Deportation fears sweep S. Florida Haitian community
By Ruth Morris
Staff Writer
December 22, 2004
Bus stops, Caribbean markets, the corner barbershop. These spots have become sources of alarm and fury for South Florida's Haitian immigrants, who say federal agents are scouring their neighborhood's workaday places for people to deport.
As the Department of Homeland Security pushes forward with immigration enforcement, Haitians say their communities are being hit hard with ID checks, surprise arrests and ramped-up deportations. On Creole-language radio stations, fear tinges the voices of listeners calling daily to relate their reluctance to take a bus, or visit the doctor, or eat out.
"Everyone is afraid to go out right now," said Tony Jean-Thenor, chairman of the Veye-Yo political watch group in Miami's Little Haiti. "I have been here since 1981, and it's the first time I've heard such stories. This is the talk of the town in the Haitian community."
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security makes no secret of an aggressive effort to apprehend and deport more criminals, as well as immigrants who overstay their visas. But the agency says it's simply acting on its congressional mandate, and it adamantly denies focusing on Haitians over other groups.
"Our enforcement operations do not target one particular nationality, race or ethnicity over any other," said agency spokesman Dean Boyd, echoing comments by other federal immigration agencies, such as the Border Patrol. "The laws are applied evenly across the board."
The assertions contradict claims by Haitian activists, who say U.S. immigration policy is tilted against them. They point to a two-month surge in calls to their offices, reporting more and more deportations to their hobbled homeland.
Whether based in a lopsided policy or rumor, fear of deportation has gripped the listeners of Variety and Vibration, the Creole-language radio program with host André Joseph on WLQY, AM 1320. Inundated by calls about immigration operations, Joseph has taken to reminding his audience not to leave home without their immigration papers -- advice the community is taking seriously.
If Joseph hears of an enforcement drive while he's on the air, he pushes a button on the control board in his studio that produces the jarring sound of a pack of barking dogs.
"We get treated like dogs, put in jail and deported. It's not fair. It's a discrimination," said Joseph, known as Yéyé Boul to listeners.
His sentiments were echoed throughout the Haitian communities in Lake Worth, North Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where the perceived spike in deportations has reignited charges that Haitians are sought by immigration officials, while Cubans face softer policies.
"When the Cubans get here they get water and a blanket," Joseph said, referring to the law that allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil to be released to their families and stay here legally. "How can you send somebody back to Haiti right now? It's a jungle."
Carline Paul, a youth organizer in Miami, said 10 of her students had stopped coming to after-school programs, fearing they might run into an immigration agent.
"Their parents are afraid our office could be a good place to knock and ask for papers, so they're not letting them come," she said.
Even Haitians with their documents in order said they are feeling a strain. Lyvie Fatal, a health educator and a naturalized citizen, said she recently canceled a visit to her sister in North Miami because she couldn't find her passport and was afraid to leave home without it.
"It's a humiliation," she said of U.S. immigration policy toward Haitians.
With such stories coursing through the grapevine, Haitian community leaders requested a meeting last week with representatives from three branches of the Department of Homeland Security that deal with immigrant issues. Only the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent a representative to the Wednesday meeting; those present said that official, too, denied that his agency was going after Haitians with more intensity than other immigrants.
"We have law enforcement agencies doing the operations but not making themselves accountable for those operations," said Jean-Robert Lafortune, executive director of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition. "It's like a shadow operation. It has become very difficult for advocates to track the actions of these law enforcement agencies, which escape public scrutiny."
Reached by phone, Victor Colon, a South Florida spokesman for Border Patrol at the Customs and Border Protection agency, said he wasn't informed about the meeting. He said Border Patrol agents routinely ask people for their papers at transportation hubs, such as bus stops, but those checks have not increased in recent months.
There's no question, however, that deportations are on the rise. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced last month that it had deported 157,281 illegal immigrants during fiscal 2004, a 7 percent increase in removals of criminals and a 10 percent increase in removals of noncriminals such as tourists who overstayed their visas, compared with 2003.
The agency did not respond to a request for month-by-month statistics on deportations to Haiti. Local Haitian leaders said the removals dropped off in September when flooding unleashed by Tropical Storm Jeanne on the island swept thousands to their death. In recent weeks, they said, deportations have increased.
Haitian civil leaders, immigrant advocates and legislators have long cited the chaos in Haiti in their campaign to grant temporary protected status to Haitians who are already in the United States. The status would come with a work permit and an exemption from deportation for the time being, but the campaign has been fruitless so far. In a partial concession, Homeland Security has said it won't deport Haitians to storm-ravaged areas of Haiti such as Gonaïves.
Immigration lawyer Mark Citrin said his Miami office has also seen an increase in calls from immigrants fighting deportation proceedings, but he said the wave began six to eight months ago and was not limited to Haitian clients. Haitians tend to live in more concentrated enclaves than other groups in South Florida, he added, making it easier for immigration agents to focus searches.
"We have a very large community of Haitians in South Florida with deportation orders," Citrin said. "If you're a fisherman, that's a good place to fish."
Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4691.
By Ruth Morris
Staff Writer
December 22, 2004
Bus stops, Caribbean markets, the corner barbershop. These spots have become sources of alarm and fury for South Florida's Haitian immigrants, who say federal agents are scouring their neighborhood's workaday places for people to deport.
As the Department of Homeland Security pushes forward with immigration enforcement, Haitians say their communities are being hit hard with ID checks, surprise arrests and ramped-up deportations. On Creole-language radio stations, fear tinges the voices of listeners calling daily to relate their reluctance to take a bus, or visit the doctor, or eat out.
"Everyone is afraid to go out right now," said Tony Jean-Thenor, chairman of the Veye-Yo political watch group in Miami's Little Haiti. "I have been here since 1981, and it's the first time I've heard such stories. This is the talk of the town in the Haitian community."
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security makes no secret of an aggressive effort to apprehend and deport more criminals, as well as immigrants who overstay their visas. But the agency says it's simply acting on its congressional mandate, and it adamantly denies focusing on Haitians over other groups.
"Our enforcement operations do not target one particular nationality, race or ethnicity over any other," said agency spokesman Dean Boyd, echoing comments by other federal immigration agencies, such as the Border Patrol. "The laws are applied evenly across the board."
The assertions contradict claims by Haitian activists, who say U.S. immigration policy is tilted against them. They point to a two-month surge in calls to their offices, reporting more and more deportations to their hobbled homeland.
Whether based in a lopsided policy or rumor, fear of deportation has gripped the listeners of Variety and Vibration, the Creole-language radio program with host André Joseph on WLQY, AM 1320. Inundated by calls about immigration operations, Joseph has taken to reminding his audience not to leave home without their immigration papers -- advice the community is taking seriously.
If Joseph hears of an enforcement drive while he's on the air, he pushes a button on the control board in his studio that produces the jarring sound of a pack of barking dogs.
"We get treated like dogs, put in jail and deported. It's not fair. It's a discrimination," said Joseph, known as Yéyé Boul to listeners.
His sentiments were echoed throughout the Haitian communities in Lake Worth, North Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where the perceived spike in deportations has reignited charges that Haitians are sought by immigration officials, while Cubans face softer policies.
"When the Cubans get here they get water and a blanket," Joseph said, referring to the law that allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil to be released to their families and stay here legally. "How can you send somebody back to Haiti right now? It's a jungle."
Carline Paul, a youth organizer in Miami, said 10 of her students had stopped coming to after-school programs, fearing they might run into an immigration agent.
"Their parents are afraid our office could be a good place to knock and ask for papers, so they're not letting them come," she said.
Even Haitians with their documents in order said they are feeling a strain. Lyvie Fatal, a health educator and a naturalized citizen, said she recently canceled a visit to her sister in North Miami because she couldn't find her passport and was afraid to leave home without it.
"It's a humiliation," she said of U.S. immigration policy toward Haitians.
With such stories coursing through the grapevine, Haitian community leaders requested a meeting last week with representatives from three branches of the Department of Homeland Security that deal with immigrant issues. Only the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent a representative to the Wednesday meeting; those present said that official, too, denied that his agency was going after Haitians with more intensity than other immigrants.
"We have law enforcement agencies doing the operations but not making themselves accountable for those operations," said Jean-Robert Lafortune, executive director of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition. "It's like a shadow operation. It has become very difficult for advocates to track the actions of these law enforcement agencies, which escape public scrutiny."
Reached by phone, Victor Colon, a South Florida spokesman for Border Patrol at the Customs and Border Protection agency, said he wasn't informed about the meeting. He said Border Patrol agents routinely ask people for their papers at transportation hubs, such as bus stops, but those checks have not increased in recent months.
There's no question, however, that deportations are on the rise. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced last month that it had deported 157,281 illegal immigrants during fiscal 2004, a 7 percent increase in removals of criminals and a 10 percent increase in removals of noncriminals such as tourists who overstayed their visas, compared with 2003.
The agency did not respond to a request for month-by-month statistics on deportations to Haiti. Local Haitian leaders said the removals dropped off in September when flooding unleashed by Tropical Storm Jeanne on the island swept thousands to their death. In recent weeks, they said, deportations have increased.
Haitian civil leaders, immigrant advocates and legislators have long cited the chaos in Haiti in their campaign to grant temporary protected status to Haitians who are already in the United States. The status would come with a work permit and an exemption from deportation for the time being, but the campaign has been fruitless so far. In a partial concession, Homeland Security has said it won't deport Haitians to storm-ravaged areas of Haiti such as Gonaïves.
Immigration lawyer Mark Citrin said his Miami office has also seen an increase in calls from immigrants fighting deportation proceedings, but he said the wave began six to eight months ago and was not limited to Haitian clients. Haitians tend to live in more concentrated enclaves than other groups in South Florida, he added, making it easier for immigration agents to focus searches.
"We have a very large community of Haitians in South Florida with deportation orders," Citrin said. "If you're a fisherman, that's a good place to fish."
Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4691.