Immigrant advocates: Cubans landing shows unfairness of INS policy

By Sabra Ayres
Associated Press Writer
November 6, 2002, 6:31 PM EST

MIAMI -- The landing of a boat load of Cubans in the Florida Keys on
Wednesday magnifies complaints that Haitians receive unequal, racist
treatment from U.S. immigration officials, immigrant advocates said.

The Cubans are likely to be released into the community within days,
while Haitians are detained for eventual deportation if their asylum
requests are turned down.

``It isn't a question of Cubans versus Haitians,'' said Dina Paul Parks
of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights. ``It's a question of
Haitians versus everyone else arriving in Miami. It's about the INS
choosing folks based on nationality.''

The U.S. Border Control took 35 Cuban migrants into custody Wednesday
after their 26-foot speedboat ran ashore off Marathon in the Keys, said
Keith Roberts, a spokesman for the agency.

At the same time, at least 10 Haitian migrants being held at Krome
Detention Center were granted bonds ranging from $3,000 to $4,500 on
charges that they illegally entered the United States Oct. 29 when
their wooden freighter ran ashore near Key Biscayne. Most of the 211
migrants jumped off the boat and waded to shore, running onto a busy
highway before being captured.

The detained migrants won't be permitted to leave, however, because the
INS has appealed the judge's decision to set bond, said Evenette
Mondesir, a Miami lawyer who represented some of the Haitians.

Mondesir said she and a colleague arrived at Krome on other unrelated
business when they heard that about 60 bond hearings had been scheduled
for some of the 200 or so Haitians who came ashore last week. It was
not immediately known what the results were from all the bond hearings
Wednesday.

Mondesir and several other lawyers volunteered to represent the
migrants. None of her clients knew their bond hearings had been
scheduled, she said.``The problem is that the clients were not prepared
with family members present as an affidavit of support for release, and
that can be held against them,'' Mondesir said.

The INS in Miami didn't immediately return phone calls Wednesday for
comment.
Cuban migrants who arrive in South Florida are typically detained for a
few days while the INS conducts an interview process. They are then
generally released to family members within the Miami community where
they stay until their scheduled asylum trials, said Mariela Ferretti, a
spokeswoman with the Cuban American National Foundation.

The Bush administration changed the detention policy on Haitian
refugees last December to discourage a feared mass exodus. Before the
policy change, Haitian migrants applying for asylum were released into
the community while their petitions were processed.

Haitians arriving since December, however, are kept in custody until
they receive asylum or, more likely, deported.

Lawyers from the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, which is
representing a majority of the Oct. 29 Haitian migrants, said they
hadn't had access to their clients and were just beginning to collect
information to present in court when they learned about the bond
hearings. ``I was shocked,'' Cheryl Little, the executive director of
FIAC, said when she learned of the hearings. ``There's is nothing
typical about this situation. It's just so unfair.''

A magistrate judge Wednesday denied bail for six men charged with alien
smuggling in the Oct. 29 boat incident. Judge Stephen Brown said all
the men posed a flight risk since they lacked strong ties to the United
States.
Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel