is based on political reasons.
The political classes of Haiti have failed their people and
that is one of the sad realities that we have here. There is
great Haitian proverb that describes it well [Creole saying.]
You know, what does the flea care about if the dog is hungry?
Basically, we have a failure of the political classes that the
people had much hope in much expectation of. And, of course,
they are paying for this in increasing misery and violence, and
therefore are leaving their country looking for new hope.
Chairman Kennedy. I am going to include in the record a
number of statements, one from my colleague, Senator Graham,
and a number of other leaders in the community, leaders in
various organizations. We will include those in the record.
[The prepared statement of Senator Graham appears as a
submission for the record.]
Chairman Kennedy. I want to thank all of our panelists
very, very much for coming. It might be said, we have known
this for some time. We are going to try and keep after this
until we get something done, at least I am, and so we will work
with others that feel the same way. I believe that we can and
we commit that we will.
We thank our colleagues.
The subcommittee stands in recess.
[Whereupon, at 4 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
[Submissions for the record follow.]
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