Nov 20, 2008 5:51 pm US/Eastern
Meager Living In Haiti Prompts South Florida Help
"We Suffer From Racism Because We're Black And Because Neither English Nor Spanish Are Our First Language," Said One Haitian-American Living In Miami.
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Many Miami Haitians are worried about the situation in their homeland.
Thony Belizaire/AFP//Getty Images
As the situation in Haiti slides further into despair, concerns were expressed from Miami leaders on Thursday about the plight of the Haitian people as officials have urged the U.S. government to take in refugees trying to leave the country.
American administrations have always argued that because the large majority of Haitians fleeing Haiti are not victims of political persecution, they do not qualify for political asylum, even though many of them claim they flee a general climate of political turmoil as well as economic deprivation.
American governments have responded that repatriation policy saves lives by deterring many more Haitians from leaving aboard unseaworthy vessels.
Miami-Dade County Community Relations Boards Fair Immigration Committee were joined by County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson and community activists on Thursday, encouraging the Bush Administration to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians.
Commissioner Edmonson said, "
Clearly, the Haitian government does not have the capacity to respond to the widespread death and destruction caused by recent storms."
She was supported in that view by
Marleine Bastien of the Haitian-American Coalition. She called on a change of the TPS, adding "President Bush could do this with one stroke of his pen." She continued, "We still keep hope alive and believe since he doesn't have anything to lose, he can find it in his heart to do the right thing."
The CRB Chairman Rev. Dr. Harold Vieux told members of the board's Fair Immigration Committee last week that the situation in Haiti because of recent natural disasters is dire.
At the news conference,
Commissioner Barbara Jordan added, "We have to make sure there's equity for the people who come here out of deseparation, out of plight, and that they receive the same treatment that others receive."
Commissioner Joe Sanchez reiterated, "This is not just about immigration policy, it's about human compassion."
After four fierce storms hit the country in less than a month in September, the little that many people had has turned to nothing at all. Homes are under water. School schedules disrupted. Hunger has become more prevalent. Countless lives lost.
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