[News] Haiti Action - Solidarity with Christian, Vladimir and all immigrants facing US injustice and cruelty

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Haiti Action Committee Statement on the Treatment of Christian Laporte 
and Vladimir Fardin by US Immigration AuthoritiesFebruary 2nd, 2021 - 
Haiti action <action.haiti at gmail.com>

On January 17th, 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection (CPD) 
authorities at San Francisco airport detained two Haitian brothers, 
Christian Laporte (age 19) and Vladimir Fardin (age 9) despite the fact 
that they had valid visas to enter the US. Christian had a student visa 
to study at Diablo Valley College and Vladimir had a tourist visa to 
accompany his older brother. After being detained, the two brothers were 
denied access to counsel and not allowed to speak with their families.�


Officials revoked Christian’s visa over a paperwork issue that could 
have been resolved following the MLK holiday. Instead, officials 
separated the two brothers, forcing Christian to leave the US on January 
19th, while labeling Vladimir an “unaccompanied minor” and 
transferring him into the custody of ICE. Vladimir was then sent to a 
government-run shelter for “unaccompanied minors” in San Diego where 
he was held for more than a week, at risk of exposure to COVID-19 
<https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/investigations/employees-fear-spread-of-coronavirus-in-san-diegos-migrant-youth-shelters/2297632/>, 
before being released and sent back to Haiti. About Vladimir’s 
release, Francisco Ugarte, SF Public Defenders’ Office, tweeted: “It 
took several lawyers, three Congressional offices, one protest and 
immense social media pressure just to get ICE to do the right thing. And 
it still took them more than a week.”�


The trauma that CPD and ICE officials have inflicted on these two 
brothers and their family members with this act is yet another graphic 
reflection of the cruelty of the US immigration system. Though the 
Presidential inauguration on January 20th has raised hopes for major 
change to this immigration system, it remains to be seen whether or not 
the new Administration will fully pursue this change.


The cruelty of this event goes deeper still. Why do so many Haitian 
youth like Christian seek to study abroad? Why do so many Haitians of 
all ages flee violence and conditions of deepening poverty in Haiti? Why 
is life becoming more and more unbearable for the impoverished Haitian 
majority, provoking a flood of refugees? The same government that 
detains and separates Haitian families seeking to enter the US is also 
the architect of misery inside of Haiti. It is the US government that 
has made life so horrific for the people through organizing and funding 
the coup in 2004 against popularly-elected President Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide. It is the US government that has since financed fraudulent 
elections and installed dictatorial puppet regimes, most recently that 
of the current President Jovenel Moise who has been ruling through 
decree, paramilitary terror, and brazen corruption. Under President 
Trump, the US government provided funds, arms and training of the 
Haitian police, despite its clear involvement in massacres such as the 
Lasalin Massacre. Will this foreign policy continue under a Biden 
Administration or will it truly chart a new course?


Other recent examples of unjust US immigration policy impacts on Haitian 
communities include:


  *

    Paul Pierrilus, a 40-year-old financial consultant from Rockland
    County, New York, was born in the French Caribbean territory of
    Saint Martin to Haitian parents and came to the US with his parents
    when he was five. His sister and parents are US citizens. He was
    picked up on 11 January, as part of what human rights advocates say
    is a last sweep of black migrants
    <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/18/trump-administration-to-deport-man-to-haiti-who-has-never-been-there>in
    the final days of the Trump administration. He was to be deported to
    Haiti, where he has never been and where he is not a citizen. His
    deportation was suspended at the very last minute through the
    intervention of his family and attorney.


  *

    Deportation flights to Haiti at the height of the pandemic occur
    every two weeks on average. A number of the people deported
    <https://theintercept.com/2020/06/26/coronavirus-ice-detention-deportation-haiti-guatemala/>
    were infected or sick with COVID-19.

�

  *

    “The same questions go through my head all day,” said Thomas, a
    60-year-old deportee who was returned to Haiti
    <https://www.sapiens.org/culture/haiti-covid/ > in November after
    five decades in the US. “Who will care for me if I get sick? I
    have no family here. Where will I go? I have no doctor here, and
    there is no hospital to go to without money. And I don’t know my
    way. I have to pay for a helper, and I have nothing. How can I live?
    Just don’t get sick, I tell myself. I pray for this.”


  *

    US and Turks & Caicos authorities collaborated in stopping a boat
    with 23 Haitian refugees on January 20, 2021. Other boats have also
    been stopped recently: Police intercept boat with 23 Haitian migrant
    <https://tcweeklynews.com/police-intercept-boat-with-haitian-migrants-p11281-127.htm>


Now is the time for change on all levels in US immigration and foreign 
policy. Abolish ICE, renew TPS and DACA, free all detainees, provide 
restitution and reunification to separated families. Most importantly, 
end US foreign policies that create the conditions of injustice and 
poverty that force people to flee their own countries. Haiti Action 
Committee stands in steadfast solidarity with Christian, Vladimer and 
all immigrants in their struggle for family unification and just 
treatment by US immigration authorities, just as we stand in solidarity 
with the Haitian people in their life-and-death struggle for genuine 
democracy, human rights, and national liberation.



-- 
Haiti Action Committee
PO Box 2040
Berkeley,CA 94702
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