Haitian Immigrants plea for deportation reprieve

GrundleStiltzkin · January 2017

Who would do such a thing?

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/haitians-plead-with-obama-for-last-minute-reprieve-as-deportations-skyrocket-8991508

Thousands of South Florida families are living similarly devastating stories today thanks to a little-noticed move by the Obama administration. This past September 22, just weeks before the election, Homeland Security abruptly ramped up deportation of Haitians for the first time since the island's massive 2010 earthquake. No longer can new arrivals stay for up to three years on humanitarian parole — instead, they’re being jailed and fast-tracked for a return to the island.

The results have been shocking: In all, 4,681 Haitian migrants are being detained across the United States, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigration facilities have been so overrun that hundreds of immigrants have been moved to criminal jails, in violation of international norms. Meanwhile, conditions in Haiti are the worst since the earthquake. The south is still in shambles after Hurricane Matthew, and violent postelection unrest is rocking Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien.

“You look at what’s going on in Haiti right now, and it’s very, very bad,” says Marleine Bastien, executive director of Fanm Ayisyen nan Miyami. “Obama still has the moral authority to stop these deportations and free these Haitians who are refugees from a humanitarian catastrophe.”