All posts by Nicole Iwata

Haitian immigration

My roommate is doing her senior thesis on immigration detention in the US and a lot of her research has been on Haitian immigration. So, I asked her for some more information.

As Prof. Dubois mentioned in class, Haitians don’t get asylum in the US. About 5% of Haitian immigrants receive asylum. Between 1981 and 1999, 22940 Haitians were intercepted by the Coast Guard and only 9 were even considered qualified for asylum. When Haitians arrive they are put in detention centers, like Krome or Guantanamo, as Prof. Dubois said. Legal precedents say that they can’t be detained longer than six months but there are a ton of loop holes and most are detained for several years. Detention is not considered punishment, and they are not considered criminals so they do not have right to a lawyer. Most go to their asylum hearings without representation.

The Attorney General under Regan was quoted saying, “Detention of aliens seeking asylum was necessary to discourage people like the Haitians from setting sail in the first place.”

My roommate told me this anecdote a few years ago. In 2004, Joseph Dantica a former minister in Haiti and his son came to the United States. Gang members had taken over his village and accused him of conspiring with the police. He came to the US where his niece, a prominent Haitian-American author lives. At customs, when asked why he was here, he said he was seeking asylum and was immediately detained. Had he said he was visiting and then stayed illegally, he probably would have been okay. Dantica got seriously ill while in detention and needed medication. The staff thought he was faking it and didn’t do anything. By the time they actually took him to a hospital, he died.  (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/11/16/17056231.php)

Another interesting point to that story is that Dantica flew into the United States. The 80s created this image of Haitians trying to get to Florida in boats. According to my roommate, many immigrants now come by plane. All airports are borders now.

Something else Prof. Dubois mentioned was the difference in treatment the Haitians get from the Cubans. Cubans are considered political refugees. Haitians consider themselves refugees, but technical name given to them by the government is economic migrants. Whether or not it is due to the favorable treatment they have received, Cubans have become very successful in the United States. Miami’s last five mayors have been Cuban and Florida now has a Cuban senator. This partly fuels the image that Cubans are good upright citizens and the stereotype that Haitian immigrants will end up on welfare and cost the government money. Since Cubans have attained as much power as they have, policy will likely remain favorable to Cubans and less favorable to Haitians.

My roommate is also from South Florida, where there are large Haitian and Cuban communities. She said that in South Florida you have examples of successful Cuban immigrants. You learn about Cuban refugees in elementary school and they come as guest speakers. Cubans are traditionally held in a sympathetic light. However, Haitians are viewed in a much more criminal light.  Since the earthquake this has changed a little bit, as people are beginning to view Haitians as victims.

Il existe un lien entre chômage et natalité?

http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2011/08/31/lien-entre-chomage-et-natalite-polemique-apres-les-propos-de-frederic-lefebvre_1565622_823448.html

Tous les pays connaît le chômage et l’état actuel de l’économie accroit ce problème. Il est interessant d’examiner ce problème dans un pays où il est très difficile de virer un employé. Vendredi dernier, Frédéric Lefebre, secrétaire d’Etat du commerce, a dit que le taux de natalité et la raison que la France ne peut pas baisser le taux de chômage. Comme prévu, l’article a appelé cette déclaration polémique. Elle m’a frappé parce que la culture française accorde de l’importance à la famille. On le voit surtout dans la grande rédution d’impôt de la naissance du troisième enfant (il y a des réductions pour les deux premiers enfants, mais la réduction pour le troisième est plus grande).

Lefebre compare la France à l’Allemagne, qui a un taux de natalité plus bas et un taux de chômage plus bas. En effet, la France a l’un de plus haut taux de natalité dans l’Europe (12.29/1000, CIA World Factbook). Malgré ça, il est très difficile de dire qu’il existe vraiment un lien causal. Il y a plusieurs choses qui contribuent au chômage (l’article nous en rappele). Il y a, néamoins, un peu de logique dans ce qu’il dit. Comme la population croît ainsi que le nombre de personnes qui entre le marché dans l’avenir croît. Mais, je ne crois pas que le taux de natalité joue un rôle énorme.

L’article parle aussi des nouveaux lois à propos de retraite, ce qui ont créé beaucoup de colère et de manifestation. On a levé l’âge de retraite (la France a eu le plus jeune âge de retraite et je crois qu’il reste l’un de plus jeune). Les employés qui auraient quitté le marché restent et empechent l’entrée de nouveaux employés. A mon avis, il était extremement nécessaire de reformer la retraite. Mais, j’avait beaucoup entrendu ce raisonnement.

Bien sûr, les hommes (et les femmes) politiques disent beaucoup qui n’est pas correcte. Mais comme j’ai dit plus tôt, cette déclaration me semblait contradictoire à la culture française.