HAITI: letter on immigration to US Senators Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source: Bob Dillon R HAITIAN MOBILIZATION TO DEFEND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS A 319 Maple Street, Brooklyn, NY 11225 D Phone: (718) 735-4660 D Fax: (718) 735-4664 I Email: November 7, 1997 Speaker Newt Gingrich House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-4501 Fax: (202) 225-4656 Senator Trent Lott 487 Russell Washington, DC 20510 Phone (202) 224-6253 Fax (202) 224-2262 Dear Speaker Newt Gingrich: Dear Senator Trent Lott: Our coalition of seven New York based Haitian organizations and the community it serves have watched with alarm how Congress, with the proposed "Victims of Communism Relief Act," has sought to redress the harm done to one category of immigrants, while denying the same consideration to Haitian victims of persecution who have sought refuge in the United States. Between 1986, the year dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier left the country, and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return to office in 1994, political turmoil and human right abuses forced thousands of Haitians into internal and external exile. Those who sought refuge in the United States were often detained in harsh conditions, when they were not peremptorily turned back on allegations that they were economic refugees. While we do not deny that many Haitian immigrants have come to this country for economic advancement, it is also true that they have not done so in any greater proportion than their counterparts from Cuba, Nicaragua or Russia. President Clinton has called attention to the vital contributions Haitian immigrants have made to their host communities in the United States. Those contributions have helped revitalize urban areas traditionally marred by crime and inadequate resources. We are concerned that the basic unfairness of such initiatives as the "Victims of Communism Relief Act," added to many aspects of the new immigration law, will propel the most vulnerable members of our communities into greater marginality, family dislocation and poverty. The ill treatment of immigrants does not benefit the people of this country. We, therefore, urge you to renounce the Cold War rhetoric of the proposed "Victims of Communism Relief Act," in favor of a genuine amnesty that will benefit all victims of persecution, regardless of national origin or race. Sincerely, Daniel Simidor, Liaison ----------------------------------------------------------- Member organizations: Autonomous Cultural Movement Haiti-World (MOKAM); Charlot Jaklen Resistance Committee; Haiti Anti-Intervention Committee; Haiti Grassroots Solidarity (SMP); Haitian Information and Documentation Center (SELA); Haitian Task Force on Housing (KAZAK); Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrc-11.10.97-01:55:35-11449