Vol. 71/No. 17      April 30, 2007

The 102 Haitians (one drowned as he jumped off the ship), including 13 children, had crowded onto a 40-foot wooden boat. At sea for 22 days, they ran out of food and water for the last 12 days of their journey.

Haitian radio stations throughout south Florida demanded their release, lambasted the Bush administration for unfair treatment of Haitian immigrants, and announced the time and location of protests.

Hundreds have joined the protests. A March 29 picket outside an immigration facility near Hallandale Beach, where some of those detained are being held, drew more than 100 people during rush hour, mostly Haitians. Protesters chanted, “Let my people go!” and “Equal justice!”

“I live in the neighborhood," said Myrna Germaine, originally from Haiti. “I think we should give them a chance. They risked their lives to come here.”

On March 31, hundreds rallied at a busy intersection by the ICE building in Miami. Speakers included Miami Archbishop John Favalora. He likened U.S. policy of detaining undocumented Haitians while accepting Cubans who arrive by sea to “apartheid.”

Also speaking was Ramón Saul Sanchez, founder of the Democracy Movement, a Miami group that actively organizes provocations against the Cuban Revolution.

Other speakers included Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, a longtime promoter of Haitian rights and former candidate for president of Haiti. He was released from prison in Haiti last year and permitted to travel to the United States after protests in Haiti and here. Demonstrators are demanding the release of those imprisoned, no deportations, and temporary protective status—a form of political asylum—for Haitians.
 
 
Related articles:
Workers in Minnesota protest immigration raid
Workers in Minnesota protest immigration raid
‘Don’t deport my mother!’ says youth in Houston visit
Iowa ‘identity theft’ trial: no justice for workers in capitalist court  
 
 
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