March 19, 2004
George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20005
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing today to urgently request that you (1) suspend Haitian deportations indefinitely, a step already taken by Canada and the Dominican Republic; (2) grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitian nationals currently residing in the United States, given the serious political crisis in Haiti; and (3) ensure Haitians refugee protection.
The United States? (U.S) State Department recently issued a travel warning advising U.S. citizens to leave Haiti. However, in the face of escalated political violence and a surge in economic instability, the United States has adopted a policy to send Haitians back to Haiti. Your statement that ?. . . we will turn back any refugee that attempts to reach our shore? is in clear violation of the basic principles of refugee protection embodied in the Refugee Convention and other international legal norms. Furthermore, the present U.S. policy of interdiction of Haitians at sea, that effectively denies fair access to the U.S. asylum process, and the subjection of Haitians to forced repatriation or indefinite detention is an unjustified, inhumane and discriminatory practice that is applied to no other nationality.
To date, close to 900 Haitians have been intercepted and returned to Haiti. Only three have been allowed to reach the United States and proceed with an application for asylum. The United States cannot, in good conscience, warn U.S. citizens to leave Haiti, while simultaneously sending Haitian asylum seekers back to deadly violence. I urge you to indefinitely suspend Haitian deportations.
Under U.S. law, the Attorney General, is permitted to designate nationals of a country for TPS if “there is an ongoing armed conflict within the state and, due to that conflict, return nationals of that state would pose a serious threat to personal safety,” or if, “there exists other extraordinary and temporary conditions in the state that prevent nationals from returning in safety . . .” As noted above, the U.S State Department has indicated the perils of remaining in Haiti. TPS must be provided for Haitians.
Your Administration?s directive to summarily return Haitians without the benefit of an objective screening to ascertain their asylum claims is in clear violation of domestic and international laws. I therefore urge your Administration to reverse all measures to deter and prevent Haitians from reaching U.S. shores.
Haitian asylum seekers have been subject to the strictest and most discriminatory immigration policies. Such policies include (1) interdiction of Haitians at sea with little or no screening of their potential asylum claims; (2) resettlement to third countries as far away as Australia; (3) prolonged and arbitrary detention of Haitians who reach the United States; and (4) fast-tracked asylum adjudications in brief 30 minutes hearings, which prevent asylum seekers from obtaining legal representation and preparing for their asylum cases. Haitian asylum seekers must be provided protection under U.S. asylum laws.
I therefore strongly urge you to (1) quickly suspend Haitian deportations; (2) grant TPS to Haitians currently in the United States; and (3) provide Haitian refugees protection under U.S. immigration policies.
Sincerely,
Ulrick Gaillard, J.D.
Executive Director
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