18098: Senou: Re: 18072: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-U.S. government making example of Haitian child (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Senou <senou@yahoo.com>

Which raises the most basic question of all: Why?

Why is the federal government going to such ridiculous
lengths to keep One child out of the United States?
JIM DEFEDE/COMMENTARY Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2004
---
Ernesto Joseph and Elian Gonzalez: the United States
was trying to keep Elian to send a message to Cuba and
to satisfy the Cuban voters. Politicians intervened on
Elian behalf in order to win the Cuban vote. According
to some existing laws, if one of the parents is killed
or dead, the surviving parent if fit shall have the
custody. Politic was trying to keep that child here
and Janet Reno was decided to enforce the law. And
Elian Gonzalez was returned to Cuba because of this
existing law.

Ernesto Joseph is not any type of illegal immigrant;
it is a Haitian illegal immigrant. The Cubans in Miami
will come to support their own, no matter what but if
it is not politic or something sensational, Haitians
may not come out. And this is the difference between
Cubans and Haitians; and this is the difference
between Jews and Haitians. Jews will support Israel no
matter what and we will leave our children starving
for political differences.

Let’s go back to Mr. Ernesto. Most of you remember
that boat, it was live on TV and we saw children,
women and pregnant women jumping off that boat.  Many
of you were upset and there were some manifestations
and that set. Later on, the INS returned most of them,
without any street demonstration.
Without a doubt Ernesto se yon element ki deven-n
ampil but there is a reason for that and the Ernesto
saga will help you make a cool decision during this
upcoming election in November if he was telling the
truth.

It could be great to defend Ernesto but I want to make
sure that he was indeed a minor and I don’t believe
that we need to have X-rays test, skeletal test or
dental test to know his age. He must provide his real
age.

Mr. Ernesto Joseph must come clean and tell the truth.
Many are coached to lie about their age because they
know that they treat minor much better than adult.
The fact that both of his parents are dead is not an
excuse for not knowing his age. Did he attend school
in Haiti? Does he have classmate? In what grade he
left Haiti?  Where he was born? When he was baptized?
Does he have any brother or sister? Does he have any
aunty or uncle? Can his uncle testify under oath about
his age?
The fact that someone brings a birth certificate is
not really enough to prove his/her age. We need to
know when he was baptized? When he was enrolled in
school? When he did his certificat d’etude primaire?
Knowing these facts can help us determine his age, if
he has a medical problem or if he voluntarily withheld
some crucial information.

I do not recall the year, in Miami INS sent back Mr.
Ricardo St Cyr alone without an escort; Father Gerard
Jean-Juste forced INS and the airline to bring that
boy back. This case is very complicated and there is
no need to spend a dime to find out his age. This boy
knows his age. For some unknown reason, the Haitians
in Miami seem not to buy his story and this can
explain why we do not see any mass protest.

His lawyer or relatives shall let him know the gravity
of this case and the determination of the U.S.
government to use the law against him; therefore, only
peaceful public protest can force the government to
give him a break.

At this moment, he may not feel comfortable to recant
his story and if he lies this can have serious
consequences on Haitian minors everywhere in the U.S
and we don’t really want this right now. We fought the
AIDS saga because a Catholic School located in the
heart of little Haiti refused to take Haitian students
blood. We used that opportunity to bring the American
public in our side and it did not take long to remove
our name from that list.
My advice to you if you know that you are telling the
truth, come out in force but if you were trying to
find a way to sneak in by giving false information
(you got caught); please keep a low profile until
these folks forget but they are not going to forget.
For some unknown reason, somebody decided to give that
boy or that gentleman some hard time. We want to spare
the Haitian children from any embarrassment. And at
the same time, if you are really telling the truth; we
will use you to make a case against the Federal
government.

Mr. Ernesto Joseph, this country is indeed the land of
opportunity. American people will stand by you and
against their own government if you were indeed a
minor. Come clean and if you were a minor, you do not
have to worry about any deportation; to the contrary
you can start making plan since millions will be
involved. Last year, a judge granted you asylum
because you were a minor and the federal government
fought it. If you were indeed a minor (punitive
damage, each day you spend in that jail after the
judge decision, violation of your trust (can be
justified with the X-rays, skeleton and dental tests)
you can prepare for an out of court settlement. Let me
make it clear, today no more sorry without
compensation and I still believe that we shall file a
class action suit for the AIDS saga, but we shall wait
when a cure is found.
But if you were lying, they will make an example out
of you. And your chance to remain in this country is
slim.
----
Subject: 18072: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-U.S.
government making example of Haitian child (fwd)
From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2004

JIM DEFEDE/COMMENTARY
U.S. government making example of Haitian child

Since arriving in the United States 15 months ago,
Ernesto Joseph has lived a life that would make even
Kafka wince.

Joseph is one of the Haitians who landed on the
Rickenbacker Causeway On Oct. 29, 2002. He says he is
16 years old and has a birth certificate to prove it.
As a juvenile, Joseph would have a greater chance of
being able to stay in this country. Both of his
parents are dead, and if he were returned to Haiti, he
would face an uncertain life as a homeless juvenile
who could be easily preyed upon by street gangs.

Last year, an immigration judge granted him asylum.

But for reasons that no one can explain, the
Department of Homeland Security has decided to fight
this child's asylum with a zeal unprecedented in an
immigration case.

Because Joseph supposedly gave conflicting statements
to immigration officials, the Department of Homeland
Security doesn't believe that he is 16 and contends
that he is actually 19. In an effort to prove that he
is not a juvenile, the federal government has
conducted bone-density tests, dental exams and X-rays
of knees and wrists to study his physical development.

The test results have been inconclusive. The skeletal
exams place his age between 16.31 years and 18.14
years. A dental exam, however, said there was only a
13 percent chance that Joseph is a juvenile and an 87
percent chance that he had already reached his 18th
birthday.

Except for a brief release on humanitarian grounds,
Joseph has remained locked up and under armed guard.
His case has drawn national attention, and U.S. Rep.
Kendrick Meek has been one of his loudest supporters.

On Friday, about 11 a.m., Meek was notified by a
senior immigration official in Washington, David
Venturella -- the assistant director of the Office of
Detention and Removal Operations -- that Joseph was
now considered a juvenile and would be released to his
uncle in Miami.

Meek passed the word to Joseph's attorneys and others.
Everyone was ecstatic. Plans were made to pick up the
boy as soon as possible. Meek's office called
immigration officials in Miami, who said they also had
been told that Joseph was to be released.

Two and a half hours later, however, Meek's staff
received an e-mail from a Homeland Security official
in Washington. Joseph's pending release, it said, was
a mistake.

''Unfortunately, we have just discovered that there
was a miscommunication and the decision was made to
NOT treat him as a juvenile but instead treat him as
an adult,'' the e-mail stated. ''As such, he will be
moved to Krome and remain in detention.'' The e-mail
went on to state: ``Obviously we are deeply
embarrassed about this mix up and apologize profusely
for any misunderstanding that occurred.''

The miscommunication was between Homeland Security
officials. Apparently, the legal counsel for Homeland
Security had written a memo saying that Joseph was a
juvenile, when he meant to write that Joseph was not a
juvenile. The attorney had left out the word ``not.''

By then, of course, Joseph had been told that he was
being freed.

Initially, Homeland Security officials tried to blame
Meek's office for the mistake, saying he had
misunderstood what was happening. But once Meek
produced a trail of e-mails from them over the
previous few hours, they backed down.

Facing a public-relations disaster, officials in
Homeland Security reversed themselves yet again, and
by 3:30 p.m. Friday decided to release Joseph on
humanitarian grounds after all. But at the same time,
immigration officials continue to maintain that Joseph
is an adult. They are still working to deport him.

Which raises the most basic question of all: Why?

Why is the federal government going to such ridiculous
lengths to keep One child out of the United States?

And the only answer that makes any sense is that by
making an example Of Joseph, by bureaucratically
torturing him, they believe it will deter others from
coming.

Of course, it won't.



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