Rep. St. Fleur and the panelists also called for a change in the Bush administration's policy denying safe harbor to Haitians fleeing Haiti for the shores of Florida by boat. In a strong show of support for St. Fleur's resolutions, representatives of presidential hopeful [John Kerry] circulated a statement from the candidate supporting the presence of a multinational police force in Haiti including police from the United States, OAS and CARICOM. The statement also called for U.S. funded training and support for Haiti's police force, the lifting current sanctions on aid to Haitians for health and education programs, and renewed pressure on international financial institutions to assist the Haitian government in confronting these issues. Kerry's statement went on to state, "If we hope to lead the nations of the world toward a more democratic future, we must act now to protect a fragile democracy in our own backyard."
"FANM is a grassroots organization," Bastien said. "When people come here they come here with great hope that we will be able to attend to their needs, but oftentimes because of our financial situation we are unable to." In addition to the information that will be provided at the open house, FANM will present a sampling of Haitian cuisine, Haitian art and a musical presentation by children from the Haitian community. The event is free, but FANM will accept donations to further the work of the organization.
Through informed presentations on immigration and the need for economic social and political on empowerment, Irwine and his partner, Attorney-at-law Winston Tucker, have established themselves as major community advocates on immigration reform and issues germane to the Caribbean community. In fact since 1995 Irwine and his organization have assisted in excess of 150,000 Caribbean nationals in becoming citizens of the United States. They single handedly led the lobbying effort for an amnesty for undocumented immigrants, collecting thousands of petitions at local events and even taking their call to the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.
Lauderdale Lakes City Commissioner Hazelle Rogers has been named the new president of the Broward League of Cities. She was nominated by her peers to head the organization, comprising representatives from all of Broward's municipalities. "We try to identify issues affecting municipal government in Broward. I wanted to be a part of the planning that will shape what Broward, and my city, will be in 15 years," Rogers told The Broward Times. "We are living in a global world now. Broward needs to create partnerships with Caribbean countries. I want to organize trade missions and impress upon people how important the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries are to us, as far as trade is concerned," said Rogers, a native of Jamaica.
