Haiti, U.S. in tug-of-war over deportations

Officials in Haiti and the U.S. are in discord over the thousands of Haitians awaiting deportation from the U.S.

Last December, U.S. immigration authorities resumed deportations to the Caribbean country despite being hit by a string of tropical storms and increased impoverishment. A January plea by President Rene Preval for the granting of temporary protected status to Haitians was rejected by the Bush White House.

An estimated 30,000 Haitians await deportation to their native country yet Haitian officials are preventing it by not issuing travel documents. A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) claimed that the delays are causing more detainees to spend time in already packed detention centers. Haitian authorities allege that their broken country doesn’t have the capacity to handle so many deportees.

Meanwhile, ICE is forcing Haitians to get their own travel documents including passports so they can be sent home. It’s a move that has upset Haitian community leaders in the U.S.

Phillippe "Bob" Louis Jeune, president of the Haitian Citizen United Taskforce, said he hears daily from many Haitians facing pressure from immigration officials.

"I tell them don't sign anything until we get further word from Washington," Jeune said.

Image- Amnesty International USA (“Detainees are searched before returning to the male dormitory at the Krome Detention Center…1996.”)
Online Sources- USA TODAY, The Latin Americanist, CBS4.com, South Florida Sun-Sentinel