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EDITORIAL Haitian refugees deserve a measure of
fairness
Tens of thousands of Haitian
refugees are only days from likely deportation as they face yet another U.S.
immigration policy injustice. Initially, they were ignored by a 1997 law that
gave a half-million Central American refugees a chance for permanent residency.
Then, after heavy lobbying, Congress acceded, passing the Haitian Refugee
Immigration Fairness Act of October 1998.
However, while the second bill followed the first by nearly a
year, both bills contained the same application deadline: March 31, 2000.
Factoring in bureaucratic delays, Haitians ended up with only nine months to
apply for residency, while Nicaraguans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans got 21
months.
There have been other roadblocks. Most of these refugees scrape
together modest incomes. Haitians and Nicaraguans, meanwhile, have had to pay
more than Salvadorans and Guatemalans to apply for residency. Haitians and
Nicaraguans must pay a fee for each family member while Salvadorans and
Guatemalans get a family rate. The bill for a Haitian or Nicaraguan family of
seven can run more than $2,000, not including the mandatory medical exam,
lawyers fees and other costs. Salvadorans and Guatemalans -- thanks to a
legal technicality -- pay a maximum of $480 per family.
According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, only a
few more than 24,000 Haitians have applied -- or about half the 50,000 who are
estimated to be eligible. About 43,000 Nicaraguans have applied for the Relief
Act, or about 55 percent of the 85,000 people advocates say could qualify.
Further, INS has used a technicality to block the eligibility of
about 10,000 Haitians who arrived between 1982 and 1994, because they came by
air rather than sea. These so-called airport arrivals, knowing the
U.S. Coast Guard was stopping refugee boats and returning the passengers
directly into the hands of the military thugs they were fleeing, used falsified
documents to get past airport authorities. Advocates say the law was never
intended to exclude the airport arrivals.
Finally, even though the deadline looms for both the Nicaraguan or
Haitian refugee relief programs, the INS has yet to issue its final regulations
for either one. Until that step is taken, advocates say, many applicants will
stay away because they dont know the standard by which they will be
judged.
Those 20,000 to 25,000 Haitians have an estimated 6,000 or more
U.S.-born children. Those parents would face a heart-rending choice: Leave
their kids in this country so that theyll have a shot at true opportunity
or take them back to the hemispheres poorest, most desperate nation.
Bills have been introduced in Congress to extend application
deadlines. The Senate proposal, sponsored jointly by Bob Graham, D-Fla., and
Connie Mack, R-Fla., cites the fact that the INS has yet to issue its final
regulations for either program. Their bill would extend the deadline one year
from the time INS issues final rules.
U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Fla., introduced a bill in the House that
would push the deadline back even further than the Senate proposal. It would
extend the application deadline 18 months, to Oct. 1, 2001, or 12 months from
the time INS issues its final regulations, whichever is later.
These bills are aimed at establishing a sense of fairness --
something long denied many of the Caribbean and Central American refugees to
our country. This legislation needs our active support.
National Catholic Reporter, March 24,
2000
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