The United States Imprisons Dozens of Haitian Survivors

The United States has detained 30 Haitians, and since this Wednesday they are being held in Florida. The group managed to survive the earthquake of January 12th, and came to this country in a Navy aircraft, reported “Prensa Latina.” They were arrested just as they stepped on American soil for not having visas, and have been detained for over two months without receiving any specialized care, according to the “New York Times.”

Many of the Haitian prisoners were at the airport in Port-au-Prince in search of food, security or medical assistance, when U.S. military aircraft began evacuating staff after the earthquake. U.S. authorities brought them into federal custody just as they arrived in the country, but they cannot send them back to their country, because of the of the White House order to suspend deportations to Haiti, according to the newspaper.

The immigration system refused to grant the request of relatives of prisoners who want to take care of them, or the request a national psychotherapist who offered to assist them in the prison, he says. A government spokesman told the newspaper that the 30 Haitians had an open file, and that another 35 arrived and are being detained in various prisons around the country waiting to be processed.