24765: Hermantin (news) Deportations to Haiti have resumed

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Apr. 14, 2005
IMMIGRATION
Deportations to Haiti have resumed

A group of Haitian nationals convicted of violating U.S. laws returned to 
their homeland, months after the nation had been ravaged by floods.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com


Federal immigration authorities have returned 59 Haitian nationals back to 
their homeland this week, a sure sign that deportations have resumed 
following the devastating floods in the Caribbean nation last September.

''The state department conducted site visits and determined that the area is 
no longer in conditions that would preclude [U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement] from carrying out orders of removal as mandated by law,'' said 
spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez.

Following the September floods that killed thousands and left many more 
homeless, U.S. immigration authorities had temporarily halted certain 
deportations to the nation.

Of the group deported Monday, 38 were felons convicted on charges ranging 
from armed robbery to sexual abuse to drug possession. The remainder were 
found guilty of violating federal immigration laws such as entering the 
United States illegally.

Among those removed: Jean Julex Alusma, 32, and Raymond Joseph, 56. Both 
were permanent legal U.S. residents.

Alusma had been convicted of nine counts of kidnapping with a deadly weapon 
and was placed in removal proceedings based on his aggravated felony 
convictions. He was ordered deported on Oct. 4, 2001, by an immigration 
judge.

Joseph was convicted on June 1, 1992, for attempted sexual battery on a 
minor.

''Both Alusma and Joseph squandered the opportunity given to them by the 
United States when they broke our laws by hurting the innocent,'' said 
Michael Rozos, a Florida field office director for ICE. ``Those who think 
that they are immune to deportation because they have a legal status in this 
country need to think twice. Criminals will be held accountable for their 
actions.''

There is an automatic 10-year bar against deported aliens legally 
re-entering the United States.

Last year, ICE removed 160,000 aliens from the United States. About 53 
percent were criminal aliens. ICE's Florida field office has removed 1,617 
aliens since the beginning of the 2005 budget year; 862 were criminal 
aliens.