Death by Deportation for Haitians
by FIAC
(Miami, Jan. 31, 2011) - A deported man has died following his detention in a Haitian jail. Wildrick Guerrier, 34, was among the 27 Haitians deported on Jan. 20 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the midst of the country's massive cholera epidemic.
While
in jail in Haiti, Guerrier suffered from cholera-like symptoms,
including extreme vomiting and uncontrollable diarrhea. He died shortly
thereafter. Advocates in Haiti and detainee relatives also have informed
us that at least one other detainee is suffering similar symptoms.
Claudine Magloire, Guerrier's fiancé and U.S. permanent resident, is outraged. "The U.S. government has caused my fiancé to die," she said. The deportations to Haiti need to stop."
Guerrier
came to the United States as a teenager in 1993 and was a lawful
permanent resident. He had been living with his mother, helped raise two
younger brothers, and was a father figure to his fiancé's son. He also
worked at his car detailing business.
Guerrier was completing a criminal
sentence of 18 months when transferred to ICE detention. An immigration
judge had ordered him deported on Nov. 9, 2010.
He
and the other deportees were jailed upon arrival in Haiti under a
longstanding policy of the Haitian government to detain deportees with
U.S. criminal records. Haiti's jails are notorious for what one U.S.
Court of Appeals described as "slave-ship" conditions. These were the
first U.S. deportations to Haiti since the catastrophic earthquake of
January 2010. Advocates and community groups have protested that it
remains too dangerous to send anyone to Haiti given its cholera
epidemic, civil unrest, and lack of infrastructure.
In a meeting last week with Department of Homeland Security officials in Washington, D.C., last Friday, Cheryl Little, Executive Director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC), and other advocates stressed grave concern that Haitian deportees would face death upon their return.
"This is death by deportation," Little
said. "To continue sending deportees to Haiti only invites more deaths
and suffering. A criminal record should not be a death sentence for
Haitians. Sadly, Guerrier's family now mourns his loss."
"Our worst nightmare has come to pass," said Rebecca Sharpless, Professor at the University of Miami School of Law and Director of the Immigration Clinic.
"Wildrick Guerrier has paid the ultimate price for our country's
unconscionable policy. We can only hope that the White House will now
come to its senses and halt the deportations."
On
January 6, rights groups filed an emergency petition with the
Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) to halt the
deportations of hundreds of Haitian nationals by U.S. immigration
authorities.
The United States has not yet responded to the emergency petition, despite being ordered to by the IACHR. The
petition was submitted by the University of Miami School of Law, Human
Rights and Immigration Clinics; the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center;
the Center for Constitutional Rights, Alternative Chance, and the Loyola
Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice.
To read the emergency petition, go to:
http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/iachr-haitian-removals
