Speech #970156741

Speaker. I am including in todays RECORD an excellent speech which was presented by my good friend from New York. Representative DICK OTTINGER. at a symposium on Haitian refugees held at the Grace Episcopal Church. White Plains. N.Y.. on April 18. 1982. As the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. I commend Representative OTTINGER for his steady voice of outrage over the Reagan administrations ideologically biased refugee and human rights policies. DICK OTTINGER has helped to lead the fight against President Reagans callous disregard for the rights of blacks in the United States as well as those abroad. I thank DICK OTTINGER for his leadership in these grave matters. and commend to the attention of my colleagues his recent speech on the plight of Haitian refugees: I have been asked to discuss the tragic plight of Haitian refugees. and the political dimensions to this important issue. The Reagan Administrations alarming tilt to the racist government of South Africa. its support for tax exemptions for racist institutions in the United States. and its decision to eliminate the "extended voluntary departure program" for Ethiopian refugees are all indicative of this Administrations total disregard for the human rights of blacks in the United States as well as those abroad. The Administrations policies toward Haitian refugees constitutes a shocking discrimination inconsistent with the treatment of other refugees. These policies violate rights that have traditionally been afforded to those seeking political asylum in the United States. Indeed. its the Presidents Haitian refugee policy which is the most flagrant example of a racially biased refugee and human rights policy. In the past 20 years. about 800.000 Haitians left their country. according to the State Department. During January through September. 1981. over 1.000 Haitians per month entered the United States. On July 31. 1981. the Reagan Administration announced that its policy would be one of indefinite imprisonment of Haitians until they receive exclusion hearings. This policy was an abrupt change from that which allowed for the release of detained Haitians to voluntary agencies and sponsors while the refugees awaited hearings. Today. there are well over 2.000 Haitians at 17 detention centers throughout the United States. In a recent article in Newsweek. these detention centers were described as resembling "concentration camps." Detention in remote facilities clearly impedes fair hearings of asylum claims. First. it is extremely difficult for fair consideration of an asylum claim in a prison setting. Second. it Is virtually impossible for the detainee to seek witnesses which may be crucial to the claim. Finally. the policy of detention in remote facilities thwarts the Haitians rights to effective counsel as provided for in immigration regulations. This policy also has a chilling effect on our historical commitment to those who have valid claims to political asylum. The Administration is simply reversing Americas humanitarian tradition of aiding individuals fleeing repressive regimes that engage in brutal violations of human rights. The United States. of course. is bound by treaty and by law to grant political asylum to undocumented noncitizens who have a wellfounded fear of persecution should they be returned to their homelands. However. as is consistent with Reagans ideologically and racially biased refugee and human rights policy. the Administration has argued that Haitians are fleeing Haiti for strictly economic reasons and that there is no wellfounded fear of persecution should they be returned. This is a transparently discriminatory program designed to deport Haitian nationals. By the Department of States very own admission. the human rights climate in Haiti is exceedingly repressive. In its Report to Congress on international human rights practices in 1981. the State Department reported that "Haiti has had a long and troubled history of autocratic rule characterized by many periods of political instability and human rights abuses." Many of the refugees currently in American detention centers insist that economic conditions in Haiti simply cannot be separated from the political conditions. For example. Haitian officials expropriate peasant farmland with the passive consent of the government. The Haitian Government exploits its people economically. in conjunction with massive arbitrary arrests and imprisonment. total disregard for the right to fair trial. and absolutely no toleration whatsoever for political dissent. Indeed. in a ruling that indicated that a large number of Haitian refugees have valid claims to political asylum that are being Ignored by our Immigration and Naturalization Service. Judge James L. King of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the mere act of seeking asylum elsewhere was viewed by the Haitian regime as an act of opposition to its leader. Jean Claude (Baby Doe) Duvalier. Judge King went on to note that an applicant for political asylum could expect to be "imprisoned and executed" in Haiti. Judge Kings ruling clearly shows that the Reagan Administration is engaged in racist policies to deny refugees the freedoms that have been extended to so many other refugees. In his ruling. the Judge wrote: "These Haitians who came to the United States seeking freedom and justice did not find it. Instead. they were confronted with an Immigration and Naturalization Service determined to deport them." For these reasons. I have been opposing the Reagan Administrations racist refugee