May 14, 2009 9:43 pm US/Eastern
Haitian Activists Urge President Obama To Do More
LITTLE HAITI, Fla. (CBS) ―
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A day after nine Haitians drowned while trying to make it to the United States, Haitian-American activists said they were frustrated the Obama Administration hadn't done more to help Haiti and they called on the President to make good on his campaign promise to allow Haitians who make it to the United States to remain.
"We are truly disappointed by the slowness of the process," said Marlene Bastien, one of the leading Haitian activists in South Florida. "We believe that one of President Obama's first acts would have been to sign the executive order to give TPS for Haitians."
TPS – or Temporary Protected Status – would allow Haitians to remain in the country until the crisis in their country lessens. Currently the United States grants TPS to refugees from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras because of earlier incidents of civil unrest and natural disasters in those countries.
But Haitian activists correctly point out that Haiti – which suffered four major hurricanes last year alone – is in far worse shape than any of the current countries that the United States recognizes for TPS status. Additionally, they note, Cubans are automatically granted residency as soon as they set foot on American soil.
"Despite rallies, letter campaigns, email campaigns, we're still waiting," Bastien said. "The wait has been too long. So our message to our president is the time is now."
Lucie Tondreau, another Haitian activist, vowed Haitians would take to the streets to demand change in the coming days.
"At this point the Haitian-American community is in shock with what happened yesterday," she said. "They are getting their thoughts together and they will be taking to the streets to denounce the inequity that has been in the United States for the past 60 years."
But the debate over TPS is of little comfort to the 16 Haitians who survived the perilous journey and were rescued at sea. Five are in local hospitals and the remaining eleven are being held on a Coast Guard cutter waiting to be returned to Haiti.
Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, said the best chance those Haitians have of not being sent back is if the federal government classifies them as witness to a crime. Coast Guard officials have said they believe the Haitians were brought here as part of a smuggling operation.
"If U.S. government officials have any reason to suspect that this was a smuggling operation, then the Haitians on board that boat should be brought to the United States because there is no way they are going to get really good reliable information on board a Coast Guard cutter in the middle of the sea," Little said. "It's just not going to happen. I'm sure these people are terrified. The victims of the smuggling operation I'm sure are terrified. So the only way to do it is to bring them to dry land, give them access to attorneys, and then let the investigation move forward."
In the meantime, Little has asked federal authorities to allow her agency to send its attorneys to the cutter to meet with the Haitians. So far, their request has been denied.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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