Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Clinton's asylum plan could cause Haitian deaths Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 15:11:15 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \HD Clinton's asylum plan could cause Haitian deaths \BY Jerry Seper and Nancy E. Roman \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES President-elect Bill Clinton's proposal to hold political asylum hearings for Haitians fleeing that island nation may put thousands of refugees at risk of drowning in desperate attempts to navigate 700 miles of open sea. "It's nuts," said Republican Rep. Clay Shaw, whose district includes a 91-mile stretch of the South Florida coast where many of the Haitian refugees are expected to land. "He has to learn to govern with his head instead of his heart. "We're going to see a lot of deaths at sea. We're going to be finding their boats piling up on the South Florida coast." Mr. Clinton during a news conference said he will overturn a Bush administration policy of returning Haitian boat people to their country and will set up a system for them to make their cases for asylum in the United States. More than 40,000 Haitians have fled the island since a military coup in September 1991. U.S. Coast Guard officials said hundreds drowned at sea trying to get to the United States in an armada of ill-equipped boats. Others were killed by sharks or died of dehydration. Two injunctions blocking the Bush repatriation plan were overturned by the Supreme Court. The court was expected to make a final ruling in the case next year, but the new policy may make that case moot. Rolande Dorancy, executive director of the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami, did not dispute predictions that many more Haitians will flee the island under Mr. Clinton's policy. But she said a new policy is the only hope for Haitians being "persecuted" under the island's military rule. "Finally someone with power understands what was going on toward the Haitians and feels for the cause and feels for the illegality of the Bush administration policy," she said. Miss Dorancy just returned from Haiti, where she said she met with several Haitians who were repatriated and sent to jail. State Department and Immigration and Naturalization Service officials have said there is no proof that repatriated Haitians have been persecuted by the country's military leadership because of their political beliefs. Political persecution is the only grounds for asylum under U.S. law. Arthur C. Helton, director of the Refugee Project for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in New York, applauded the Clinton announcement but urged caution. "The treatment of the Haitian boat people will provide an early test for President-elect Clinton," he said. "The concern is that any demonstrable leniency will inspire large number of Haitians, including nonrefugees, to depart." Sen. Bob Graham, Florida Democrat, said he supported the Clinton announcement. The Bush policy, he said, was "in violation of international law and in violation of the spirit of U.S. law relative to persons claiming political asylum." But Mr. Graham said the solution to Haiti's crisis is not in Florida or on international waters but in Haiti. He suggested organizing a hemispheric coalition to restore the legitimately elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Florida Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles was not available for comment. Debby Kilmer, director of the Florida office in Washington, said state officials hope that policy changes will not hurt the state's already strained budget. "We hope he has a domestic understanding of how this can impact on Florida," Ms. Kilmer said, adding that state officials believe Mr. Clinton's policy will reflect his experiences as governor of Arkansas in dealing with Cuban refugees from the 1980 Marielito boat lift. "We are encouraged he knows the cost and impact of caring for these refugees based on his own experiences as governor," she said. Mr. Clinton's willingness under pressure from President Jimmy Carter to house Cuban refugees at Fort Chaffee in northwest Arkansas in 1980 became a liability when the Cubans staged a riot that made national news. Many believe the riot was one of the causes of Mr. Clinton's loss in a 1980 re-election bid. Dave Ray, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said he hopes the Clinton announcement does not encourage Haitians to "try to get to South Florida by boat to make their claims for asylum." "You might call this a double whammy," he said. "First, the Haitians would be at great risk to try to boat-lift to the United States. And if they get here in large numbers, which could be expected, the impact on the state's economy could be devastating." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM