Temporary Protected Status protects criminals from deportation

But will Temporary Protected Status be rendered moot if Obama-Rubio-Ryan get their way?  The answer is Yes!  Everyone will be able to stay! (but they can now anyway!)

Just two days ago I told you that the push was on to give Temporary Protected Status to Malians in the US.  Most recently we granted TPS to Syrians.   Haitians, as we reported here, aren’t signing up in large numbers because they see the Obama-Rubio-Ryan Amnesty coming (more on that below).   And, those Guatemalans and their Leftwing open borders advocates are trying to get the designation as well (although they seem to have slacked off, waiting for amnesty perhaps?).  “Temporary” refugees, can get drivers licenses and jobs and every couple of years their “temporary” status is renewed.

The Center for Immigration Studies tells us here how hard it is to get rid of even the criminals who have TPS status.

Roberto Galo has been in the US since the 1990′s!

Last week ICE arrested Roberto Galo, the unlicensed Honduran who killed a young man named Drew Rosenberg in a traffic crash in November 2010, and is detaining him without bond. Galo’s arrest is appropriate but, incredibly, despite the fact that Galo repeatedly violated California driving laws and killed someone, ICE had to make an exception to its policies in order to take him into custody and seek his removal.

Galo is an illegal immigrant who has been living here legally since the late 1990s under a grant of Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Beneficiaries of TPS may apply for driver’s licenses; but Galo could not get one because he failed the driving test three times. Under immigration law, Galo no longer qualifies for TPS after having been convicted of two misdemeanors (vehicular manslaughter and unlicensed driving) stemming from his responsibility for the crash that took Drew Rosenberg’s life.

But under current policies, offenders like Galo are not supposed to be put on the path to removal. USCIS, which administers the TPS program, has directed its officers to try to reclassify some misdemeanors as “infractions” in order to allow these offenders to stay.

Read it all!

The Obama-Rubio-Ryan Amnesty of 2013

Appropriately, Mark Krikorian the Director of the Center for Immigration Studies, with USCIS cases like Galo’s in mind, asks Rep. Paul Ryan and Senator Marco Rubio, so are you planning to trust Obama to keep his end of the bargain as you pander to the ‘Hispanic’ voter.

Krikorian:

Sen. Marco Rubio has effectively endorsed President Obama’s approach to immigration, and that endorsement was in turn endorsed by Rep. Paul Ryan. Or, as Julia Preston put it in the New York Times yesterday, “Strikingly, Mr. Rubio’s principles did not sound that different from proposals for an immigration overhaul by Mr. Obama, Democratic leaders and a handful of other Republicans.”

So, in considering what can now accurately be referred to as the Obama-Rubio-Ryan amnesty plan of 2013, there’s one central question that Rubio and Ryan need to be asked: Do they trust President Obama to enforce the immigration laws in the future, after today’s illegals have been legalized?

If they answer “yes”, then they need to explain why they think he’d suddenly become committed to enforcement after four years of downgrading immigration law enforcement, and more generally acting as though the U.S. Code were a body of suggestions rather than laws.

[.....]

This isn’t some nit I’m picking — it’s central to the whole concept of “comprehensive immigration reform”. If you trust Obama to do the right thing, then, by all means, endorse his plan for amnesty, as Rubio and Ryan have done. But if you don’t trust him to keep his word, if you think all his statements come with an expiration date, then there’s no honest way you can back his approach.

For more on what Rubio’s (and no doubt Grover Norquist’s too!) “comprehensive” plan would do, visit VDARE and see what “Washington Watcher” says about it.  Here is one snippet:

In reality, because, as I mentioned earlier, there is no way to find out when an illegal alien first came to this country, an amnesty will certainly lead to more illegals crossing the border to take advantage of the new program.

It is safe to say that Rubio’s proposal appears to be virtually indistinguishable from what the Democrats want—except the delay in granting citizenship to the amnestied illegals.

Usually, Republican amnesty proposals at least pretend that they are focused even more on enforcement than legalization—but Rubio has pretty much given up even that pretense.

My theory: Rubio is willing to give the Democrats whatever they want—so long as the illegals don’t get (immediate) citizenship.

Back to TPS

I don’t see any other conclusion, if Obama-Rubio-Ryan get their way, everyone gets to stay and Temporary Protected Status is permanent (no more fig leaf), but for certain classes of illegal immigants it already is—Salvadorans, Somalis, Haitians etc.

Liberians had TPS for years and note that they are off the list, but no one deported them!

To be truly “comprehensive,” Rubio’s bill should include a repeal of TPS.  And, the diversity visa lottery too!  How about a moratorium on refugee resettlement as well until that 1980 Kennedy-Biden-Carter law has been back to Congress for reauthorization (something that has never happened).

Feds want more Haitians to sign up for “temporary” refugee program

I wondered why I was seeing notices about new registration periods for Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, and I had noticed mentions of Hurricane Sandy and wondered how that affected Haitians in the US illegally (or already on TPS).

Here, in late December, David North writing at the Center for Immigration Studies blog tells us what is going on.

The administration continues to go out of its way to be nice to illegal aliens, and others from Haiti, who are now in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS was granted to Haitians in the U.S. originally because of the earthquake of January 12, 2010.
[Map of Haiti]

TPS gives otherwise ineligible people legal status in 18-month chunks, during which they are free to work in the above-ground labor market. The beneficiaries are not on a path to citizenship, but they are much better off than they were before, because, among other things, they are also not on a path to deportation. But they do have to re-register every 18 months.

The latest wrinkle relates to the re-registration period for TPS beneficiaries, which was originally scheduled for October 1 through November 30, 2012. Midway through that period Hurricane Sandy swept through the East Coast, being particularly harmful to New York City, the home of many of the TPS Haitians.

According to the announcement in today’s Federal Register “DHS recognizes that Haitian TPS beneficiaries affected by the hurricane may require additional time to prepare a re-registration application and to gather either the funds to cover the re-registration fees or the documentation to support a fee waiver request.”

So, DHS, instead of extending the October-November registration window for a while to cope with what it regarded as a major problem, let the registration period come to an end, and then, as of December 28, 2012, re-opened it again to close, this time, on January 29, 2013.

We wrote about how the Haitian earthquake back in 2010 gave the Obama administration an excuse to give Haitians temporary refugee status and we knew then, based on all the other TPS designations, that this would never end.  TPS would just be extended and extended until the illegals had purchased homes, opened businesses and raised families (voted?) and like the Liberians before them would then cry foul if anyone ever tried to end their “temporary” stay.

North continued (emphasis mine):

My sense is that USCIS keeps being disappointed at the TPS turnout, but it’s not because of storms, it is because interior enforcement of the immigration law is so tepid, and the talk of an impending legalization program is so common that a lot of Haitian illegals decide, understandably, why bother?

According to the Miami Herald the current Haitian enrollment in TPS is about 60,000; at one point USCIS expected more than twice as many would take advantage of its provisions.

Incidentally, if one is eligible for TPS and holds another nonimmigrant visa, such as an F-1 for international students, the individual alien can choose whichever status suits them best, a highly unusual feature in the migration business.

Readers, I should have made a separate category for Temporary Protected Status but didn’t.  Just type those words into our search function and all previous posts on the topic appear, here.   Guatemalans are now lobbying to get TPS for their people (I see by the large number of hits I get on Guatemala TPS posts), but I gather so far the Obama Administration has not chosen them yet for this special amnesty program.

Ho hum Haitians get to stay

The Obama Administration has extended Temporary Protected Status for Haitians who were already (some illegally!) in the US prior to the earthquake in 2010 (or likely some who snuck in after the earthquake!).  This is nothing new for Democrat or Republican administrations.  No one ever goes home who was granted TPS status.  After years and years (decades!) in the US, the pitch is made—-how can we send them back now after they have bought homes, started businesses and sent kids to school?

From Immigration News:

The Associated Press reports the U.S. government is giving Haitians displaced by the 2010 earthquake more time to legally live and work while their Caribbean homeland rebuilds. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has extended Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an additional 18 months. The immigration benefits had been set to expire in January but now Haitians with TPS status can register for an extension beginning January 23, 2013 through July 22, 2014.

But remember!  There is no path to citizenship and these Haitians, although they will have drivers’ licenses and the right to work, cannot VOTE!

They are all waiting for the big amnesty to come if Obama is reelected.

100,000 Haitians could be fast-tracked for visas to come to US

A few noteworthy Republican members of Congress are backing the idea—-Senators Scott Brown and Marco Rubio and Representative Illeana Ros-Lehtinen.

One of the primary reasons they say they want to speed up the migration—the immigrants will work (and maybe not work) and send lots of money back to Haiti.  Florida’s unemployment rate is still above 10%, so how much working will they be doing?   Massachusetts’ unemployment rate is much better at around 7%, so I suppose they can all go live there.

From the Palm Beach Post:

MIAMI — With the two-year anniversary of Haiti’s massive earthquake approaching next week, members of Congress are joining Haitian-American community leaders to push the Obama administration to help more Haitians get visas to live and work in the U.S.

They want to fast-track visas for tens of thousands of Haitians whose petitions to join relatives in this country already have been approved. A cap on the number of visas that the U.S. grants each year, though, means it can take a decade for a visa to be issued.

It’s estimated that more than 100,000 Haitians are on the waiting list for visas to join their families in the U.S., and more than 15,000 of them are the spouses and children of U.S. citizens, according to the Dec. 22 letter sent by eight members of Florida’s congressional delegation to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio both signed, as did six U.S. representatives, including Democrat Frederica Wilson, whose Miami district represents more Haitians than any other in Congress, and Republican Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

[....]

Some members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, including U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Scott Brown, and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick sent similar messages to Napolitano in the fall.

Read it all.

Arab activists ask for Temporary Protected Status for Syrians!

Here we go again.   A couple of decades ago we granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Salvadorans, Hondurans and Liberians.  More recently it was granted to Haitians, but as Mark Krikorian at the Center for Immigration Studies famously said in 1999—there is nothing quite so permanent as temporary protected status.

Readers this is one more back channel way for foreign nationals to stay in the US beyond the limits of the visas that got them here in the first place.  A “crisis” happens at home and the US government says, oh, poor thing, we can’t send you back to a country in crisis.  So the alien stays and stays and stays (with a right to work) and eventually buys a home or a business and then the politicians say, we must extend TPS because heck they are all settled in!

The only thing these immigrants can’t do is vote (but you can bet they are figuring out how to do that too!).

Now we have James Zogby of the Arab American Institute (AAI) petitioning Obama to give TPS status to Syrians.   Well, using his logic Egyptians should stay, and Libyans, and Iranians, and Yeminis, and the list goes on.

Here is what AAI is reporting at its website:

Yesterday, the Arab American Institute, in a formal request to the Obama administration, asked for Temporary Protected Status privileges to be extended to Syrian citizens currently residing in the United States. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a procedure by which the Secretary of Homeland Security may provide temporary asylum to individuals who are in America and who cannot safely return to their home countries.

As the Syrian uprising nears its 10th month, the situation on the ground has grown increasingly dangerous for average Syrian citizens. Questions continue about the safety of Syrian nationals upon their return home from visits to the U.S. As a result, many Syrians currently in the U.S. are deeply concerned for their personal safety and the safety of their families if they return home.

If granted, TPS will allow Syrian citizens who are currently here – mostly as students and tourists – to stay in the U.S. until they can safely return home. It does not contribute to granting an immigrant permanent residence, and reverts the beneficiary to his or her previous immigration status as soon as the temporary protection ends.   [But, ahhhhhhh! it never ends!--ed]

Those original nearly 200,000 Salvadorans that live in the DC, Maryland and Virginia area have been here for two decades (growing their population) and are now looking for an extension of TPS AGAIN this March—a topic which I’ve extensively covered at Potomac Tea Party Report (here is one recent post).  Oh, and by the way, during their TPS they can figure out just how to make permanent asylum claims (or find a US citizen to marry!).

International Organization for Migration: managing the movement of people around the world

We’ve written about the International Organization for Migration (IOM) before because they get big bucks from us (the taxpayers) to process refugees into the US.  They are also largely responsible for teaching refugees abroad how to live in the West.  In its sixtieth year this year, they do more than that according to the New York Times.

The way I see it, the IOM is funded largely by US taxpayers to help manage the flow of labor for businesses around the world—they are kind of like glorified ‘head hunters.’  The article tells us in glowing terms how they have come to rescue various nationals when the labor situation went sour —like Bangladeshis sent to Libya to work and needing to get back home when Obama’s Libyan war broke out.   We pay for this.

This article shows how frustrating it is for the average US voter to understand who is running the international migration racket and get a handle on it.  It’s  not like you can call your Congressman and say stop the funding because we are dealing here with a body that is operating outside US jurisdiction (even though the NYT says the US calls the shots).  Add IOM and the UN and it’s no wonder immigration is out of the control of our federal government.

From the New York Times:

DHAKA, Bangladesh — As global migration has rapidly expanded, so has the influence of a little-known group whose eclectic work shapes migrants’ lives across six continents.

[....]

Part research group, part handyman crew, the International Organization for Migration has become the who-you-gonna-call outfit for 132 member countries grappling with the surge in migration, both legal and unauthorized. Its rapid growth is a sign that migration has outgrown most countries’ ability to manage on their own. “I haven’t made it to a country yet where migration hasn’t been high on the list of priorities,” said William L. Swing, the director general.

Yet even as its duties grow, the group operates under tight constraints that reflect the special worries migration can arouse. The United States [who in the US calls the shots?] and other rich donors largely dictate its agenda and ensure that it does not erode their power to decide which migrants they admit and how many.

“It helps them bring in the people they want and keep out the people they don’t,” said Joseph Chamie, a researcher at the Center for Migration Studies in New York.  [It looks like they want cheap third world laborers and not well-educated Europeans or other westerners---ed]

[....]

The migration group was formed in 1951 under a different name to resettle Europeans displaced by World War II. It had plans to quickly disband, but migration kept growing. Starting in the 1970s, it helped resettle 1.5 million Indochinese refugees, and brought home 218,000 workers during the first Persian Gulf war. In the past two decades, the group has added 89 member countries and undertaken increasingly varied work.

What!  Who decides immigration policy these days—governments or meatpackers (or both in collusion)?  Canadian readers should find this next paragraph interesting.

Canada tapped it to recruit meatpackers. Britain used it to screen would-be migrants for tuberculosis. The United States used it to run a jobs program in Haiti, deterring Haitians from illegally immigrating.

Gee, I wonder how that jobs program worked out for Haiti because if it was successful in keeping the Haitians home, maybe Obama could import it to the US!

IOM: The movement of people causes more concern than the movement of money or goods!  You got that right!

“If the range of our activities has expanded, it’s because migration has taken on much more importance in our globalized world,” said Gervais Appave, a senior official at the group’s headquarters in Geneva.

But the movement of people causes more concern than the movement of money or goods, and Western powers are unwilling to cede authority to an international group.  [sounds like they already have to a large degree--ceded power!]

I’ll bet you a buck that the average US Senator or Congressman has never heard of the International Organization for Migration.  LOL!  We are always surprised every time we learn another Member of Congress has NEVER heard of the Refugee Resettlement Program even.

Big budget funded with boatloads of your money:

Virtually all its work is financed on a project-by-project basis, giving donors control. Together, the United States and Europe provide half the $1.4 billion budget, and every director has been American.

A few years ago I was able to find at USA Spending our “contribution” to the IOM and it stood at over $301 million (before Obama).  Today I can’t find anywhere what the US gives the IOM.  Readers:  Let me know if you find it.

Then there is the UN

I’ve had this article kicking around for days, so just to save the link, I’ll note here that a Republican bill in the US House of Representatives is seeking to scale back our contribution to the UN and bring its policies more in-line with US policy.  The bill would limit funding to the special UN Palestinian refugee agency:

The legislation also would limit the use of U.S. contributions to only the specific purposes outlined by Congress and would withhold U.S. funding for any UN agency that upgrades the status of the Palestinian observer mission or any agency that helps Palestinian refugees.

Boston: Haitians living in hotels as wards of the state

Ho hum.  It’s a year since a massive earthquake devastated Haiti and by all the news accounts this week, international aide did not pour into Haiti, Bill Clinton and George Bush were not successful in raising money to re-build the country and where is the Obama Administration?   No where according to this article in the Boston Globe!  Critics say the Obama US Citizenship and Immigration Services is responsible for not moving fast enough to give “deferred action” status to all those Haitians who got in here by hook or by crook after the quake and now want to stay.

By the way, the Obama Administration did make Temporary Protected Status available to all Haitians illegally in the US before the quake.

The people discussed in this article, got in somehow after the quake and live in limbo.  Some got in through a need for medical treatment and don’t want to leave, others were probably snuck in across our borders with the help of NGO’s and now live in hotels or are homeless in Massachusetts (elsewhere probably too).

This is how the story in the Globe begins:

BROCKTON — The young schoolteacher fled Haiti after the powerful earthquake, the day she spent four terrifying hours pinned under a car and a pile of rubble. In Massachusetts, she found medical care to heal her grotesquely swollen leg, counseling to quiet her nightmares, and hopeful messages from the US government that it would help her start over.

But today, the one year anniversary of the quake, she is homeless, with no documentation to work or drive, and living in a Brockton shelter with her husband and two daughters, aged 3 and 2 months. She is among a flood of Haitians silently adrift across the United States. Many fled the horrific disaster, using visitor visas to enter the United States and stay with friends or relatives, hoping to stay, at least temporarily, to work and rebuild.

In April, a top federal immigration official said Haitians who fled the earthquake could apply for deferred action, a rarely used immigration benefit that could allow them to stay and work for a fixed amount of time. But hundreds of applications are still unresolved nationwide, and advocates say that many Haitians are still unaware that the option exists.

Because they are not permitted to work, many are becoming burdens on their families or finding themselves homeless, according to Catholic Charities and other advocates. In Massachusetts, some are reluctant wards of the state, which pays for food stamps, apartment shelters, or hotel rooms for destitute families.

“I just want to have legal status. I need to start over,’’ said the woman, who asked not to be identified because she has applied for deferred action and fears deportation.

No kidding, she and millions of others just want to start over in the US.

But Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group that favors tougher restrictions on immigration, said the Haitians should return to their homeland, because the visas were supposed to be for temporary travel. He pointed out that other nations in dire straits, such as Congo, do not receive special treatment.

If the truly charitable leaders of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities, World Relief, Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society can’t find it in their hearts to find private charitable money for all those they help get across the border, then maybe it is time for them to go home.   Kind of makes you wonder if there really is a Cloward-Piven strategy to create chaos and bring down our welfare system—ultimately as well our form of government.

 

Increasing number of Haitians coming across US southern border…

…..and arriving in San Diego.   Gee, why San Diego?

From SignOn San Diego:

A record number of Haitians have arrived on America’s southern doorstep, asking for asylum or temporary parole just as the United States is set to resume deportations to Haiti next month — one year after the catastrophic earthquake in the island country.

About 150 Haitian families are accounted for via local charities or border enforcement. While the number is not huge, the growth compared to previous years is astonishing to immigration experts and local advocates and could signify an oncoming wave.

“Historically we have never seen that many,” said Michael McKay, director of refugee services for Catholic Charities, which is assisting 30 families who have applied for asylum or temporary parole. “My suspicion is the door is closing in other places and the word is out that they may be able to get help through the border here.”

Previously, the organization saw one or two Haitians a year, he said. Christ Methodist Church in San Diego is also sponsoring families awaiting immigration proceedings, McKay added.

Currently, 108 Haitians are being detained in San Diego. The majority of those individuals had presented themselves to port of entry officers, said Barbara Gonzales, southern regional spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In January, there were only four Haitians in custody.

[....]

Haiti has been in turmoil since a devastating earthquake Jan. 12 killed more than 230,000 people. Almost immediately, the Obama administration halted deportations and offered a temporary-stay program to those already in the U.S. when the temblor occurred. So far, 61,000 applications for temporary stay have been processed, according to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.

61,000 Haitians have applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) so far!  Whew!  TPS was granted by the Obama Administration after the Earthquake in Haiti and allowed anyone already (at that time) illegally in the US from Haiti to stay until some date in the future when the TPS would be lifted.   But, guess what, TPS is usually just extended over and over, so they never go home, they become part of the amnesty lobby.

I don’t see how this new wave can get TPS.  It seems to me they would have to apply for asylum and prove some sort of persecution.

Why San Diego?  I think the word is out. Open borders activists are encouraging Haitians to come to San Diego and they probably have lawyers waiting to help them get into the US.

Also, Catholic Charities and not the City, County or State of California is running the refugee/asylee program in San Diego County.  See the Office of Refugee Resettlement list of states and the one county whose refugee programs are now being run by a “church” group federal contractor and the US State Department (we learned about it here just two days ago).  I still don’t get it—why doesn’t the ACLU see a separation of church and state issue with the refugee program.   And, I continue to be amazed that CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) doesn’t squawk about all the Christian and one Jewish federal refugee contractors.  Shush! I bet the State Department is hoping and praying CAIR doesn’t figure it out!

Endnote: Just a reminder that San Diego is also the city with the recent Somali terror probe.  Here we have a whole bunch of stories archived on San Diego Somalis and terror investigations and arrests.  It appears also that San Diego was a point of departure for some of the Somali missing youths who left Minnesota beginning in 2008 (maybe earlier) to return to Africa for jihad training with Al-Shabaab.

Two American women dead in New Hampshire….

….brutally murdered by men who are recent immigrants.   One alleged murderer is an illegal Haitian, the other a supposedly legal Kenyan.  Frankly, I am getting lost in my immigrant diversity is strength crime stories that need posting.  I have some from Washington State as well and a reader sent me some other recent events in New Hampshire besides these two heinous murders.   Hat tip to two readers for these New Hampshire stories.

In the first case, reported in the Concord Monitor, the illegal Haitian just took a gun next door and shot a married nursing student at point blank range as she got him a drink of water.  Apparently the confessed murderer gave a motive to authorities but that has not been released to the public.

The Haitian national accused of killing a 31-year-old nursing student in her Henniker home was in the United States illegally and confessed to shooting her in the head after investigators showed him forensic evidence that linked him to the murder weapon, according to a newly unsealed police affidavit.

Roody Fleuraguste, 22, told investigators that he took a .357-caliber revolver belonging to Molly Hawthorn-MacDougall’s father-in-law, loaded it with six bullets and walked next door to her home at 18 Rand Road, where he shot her the morning of April 29, according to an affidavit filed by the state police to support an arrest warrant.

“I did it. . . . I did it,” Fleuraguste said, according to the court filing.

Partially redacted versions of two affidavits in the case were unsealed yesterday by a Merrimack County Superior Court judge. The Monitor and the New Hampshire Union Leader filed motions asking that the documents be released to the public.

Read all the sad details.

In the second case, the supposedly legal Kenyan* was the father of the murdered woman’s child.   The child may have witnessed the brutal murder that involved stabbing, and possibly a beating with a hammer and being run over by a car.

From WMUR-9:

BRENTWOOD, N.H. — A man has been charged with stabbing and killing the mother of his son.

Police found Randi Huntley, 25, suffering from stab wounds near her home in Danville, N.H., on Tuesday afternoon. She died a short time later.

According to court paperwork, investigators believe Huntley died after being repeatedly stabbed and/or hit with a metal hammer, and she may have been run over by a car.

On Wednesday, police charged Jackson Mwangi, 28, with first-degree murder. He was arraigned in Exeter District Court, but no motive for the killing was discussed.

Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said afterward that at one point, Mwangi and Huntley had been romantically involved. Mwangi and Huntley had a 4-year-old son together but were no longer a couple.

[....]

He also said that Mwangi, a Kenyan national, is in the country legally, although he couldn’t say how long he had been in the United States.

* I bet we find out he was just as “legal” as Obama’s Kenyan Aunt Zeituni.

And to all the readers who are fuming and spluttering about how white American men are murderers too.  Yes, they are, but that is not the subject of this blog.  You are welcome to write a blog about evil white American men at any time.

Fear of rape enough to get refugee status in Canada?

A recent decision by a Canadian court could open the door for any Haitian woman believing she might be raped to seek asylum in Canada.

From The Star:

A groundbreaking Federal Court ruling has opened doors to Haitian women who are seeking refugee status in Canada because they are afraid of being raped in their own country, where sexual violence is a growing problem.

“It means a Haitian woman making a refugee claim on that basis should succeed, as long as conditions in Haiti remain as they are now,” said lawyer Raoul Boulakia.

Boulakia represents Elmancia Dezameau, a Haitian-born mother of four who sought refugee protection after arriving in Toronto in 2007, arguing she and her four daughters were at risk of being targeted for rape if she were returned home.

In support of her case, Boulakia filed reports from several international aid agencies, including Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders, which identified rape as a systemic problem in Haiti, one that has worsened since January’s earthquake.

Does this mean all Haitian women are eligible for refugee status in Canada?  It sounds like it to this lawyer.

Lawyers for the federal government argued that if Dezameau won her case, all female refugee claimants from Haiti would automatically be granted refugee protection simply because they are women.

Pinard [a Justice] rejected that argument, saying female refugee claimants from Haiti will still have to prove their risk of being raped is more than a mere possibility.

According to this story from The Star at least, it sounds like she didn’t have to submit anything in court besides general reports that rape in Haiti was widespread.  So is the Justice saying she still has to prove she is personally threatened?

Rape as a weapon to terrorize women is used throughout Africa too, so does this mean all women from certain countries would be eligible for refugee status in Canada?   It is hard to tell exactly what this ruling does.