According to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, several companies in Brooklyn, New York, including Chay Pa Lou Community Center, Inc., Delegue Tax Consultant, Inc., and their owner and operator Jean Michel; as well as Rinchef s Multi-Service, a/k/a Rincher Bookstore, a/k/a Rincher Associates, a/k/a Haitian American Entrepreneur's Group, LLC, and their owners and operators Deslande Seixas-Rincher and Sharlene Seixas-Rincher, targeted the Haitian community with fraudulent immigration services. "In light of the recent devastating earthquake in Port-auPrince, New York's Haitian residents have sadly been a target for immigration scams, bringing further pain to a community that has already suffered so much," said Cuomo. "These cases are a part of my office's ongoing crackdown on immigration scams throughout New York and I urge anyone who has been affected by this type of fraud to contact my office."
Amid the flurry of designations by the media, law enforcement officials, and advocacy organizations--terms ranging from "migrants" to "asylum-seekers" to "economic refugees"--one thing was clear. The people aboard that boat had fled desperate conditions for safe harbor in the U.S. What awaited them when they touched land was then, and remains, a matter of great contention. When asked about the implications of the designation "migrant," Miami field office INS public relations officer Barbara Gonzalez said that in the context of INS policy, "There is really no such thing as a migrant." She said, "Many use the word," when the correct terminology for what they intend is "non-immigrant." How about the terms "alien" and "refugee?" Amnesty International notes that the term "alien" has been used in U.S. legislation to describe various types of non-citizens, including those Amnesty would call "asylum-seekers." Similarly, the INS describes an alien as any non-citizen or national of the U.S.
Repatriations of Haitians in the Dominican Republic have become an almost daily routine. Indeed Dominican authorities almost constantly expel hundreds of Haitians illegally living in the Dominican Republic. Haitian authorities seem to accept as a fait accompli the onslaught on our territory nationals of Haiti with their Dominican counterparts, regardless of taking long-term measures to stop the bleeding of the labor national work as well as the brain drain to benefit our bordering neighbors. Notwithstanding the ill-treatment Dominicans inflict our brothers, repressed people manage to return a month later to where they are to be expelled. Since, in the absence of a long-term strategy to frame the returnees and give them hope for a decent life in their country, crossing to the other side of the border continues to attract good workers sentenced to unemployment in their own countries.
Over half a century later, it would be Marcus Garvey, the goer, against WEB Dubois, the stayer. Although, even Du Bois himself was to get so fed up with American racism that in the `60s at the time of the great new possibilities promised by the Dr King's Civil Rights Movement, he left America to go to Nkrumah's Ghana where he was to die on the eve of Dr King's, `I Have a Dream Speech'. Following Du Bois and Garvey, the Rastafarian movement-which was founded in the 1930's in Jamaica, were to be the next manifestation of goers even though its real impact was not to be felt for another forty years. They were followed by the next great two goers and stayers - Malcolm X (and the Nation of Islam) and Martin Luther King. Luther King's `I Have a Dream' speech was in the tradition of frederick [Frederick Douglass], and was perhaps the most eloquent statement yet of the need to sit tight, fight and make manifest the dream of the brotherhood of man. Dream So [Bernie Grant]'s latest call is in the tradition of many others before him - [Martin Delany], Garvey, the later Du Bois, and Malcolm X. Many of those who denounce Bernie at the movement, would turn around and cite some of those whose tradition Bernie embraces as heroes.
A country may qualify for TPS due to the following conditions: ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war), an environmental disaster (such as earthquake or hurricane) or other extraordinary and temporary conditions. In light of the massive earthquake that took place in Haiti on Jan. 12 when thousands were presumed and then confirmed dead, Haiti became a candidate for TPS. "A lot of people don't have the money for the application and so that remains the primary obstacle for them," [Gepsie M. Metellus] said. "Although there is a fee waiver [for which some are eligible], it is a 'process' and it is frustrating."
An editorial asserts that the environmental summit is important but criticizes the world leaders for meeting in the comfort and lush scenery of Rio de Janeiro Brazil while deported Haitian refugees face almost certain torture and death, concluding that blacks have only "half-a-life" in leaders' eyes.
Explores the challenges facing immigrant families as they adapt to the United States, as well as their many strengths, most notably high levels of marriage and family commitment. The authors examine differences by country of origin in the human capital, legal status, and social resources of immigrant families and describe their varied living arrangements, focusing on children of Mexican, Southeast Asian, and black Caribbean origin.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
16 p., The environmental, social, and political conditions in Haiti have long prompted congressional interest in US policy on Haitian migrants, particularly those attempting to reach the US by boat. Migrant interdiction and mandatory detention are key components of US policy toward Haitian migrants, but human rights advocates express concern that Haitians are not afforded the same treatment as other asylum seekers. The devastation caused by the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti has led Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians in the US at the time of the earthquake. Tables, Figures.
At the same time, [Jesse Jackson] lamented what he described as the "disparity" in how the U.S. government treats Cuban and Haitian refugees. Jackson said while the U.S. readily welcomes Cuban refugees, it neglects Haitians. "When Haitian children's parents die at sea they are sent back," he said. "We subsidize Cubans to come to the United States, but we ship Haitians out...We should change our policy and measure human rights by one yardstick." "The Cuban immigrants are called political refugees, and they are welcomed in the United States," he said. "The Haitian immigrants are called economic refugees, and they are sent back...There is a distinction without a difference."
