First Haitian Detainee Placed by P.B. Fund
Episcopal News Service. August 5, 1982 [82176]
MIAMI (DPS, Aug. 5) -- The first Haitian refugee detainee to be released July 23, from federal prisons and Immigration and Naturalization Service sites in the United States and Puerto Rico is being sponsored by an Episcopal congregation here.
Etienne Francois became the first of some 1,807 Haitian refugees ordered freed by federal Judge Eugene P. Spellman on June 29 to walk out of the detention center. Francois, 42, had been held behind the double cyclone fences topped with barbed wire at Krome since August 1981.
He left the center shortly after 3:00 p.m., accompanied by the Rev. Robert Land, who serves as a consultant to the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief which is assisting in the sponsorship of the Haitians.
Francois is being sponsored by St. Paul's Episcopal Church here. The Rev. Samir J. Habiby, director of the Fund, commented, "The direct involvement of the Fund in the interim sponsorship of Haitian refugees released on parole, is one which stems from the Fund's total work and ministry of service in providing assistance for disaster relief, rehabilitation, development and refugee/migration affairs. The detention, for over one year, of peaceful though undocumented Haitians who have come to our shores without visas while following the letter of the law is exceptionally unfortunate and violates the very integrity and compassionate humane framework of the American way of Life."
The Fund is participating in a contract with the Office of Refugee Resettlement which calls for the Fund to assist in the processing and interim placement of between 288 and 328 detained Haitians through Episcopal Church sponsorships.
According to Mrs. Robert J. Dawson, the Fund's Assistant Director. for Migration Affairs, the Church has field staff at four detention sites: Krome Avenue in Miami and Fort Allen, Puerto Rico, both of which are Immigration and Naturalization Service facilities; and two federal prisons, at Alderson, W.Va., and La Tuna, at El Paso, Tex. From these sites the Haitian detainees will be processed by the Fund's staff and diocesan-related personnel in accordance with regulations established by the court and then released to their sponsors.
Each released refugee must have an acceptable attorney to handle the petition process requesting asylum and represent the Haitian at forthcoming exclusion hearings, which are part of the asylum and appeal process. The refugee must also agree to report weekly through the sponsor to the court's representative.
Sponsors will provide housing, food, clothing, household expenses, etc., where needed, for 120 days or until the exclusionary hearing, whichever comes first. The sponsor will also assist the refugee in finding a job.
Persons who are interested in this ministry with the Haitian refugees may contact the Fund at 212/867-9454. Contributions (marked Haitian Refugee Program) for this ministry may be sent to the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, 815 Second Ave., New York, NY 10017.