Weird Law: Haitians in US Custody Unable, For 3 Months, To Bury Their Infant Daughter

Advocates: Release 2 Haitians to bury baby daughter who drowned when boat capsized off Fla. - WPIX

Jennifer Kay writes:

Advocates in Miami's Little Haiti pressed federal authorities Tuesday to release the 8-month-old girl's parents so they can bury the child they lost in the fast-flowing Gulf Stream current and to fight the government's efforts to deport them back to Haiti.

The body of Luana Augustin was among nine recovered from the ocean. The infant remains at the Palm Beach County medical examiner's office, along with the bodies of three other women who died in the accident and have not been identified.

Chandeline Leonard, 32, and Lucsene Augustin, 26, have been in U.S. custody since May 13 when the boat capsized and sank off Boynton Beach, some 60 miles north of Miami.

The grief-stricken couple from Port-de-Paix, Haiti, are plagued with nightmares about the baby's drowning and need counseling and the ability to plan Luana's funeral, relatives and advocates said.

"It's very critical for her" to see the baby buried, said Leonard's cousin, Albert Noel of Miami.

Marleine Bastien, executive director of Haitian Women of Miami, said the Department of Homeland Security has not responded to the couple's request for humanitarian parole, which is occasionally granted for pregnant women or others with serious medical conditions.

"As a matter of human decency, they should have been released in order to bury their little baby girl, to deal with their immigration cases and to be with family," Bastien said.

Technorati Tags: Haiti, Florida, custody, immigration

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Bill Clinton Will Raise Funds for Haiti

Clinton reiterates commitment to impoverished Haiti - World - Canoe.ca

Former President Bill Clinton on Sunday delivered to Haitian-Americans and emigres a mixed message of heartbreak and hope.

As the new U.N. envoy to Haiti, Clinton has focused his well-honed fundraising talents on Haitian relief. The former president announced he would head a trade mission there in October with international investors.

Clinton also said billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros' Soros Economic Development Fund was launching an equity investment program with an initial commitment of up to $25 million. The Haiti Invest Project's potential partners could immediately expand that amount to $150 million in manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, energy and tourism ventures.

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Protests in Haiti over Low Minimum Wage Turn Violent

Al Jazeera English - Americas - Haiti protesters clash with police

Haitian police have clashed with protesters calling for an increase in the minimum wage outside the country's parliament.

As politicians prepared to vote on the issue in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, some of the 2,000 protesters threw stones at police officers, who responded by firing tear gas to disperse the crowd.

One person was reported to have been injured in the clashes but no arrests were made.

The demonstrators said the minimum wage was insufficient and that they could not provide adequate food and shelter for their families on less than $2 a day.

"Seventy gourdes, that doesn't do anything for me," said Banel Jeune, a clothing factory worker taking part in the protest, referring to his current minimum-wage salary.

"I can't feed my kids, and I can't send them to school."

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