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Title: Fearing Trump deportation, Haitians head to Canada and risk dividing their families
Source:
Miami Herald
URL Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nat ... as/haiti/article167829772.html
Published: Aug 17, 2017
Author: Jacqueline Charles
Post Date: 2017-08-19 18:25:30 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 2686
Comments: 8
After 15 years in the United States, the Haitian immigrant had quit her job at Walmart in Fort Lauderdale. She packed up her four children, flew 1,200 miles to New York City, took a bus for seven hours and then a taxi before finally reaching the heavily forested spot on the U.S.-Canada border that has become a word-of-mouth entry point to a new life for immigrants. The future in Canada was uncertain, but she was pretty sure what faced her in the United States: deportation. “The president doesn’t want the immigrants to stay,” Wembert said. She was repeating the widely held belief among some immigrant groups that President Donald Trump is closing the door to immigrants. Haitians in particular are worried because nearly 60,000 — including Wembert — have been living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the special humanitarian relief given to Haiti since its devastating 2010 earthquake left more than 300,000 dead. The Trump administration has been increasingly signaling that it may end the status for Haitians in January. That’s fueling an unprecedented exodus of mostly Haitian migrants from the United States across a dirt and gravel-covered ditch in upstate New York to Canada. More than 3,800 migrants have flowed into Quebec during the first two weeks of this month, Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman Claude Castonguay said during a press conference Thursday. “We’ve never seen such numbers coming in,” Castonguay said. In July, police arrested 2,984 near the same illegal crossing. In June, there were just 781 arrests. Wembert said she needed to flee the U.S. to save her children. Three of the four were born in the United States and she says there are no prospects for her children in Haiti. “I don’t want to go with my kids to my country,” Wembert said. “With what am I going to take care of them if I go back?” “I felt that I had no other choice but to come here with my children,” she added. As the illegal flow of Haitian migrants continues into Canada’s French-speaking Quebec province, many families like Wembert’s — with U.S.-born children — could face a painful dilemma, say immigration experts: what to do with their children if they are deported to Haiti. To win an asylum claim in Canada, migrants will have to convince an independent immigration and refugee board that they would be at risk of persecution or even death if they returned to their homeland. Failure to prove it means deportation. Despite being allowed to enter Canada, many Haitian immigrants aren’t granted asylum. “The success rate for last year, 2016, was 50 percent so you’re facing a very real risk of being refused,” said Richard Goldman, an immigration attorney with the Committee to Aid Refugees in Montreal. “It’s not an easy case to make especially if you’ve been living in the States for many years.” Even if parents win asylum, their U.S.-born kids will be refused, Goldman said, because they would not be in danger in the U.S. The parents, however, can include the kids in their permanent residence applications so they can remain in Canada. “They have to think, ‘Am I being threatened if I go back to Haiti and can I prove that?’ ” said Francine Dupuis, who oversees PRAIDA, a Quebec government-funded program that supports asylum seekers after their arrival. “If they are not in that situation, if they were only in the States because there was an earthquake and their country is poor, that is not enough to become a refugee. They have to think about that before they cross the border.” Under a 2002 agreement between Canada and the United States, migrants must apply for refugee status in the first country they arrive in. A migrant crossing into Canada at a regular U.S. border point will be told to turn around and claim refugee status in the United States. But the treaty, known as the Safe Third Country Agreement, only applies at land ports-of-entry where border guards can visually confirm that a migrant is entering one country directly from the other. Over the years, asylum seekers have realized that if they can make it past the border at an illegal entry point, such as the Roxham Road crossing in upstate New York, where there are no border guards, they can request asylum from within Canada. Castonguay said police and the Canada Border Services Agency are seeing “roughly about 250” crossings a day. As the number has grown, so too have the calls for a suspension of the treaty to close the loophole and shut off the flow. No one is saying how many of the migrants are children and of those, how many are U.S. born. But Patrick Lefort, Canada Border Services Agency regional director general for Quebec, said Thursday that between 85 and 89 percent of the asylum seekers are Haitian. Goldman says the question of U.S.-born children comes up frequently in all asylum cases. And while in the Haitian cases much depends on Haitian law — and whether Haiti is willing to accept the foreign-born children of its citizens — non-Haitian citizens cannot be forcefully deported to Haiti. “They are definitely American citizens ... the parents have an option of having them returned to the States,” he said. And unless the parents have someone to send their children to in the U.S., Goldman said, “the parents really face an impossible choice because it’s basically either bringing them to Haiti or sending them literally to ... a foster home.” Coming to Canada for safe haven, he said, “is a very risky proposition.” . . . blah-blah-blah, boohoo-hoo, even more bleeding heart drivel... Poster Comment: Canada is welcome to them. We'll see how long their open borders last. MONTREAL -- Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as Carole Wembert dragged one bulky black-and-red suitcase and toted two other bags, the load weighing heavy on both her mind and body as she approached the border crossing. 
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#2. To: Tooconservative (#0)
including Wembert — have been living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the special humanitarian relief given to Haiti since its devastating 2010 earthquake Ummmm. The earthquake was 7 years ago but she's been living here for 15? And then she complains, “The president doesn’t want the immigrants to stay.” No, the President doesn't want illegal aliens like you to stay.
Look at her kids. She had all four apparently here in America, all at public expense. And put 4 kids in the public schools as well. All temporary, of course. Isn't it amazing how much Trump can get done just by making a few blustery remarks? As compared to 0bama and Bush and Xlinton who all pretended to be helpless.
That's good. But I'm with Ann -- Trump needs to follow through. The TPS has been in effect for 7 years. Seven years for a "temporary" program. And now the can has been kicked down the road for another 6 months. Pull the f**king trigger, people. Rip off the bandaid.
#6. To: misterwhite (#5)
I agree. I'd like to see more strong action. But we are starting to see more action via the courts and various agencies. Trump doesn't have to do it all personally from the WH. This is why you have like-minded appointees at the agencies. And just wait until he has appointed over 25% of the entire federal judiciary. That will happen over the next two years.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestAfter 15 years in the United States, the Haitian immigrant ...
#4. To: misterwhite (#2)
(Edited)
Ummmm. The earthquake was 7 years ago but she's been living here for 15?
#5. To: Tooconservative (#4)
Isn't it amazing how much Trump can get done just by making a few blustery remarks?
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