Report: U.S. is waging `war on immigrants'

[seemslikeadream]

Posted on Tue, Dec. 28, 2004
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Miami Herald

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Prosecution and detention of asylum seekers are among the examples cited in a new report by a Miami-based immigrant rights group of what it says is growing intimidation of refugees and undocumented migrants in Florida and across the country.

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The report was written by Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, and Kathie Klarreich, a freelance journalist who specializes in Haitian issues. The report is scheduled to be released next month. The Herald obtained a draft.

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The report reserved some of its harshest criticism for the post-9/11 policy of detaining Haitian asylum seekers, saying that officials at one point refused to release Haitians while asylum seekers from other countries continued to be released.

Immigration officials said Haitian migrants were not unfairly targeted. They said Haitians were detained for longer periods because releasing them in large numbers early was more likely to encourage mass migration than the release of migrants from other countries. Immigrant rights activists say there is no evidence of that.

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The report cites a confidential United Nations study, first reported in The New York Times, that said immigration inspectors at certain airports treated asylum seekers with disdain. MIA was among the airports surveyed.

more
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/10514001.htm