Protesters gathered at the corner of 64th Street and 22nd Ave., carrying yellow placards reading "Stop Using Black Men as Target Practice," and "Free Haitian Refugees." "If we can't vote people in the positions to do the right thing then we have no other alternative than to protest," said [Lorraine Goddard], who held a sign that read "No Justice, No Transit Tax." "We demand that the police who have been guilty of killing our youth be prosecuted and put in jail," said Mel Reeves, an organizer with the coalition. "We also demand that they free the Haitian refugees who are being held in the Chrome detention center."
Arbitrary detention of Haitian refugees should not be part of U.S. foreign policy. Minors should not be held captive, nor should any of the refugees be denied due process or the right to legal representation. In the past, all Haitian refugees were considered economic refugees. Today, even the president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is claiming that he is being persecuted. While the U.S. Special Forces and the State Department are busy chasing Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, on the island nation of Haiti, a powerful and deadly drama is unfolding. Mob killings of reporters and shootouts in broad daylight between mayors and congressmen have become common occurrence.
Congressional Black Caucus members, black leaders and ousted Haitian Pres Aristide praised the Clinton administration for allowing Haitian refugees to be processed with a hearing on US ships and third country refugee centers.
Ember,Carol R. (Author), Ember,Melvin (Author), and Skoggard,Ian A. (Author)
Format:
Monograph
Publication Date:
2004
Published:
New York: Academic/Plenum Kluwer
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
1242 p, Immigration is a topic that is as important among anthropologists as it is the general public. Almost every culture has experienced adaptation and assimilation when immigrating to a new country and culture
Last May, President Bush signed an Executive Order allowing the Coast Guard to immediately turn back Haitian boat refugees without checking to determine if they were fleeing political persecution. Before that, thousands of Haitians had crowded into unsafe boats to try to get away from their dangerous homeland. The U.S. tagged them "economic" rather than political refugees. "The fact is our government has turned a blind eye to Haitians," said Wade Henderson, director of NAACP's Washington bureau. I have a dream that I intend to make a reality. I'm calling on African Americans and Haitians here in Miami to come together to sit down, talk and work out a plan to help Haitians. But I'm also asking that Hispanics, Jews, Anglos -- everyone -- pitch in to help.
Discussed is the case of Elian Gonzalez, a six-year-old Cuban boy whom U. S. officials want to send back to his father in Cuba. Dawkins hopes that the case will be the catalyst for further national debate over immigration
TransAfrica Executive Director Randall Robinson is prepared to starve himself to death in protest of the Clinton administration policy on Haiti, and he has the overwhelming support of the CBC.
