"Clinton promised in 1998 we would get our status adjusted and be able to get residency papers," said Detrie Gustave, a bus driver originally from Haiti. "But now the INS is moving to deport Haitians who have children born in this country."

The case includes an estimated 5,000 U.S.-born children of Haitian immigrants whose parents may be deported under current government policy because U.S. authorities have refused to provide them with proper documentation.

Margorie Pierre, for example, has lived in the United States since 1987 but still doesn't have her papers even though she is married to a U.S. citizen and has a U.S.-born son who is a high school student. She is among those threatened with deportation. "What am I going to do if they send my wife to Haiti?" said Gorvy Pierre at the rally in front of the INS building. "What the government is doing is unjust."

The action was called by the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition and other Haitian rights organizations. It was co-sponsored by the NAACP; locals of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Workers; and other trade unions, religious groups, and professional associations. It was also supported by a few Democratic Party politicians. Protesters gathered outside the Veye Yo headquarters at 54th St. in northeast Miami and marched 25 blocks up Biscayne Ave. to the INS building.

Marchers held Haitian and U.S. flags. They sang in Creole, "No, no, no. We won't go. If we go, we will come back. Because America belongs to us all."

The majority of motorists driving by honked in support--with African Americans the most enthusiastic--and many pedestrians gave victory signs.

Liberal politicians and others who had gone out of their way to distribute U.S. flags among participants attempted to give the action a similar flavor to earlier demonstrations along U.S. Highway 1 supporting the INS raid on the home of Lázaro González to remove the Cuban boy, six-year-old Elián González. They had little success.

"I don't want this, I want a Haitian flag," said Daniel Mesadieu, a van driver, pointing to the little U.S. flag he had tucked into his back pocket in a typical comment. "Somebody gave me to carry it. But I prefer this," he stated, referring to his handmade sign, which read: "Born here? Born there? Unite to fight the rich, here, there, and everywhere."

Other handmade signs included: "African Americans and Haitians unite for our survival," "Why does America treat its immigrants so bad?" and "Haitians are humans like you."

Many protesters called for the release of dozens of Haitians held at the Krome detention center, some for years, and displayed signs with their names. Iva Mondése, for example, told Militant reporters her 22-year-old son has been imprisoned for three months. He was held at Krome and is now in a Louisiana jail. He faces deportation, although he has been in this country since he was three months old.

Several speakers at the rally promoted anti-Cuban prejudices that are pushed by capitalist politicians and the big-business media, lumping all Cuban-Americans as a privileged bloc that follows rightist Cuban émigrés. These speakers also supported the April 22 raid on the home of Lázaro González ordered by U.S. attorney general Janet Reno.

"Politicians in Washington are very concerned about persons fleeing communist countries, especially Cuba," said Cheryl Little, the executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. "Cubans, to their credit, have a lot of political clout. Unfortunately, the color of the Haitians' skin has something to do with the way they have been treated over the years."

North Miami councilman Ossmann Desir asked Reno to treat Haitian children "with the same respect she had accorded Elián González." And Leonie Hermantin, executive director of the Haitian American Foundation, said, "Janet Reno, I applaud you for what you did for Elián. Now do the same for 5,000 Haitian children." Other speakers included representatives of the Rainbow Coalition, Service Employees International Union, and Haitian-American Lawyers Association.

Rollande Girard, Socialist Workers candidate for Miami-Dade County mayor, presented a different view. Addressing the rally, she said her campaign calls for equal rights for all immigrants and opposes these deportations.

She pointed out that the target of opposition should be the anti-immigrant policies of the Clinton administration and Congress, and the capitalist system that generates dog-eat-dog competition among workers. It's the same system, she noted, that keeps Haiti and other countries in Latin America in debt slavery and forces millions to immigrate from economic devastation.

Most Haitians in Miami celebrate the fact that the day Elián González will return home to Cuba, with his family and friends, is approaching, she pointed out. In doing so the April 22 INS raid should be condemned as a dangerous precedent for more attacks on democratic rights.

Several protesters echoed the anti-Cuban prejudices promoted by some of the rally's sponsors. However, most of those interviewed among the protesters agreed with Girard's call to condemn the April 22 INS raid.

Several spoke favorably of the Cuban revolution. "How can we applaud Janet Reno and the INS after what they've done to our people?" said Detrie Gustave. "We have to remember that the problem is here, and not in Cuba. These politicians want the Cubans to come on the rafts to show Cuba is bad, a place to flee from. But what have these politicians done for Haiti? Kept it in economic slavery. Cuba, at least, with all its problems, sent us doctors when the last hurricane hit."

Argiris Malapanis is a garment worker in Miami. Rollande Girard, a sewing machine operator, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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