30717: Hermantin (news) Activist aims to help detained Haitians (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Fri, Jul. 06, 2007
Activist aims to help detained Haitians
BY TRENTON DANIEL
Three months after a flimsy sailboat ran ashore in Hallandale Beach, the noisy 
protests over the lockup of the Haitian migrants who were aboard have subsided.
But fledgling activist Henry Petithomme wants to keep the spotlight on what he 
and others say is unfair treatment of their fellow Haitians. He cites the 
federal ''wet food, dry foot'' policy that allows Cuban migrants to stay once 
they reach U.S. soil while all others are returned to their country of origin.
''There's a little bit of noise for a week or two and then they're forgotten 
about,'' Petithomme, 32, said about the migrants. ``Our goal is to keep the 
community involved.''

With this in mind, Petithomme and a colleague will pay a visit to the Broward 
Transitional Center in Pompano Beach this morning -- not so much to wage a 
protest but to lend a hand.
They plan to drop off a number of personal hygiene supplies, including 
toothpaste, toothbrushes, and sandals and clothes for the Haitians for their 
eventual release.

Petithomme said the donated items should serve about 100 detainees.
Days after the wooden 40-foot overcrowded sloop from Haiti landed in Hallandale 
Beach and the 101 passengers ended up in a detention center, Petithomme 
launched a 15-day hunger strike at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Little Haiti in 
Miami-Dade.
He subsisted on a diet of Gatorade, Vitamin Water and maple syrup.

The Miami-Dade Realtor garnered further attention through his website -- 
tpsforhaiti.com -- a reference to temporary protected status, or TPS, which 
extends to Nicaraguans, Hondurans and Salvadorans here, but not Haitians.
Prior to his cot-ridden protest, Petithomme had no political experience.

But he said the routine detention and deportation of Haitian migrants gave him 
a cause.
''I was a simple businessman,'' said Petithomme, who moved to the United States 
at age 3 with his Haitian parents. ``I got tired of seeing the same thing over 
and over and nothing was being done.''
Last month Petithomme created his own nonprofit organization called Youth Power 
Movement, the goal of which is to encourage Haitian youths to be actively 
involved in political matters concerning their homeland.
Petithomme and the nonprofit's other members collected the hygiene items.
Today, many of the Haitian adult migrants remain at the Broward Transitional 
Center in Pompano Beach and 14 minors are at the Boystown shelter in 
Miami-Dade.

At least 18 of the adults may have already been deported.
''We saw one of our clients and we immediately contacted the deportation 
officer and he informed us that they were scheduled for deportation for this 
week,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant 
Advocacy Center.
FIAC attorneys have been representing the migrants.
Little said she was hopeful the children could stay.
A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement couldn't be reached 
for comment on Thursday.


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Reserved.http://www.miamiherald.com
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