Bishop Allin Supports Haitian Refugees
Episcopal News Service. May 1, 1980 [80152]
New York -- The Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, has called on President Jimmy Carter "to give serious consideration to granting political asylum to the Haitians now arriving in the U. S. as refugees. "
Bishop Allin informed the president that he was supporting the plea of the Rt. Rev. Calvin O. Schofield of the Miami-based Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida who had asked the president to grant political asylum to the refugees "or to give them some status which will relieve the deplorable conditions under which they are now living."
This spring hundreds of Haitian refugees have survived an 800-mile boat trip from Haiti to the southern Florida shores. Many others of these Atlantic boat people have drowned on the way.
Bishop Allin's communication to the president recalled Mrs. Carter's visit to refugee camps in Southeast Asia. He said "we are inspired" by her interest and by the president's "humanitarian concern." He continued, "We hope for a similar response on your part in behalf of the Haitians who have come to our shores."
Haitian refugees face an uncertain future in the U. S. because of the current immigration laws and the limitations of the Refugee Act of 1980.
Since 1975, the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief has provided $74,000 as support for Haitian refugees.