It is incomplete because there is another relatively small group of persons who have the same characteristics as those who are being recognized for whom legislation is being passed today as part of the District of Columbia appropriations bill. That group is Haitians. There are 11.000 Haitians who. because of their credible asylum claims. were flown to the United States by our Government during the early 1990s. These were men. women and children. Mr. President. who had left Haiti because of the oppressive circumstances there. Mr. President. this group of approximately 11.000 Haitians. who because of credible asylum claims were allowed to enter the United States in the early 1990s. were part of a much larger group of over 40.000 Haitians who had been detained at sea and temporarily were in a refuge status at our Guantanamo naval station. These were the 11.000 of that larger group who were found. based on screenings administered by the Immigration Naturalization Service. to have a credible claim of persecution should they be returned to Haiti. The balance of those who could not meet that standard were in fact repatriated to Haiti. There is a second group of similar size and significant overlap in terms of the individuals who are part of the asylum backlog. These are those who have had pending asylum cases since 1995. Mr. President. I am pleased to be joined in introducing this legislation today which is entitled the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1997. with my colleague Senator MACK. Senator KENNEDY. Senator ABRAHAM. and Senator CAROL MOSELEYBRAUN.
Keywords matched
asylum claims Immigration asylum cases Refugee Naturalization