Outcry over U.S. resumption of Haitian deportations

Rights groups are protesting that the U.S. government, while warning its own citizens against travel to Haiti, is resuming the deportation of Haitians to their troubled nation. U.S groups are calling for the immediate suspension of the repatriation policy.

The resumption will begin in January, and deportation applies to "criminal aliens" and those who pose a threat to public safety, according to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But available alternatives such as parole or community supervision ought to be enacted instead, insists the American Friends Service Committee in an open letter to President Obama.

Haiti is plagued by "continued high crime, the cholera outbreak, frequent disturbances in Port-au-Prince and in provincial cities, and limited police protection and access to medical care," according to the U.S. State Department.

"It's unconscionable to resume deportation to Haiti at this time, when conditions are worse than they were right in the aftermath of the earthquake," Susana Barciela, policy director at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami remarked in the Naples (FL) news.

The U.S. granted protected status to Haitians in the wake of January's devastating earthquake. However, the window for Haitian's protected status applications is due to close on January 18, 2011. More than 61,000 Haitians have applied for protected status

A cholera outbreak sweeping the nation has killed nearly 2,500 people and hospitalized more than 56,000, according to the World Health Organization. Rioting which followed the recent national election has also claimed lives.

ICE authorities report that they have 351 Haitians in custody, awaiting deportation in January. However, at least 100,000 Haitian immigrants have no legal papers, and could also face deportation. This would include those who arrived here after the earthquake on a tourist visa, which expires after six months.

Three New York-based human rights groups, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and Alternative Chance, were among the first to protest the decision to resume deportations which was announced earlier this month.

"The situation in Haiti has not improved and may be even worse now than when the deportations were halted in the weeks after the devastating earthquake of January 2010," the groups said.