[posted 2000-01-12 11:03:27]
MIAMI (AP) Black community leaders said Tuesday they want equal recognition
and protection under the law for Haitians trying to enter this country that was
given to a Cuban boy in an international custody battle.
''It's the land of the free for some, land of the brave for some; but it
should be for all,'' said Nathaniel Wilcox, executive director of People United
to Lead the Struggle for Equality, an umbrella organization made up of 67 church
and civic groups.
''If you're going to limit immigration for some, limit it for all,'' he said.
Haitian and African-American activists say they are troubled by the contrast
between a huge outcry to keep 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez from being returned to
Cuba, while Haitian children are routinely sent back to their country.
On Thanksgiving Day, Elian was rescued from an inner tube off the coast of
Florida after a boat sank in an attempt to reach the United States. His mother,
stepfather and nine others died.
Activists also say Haitians are routinely repatriated without being offered a
chance to request a hearing to determine if they have a ''credible fear'' of
persecution in their homeland.
''We've been saying that for years, that the policy is unfair, that the
treatment of Haitians and Cubans is different,'' Wilcox said.
Under U.S. policy, Haitians and others who arrive illegally are repatriated
to their country. The Cuban Readjustment Act of 1966 grants any Cuban who
reaches American soil the right to stay.
''If you look at the policy and the INS implementation of the law, there is
no disparity,'' said Russ Bergeron, a spokesman with the Immigration and
Naturalization Service in Washington, D.C.
David Abraham, an immigration law professor at the University of Miami, said
a privilege similar to that afforded to Cubans isn't even remotely imaginable
for Haitians.
''The law is specific to Cubans and maybe what the Haitians needed was a
different kind of dictator before,'' he said. ''If they had had a left-wing
dictator rather than a right-wing dictator, people fleeing would be treated more
generously.''
The surge in activism and the renewed commitment for various ethnic
communities to work together to change immigration policy is partly motivated by
the plight of a Haitian woman, who was separated from her children after a boat
carrying 411 migrants ran aground about two miles offshore on New Year's Day.
Only four were brought to shore for medical reasons and the rest, mostly
Haitians, were returned to Haiti. It is believed as many as six people died
during the voyage to the U.S.
Community leaders plan a symbolic funeral in Little Haiti on Wednesday in
memory of those who died. The service will be followed by a silent march and a
peaceful protest to highlight the disparities in U.S. policy that treat Haitians
and Cubans differently.
Yvena Rhinvil, who is four months pregnant, was among the four women taken to
a local hospital. She is now being held at an immigration detention facility
west of Miami. Rhinvil is applying for political asylum, a process that can take
months.
Rhinvil's two children, ages 8 and 10, were also on the boat and repatriated
to Haiti, where they are living with an aunt. U.S. officials said they weren't
told she had children with her when they took her off the boat.
''It's not just Elian who loves freedom so much, there's two other
children,'' Wilcox said. ''Why not give them the same opportunity? They're
coming for the same reason.''
Jean Robert Lafortune, of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, called
for the family to be reunited immediately.
''The same way that the Hispanic community is asking for due process for
little Elian, we're asking for due process in the Haitian community,'' Lafortune
said Tuesday.
At a Monday news conference, activists said they have learned at least 20
Haitian children were aboard the boat that was turned back. They said at least
three children were unaccompanied, including Rhinvil's two children and a
12-year-old boy. 
Mildrade Cherfils
Associated Press