Meek Briefs Community on Haiti
Criticizes Bush Administration for Inaction

“People Should Not Have To Die” For U.S To Act, Congressman Tells Administration

Washington, DC—As the crisis in Haiti deepens, U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek met in his North Dade office with 40 Haitian elected and community leaders to report on his meetings with Administration and Coast Guard officials and conversations with foreign governmental leaders seeking to diffuse the crisis.

“I have asked President Bush to take immediate action in Haiti to save lives, relieve human suffering and prevent the loss of life that would inevitably result from a mass exodus from Haiti by sea,” Meek said. “I have also asked the Administration to immediately cease all deportations to Haiti and to grant Temporary Protective Status (TPS) to all Haitians in the United States so that no Haitian adult or child will be injected into a situation so dangerous that the State Department has asked all Americans to leave the country and armed U.S. Marines are guarding the U.S. Embassy.”

In recent days, Meek has met with Coast Guard Rear Admiral Harvey Johnson, Jr. to discuss what contingency plans are in place should large numbers of Haitians attempt to come to the U.S. Meek also met with Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America and “strongly urged” that the United States “not sit on its hands and wait for something to happy” before taking action.

Previously, Meek discussed CARICOM proposals to end the crisis with Bahamas Foreign Minister Frederick Mitchell, Bahamas Ambassador Joshua Spears and Jamaican officials representing CARICOM, the Caribbean community.

Participants in the meeting strongly agreed with Meek that the Bush Administration needs to take immediate action. Florida State Rep. Phillip Brutus said, “If we don't give TPS now to the Haitians about to be deported - who's going to house them in Haiti, who's going to feed them and who's going to protect them?”

“Mr. Bush should advocate the sending of a multinational force to put a stop to the killing" said Jean-Robert LaFortune, Chairman of the Miami-based Haitian Grassroots Coalition. Marleine Bastien, President of the Haitian Women of Miami, said, “President Bush should send a strong signal for the violence in Haiti to stop now... and the U.S. should continue to be a safe haven for all refugees to come to.”

Cheryl Little, Executive Director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, said “We should stop the deportation of Haitians now and grant TPS to the Haitians until the situation in Haiti has improved. The US government has given TPS to the Liberians, to the Nicaraguans, the Hondurans - and to everybody else in times of crisis in their home country. Why can't the Bush administration step in and do the same thing - given the bloodshed that is happening now in Haiti.”

“The U.S. must intervene in Haiti to save lives now,” Meek said. “The Bush Administration has made it clear that it will wait until a number of Haitians are face down in the streets and in the waters around Haiti, before it will do something.”

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