Word: haitian
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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During the rafter crisis last summer, more than 20,000 Haitians and 30,000 Cubans were intercepted at sea and delivered to hastily erected camps in Guantanamo. Among the refugees were 321 unaccompanied Cuban children, all of whom have since have been paroled to the U.S. But of the 356 unaccompanied Haitian children who ended up at Gitmo, only 22 have been admitted to the U.S., because they needed medical attention or had a parent already in the States. Since the island has officially returned to democratic rule, immigration officials say, Haitians don't qualify for humanitarian parole. Some...
According to Florida Legal Services, all but 40 of the Haitian children have U.S. sponsors lined up. "We told the State Department months ago that we had foster parents to sponsor these children," said Deacon Chris Baumann, spokesman of the U.S. Catholic Conference. Yet the children's advocates report that even in cases where they have located U.S. relatives, the State Department has refused to grant them entry. Helene Charles, a 36-year-old Haitian living in Fort Lauderdale, says she has been trying for months to obtain a visa for her 14-year-old son Kissene. She left...
...Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuban refugees cavort happily on the beach in a scene reminiscent of a Club Med. They have good reason to celebrate: soon they will be flying off to freedom in the U.S. Meanwhile, less than a mile away, more than 200 Haitian children lounge listlessly under drab green tents, seeking refuge from the harsh midday sun. Camp Nine, their home since last June, is a desolate patch of cactus-filled desert where the only sign of life is an occasional banana rat or iguana. A fence encircles the camp, which is guarded by American soldiers...
...When I heard that the U.S. was going to let 15,000 Cubans into the country and leave 450 Haitians in Guantanamo, I felt like someone had stuck me with a knife," says a 17-year-old boy. "This is a very cruel situation." (U.S. military officials will not allow the children to be quoted by name.) When Attorney General Janet Reno announced the new Cuban policy on May 3, dozens of furious Haitian teens first tried to organize a hunger strike with the younger children, then went on a rampage, pelting soldiers with rocks and setting tents on fire...
...appalled," thundered candidate Bill Clinton when he learned that George Bush would return all Haitian boat people, including political refugees fleeing for their lives, to the tender mercies of Haiti's military junta. "It is a blow to America's moral authority in defending the rights of refugees around the world." Last week President Clinton announced that he would extend the Bush approach to refugees from Cuba. It was the first time the U.S. has ever endorsed the forcible return of refugees to a communist country...