27292: Hermantin(News)Coast Guard told not to encourage asylum claims by Haitian migran (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Leonie Hermantin


Sun Sentinel

Coast Guard told not to encourage asylum claims by Haitian migrants




By Ruth Morris
Staff Writer

January 19, 2006



Hiding in a storage closet in the belly of a boat from Haiti, Deliste Joseph 
didn't have enough room to lie down, so he stood or sat for 11 days, lurching 
toward South Florida.

But Joseph, 23, might count himself among a lucky few, immigration lawyers say. 
By reaching U.S. soil in May 2004, at least he was able to apply for political 
asylum and to argue his case, which is pending before an immigration judge.

If the Coast Guard had caught him at sea, the overwhelming chances are he would 
have been returned to Haiti without any such hearing.

That difference is making immigrant advocates increasingly angry, particularly 
with national elections expected in Haiti in early February. The vote could 
bring more bloodshed, impelling more Haitians to leave.

In the most recent wave of political instability, the Coast Guard intercepted 
3,229 Haitians in fiscal 2004, when an armed revolt forced the ouster of 
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The Coast Guard and immigration enforcement 
agencies have bolstered their vigilance in recent years with cutters and 
surveillance planes and only a trickle of Haitians get through.

A key part of the problem, advocates say, is that Coast Guard officials are 
instructed in a longstanding executive order not to encourage or elicit asylum 
claims when they come across migrants at sea. Nor can Coast Guard officials 
initiate interviews that might determine whether a Haitian has a claim to 
refugee status in the United States. Almost all Haitians interdicted at sea are 
returned immediately to their volatile homeland.

The policy prompted Marleine Bastien, vice chairwoman of Miami's 
Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, to file an affidavit two months ago with 
the Organization of American States, a diplomatic body that has promoted 
democracy in Haiti.

She said Coast Guard officials genuinely are concerned for Haitians' well 
being.

"Safety is their primary role but their hands are tied," she said. "They are 
given orders they have to follow."

Coast Guard Commander Peter Brown confirmed last week that under a policy that 
dates to the late 1970s, his agency does not ask boat migrants if they need 
protection, regardless of their country of origin.

He said, though, that Coast Guard officials call on an asylum officer if 
migrants aggressively insist they fear for their lives, a standard that rights 
advocates refer to as the "shout test." It usually involves showing proof of 
persecution, such as scarred skin, or documentation of abuse.

"We don't actively elicit asylum claims from migrants of any nationality, but 
if those kinds of statements or fears are manifested, the Coast Guard is 
directed and will assure that migrant has an opportunity to communicate to an 
asylum pre-screening officer," he said.

Cheryl Little, of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, said the situation was 
compounded by the fact that Coast Guard cutters patrolling the waters between 
Haiti and Florida usually do not carry asylum officers.

This leaves Coast Guard officials, many of whom do not speak Creole, to decide 
unaided whether Haitian boat migrants can talk to an asylum prescreening 
official, by phone or radio, to plead their case.

Brown acknowledged asylum experts were rarely on board cutters that intercept 
Haitians, but he said the cutter patrolling closest to Haiti carried a 
Creole-speaking officer.

Immigrant advocates point to statistics to support their claim that authorities 
aren't properly screening Haitians. Of the 1,850 Haitians interdicted at sea in 
fiscal 2005, only nine were granted preliminary interviews to see if they had a 
legitimate fear of returning to their homeland, according to figures supplied 
to Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami.

Of those nine, only one is known to have received refugee status.

Supporters of the current policy, meanwhile, say that inviting asylum claims at 
sea would encourage more migrants to risk a potentially deadly crossing.

"The message that would send is tantamount to a clarion call to this dangerous 
migration," said John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, 
a Washington, D.C.-based think tank in favor of tighter immigration policies. 
"The good men and women of the Coast Guard have enough on their plate."

Joseph's lawyer, Andre Pierre, said his client, with no scars and no documents, 
surely would have failed the shout test if he had been caught at sea. He thinks 
Joseph's case is typical of many Haitians who are turned back.

Joseph is asking for political asylum based on claims that political opponents 
murdered his father, Deika, who was a member of Aristide's Lavalas movement. 
After the slaying Joseph learned from neighbors that armed thugs were 
circulating his picture and trying to track him down. He went into hiding and 
was wearing the same clothes when he arrived in Fort Lauderdale. His pockets 
were empty.

Today, he lives near Fort Myers and is looking for work laying carpet.

"If he had been interdicted at sea, he would have been sent back to Haiti 
immediately and probably he would have been killed by the same people who 
killed his father," Pierre said. "You know what the statistics don't tell you?" 
he said, and answered, "How many [repatriated migrants] were found later, on 
the streets, dead. We don't have that number."

Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5012.


Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel