CARIBBEAN TODAY


 N EWS


 ICE freezes Caribbean nationals


in Florida on immigration violations


 U.S. warns region


over human trafficking


 GORDON WILLIAMS
Caribbean nationals did
 not escape a Florida
 dragnet set by the
United States Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) which hauled in dozens
of suspects late last month.
 Several fugitives and
immigration violators with
links to the region were
among the 183 arrested for
crimes ranging from rape -
including cases involving
minors to drugs and gun pos-
session during a weeklong
operation.
 There were at least 37
Caribbean nationals among
those arrested by detention
and removal officers and spe-
cial agents in the statewide
operation. They included 16
Haitians, 11 Jamaicans, four
from the Dominican Republic,
three from Trinidad and
Tobago, two Guyanese and
one from The Bahamas.
 Barbara Gonzalez, public
relations officer for ICE, told
Caribbean Today that the sig-
nificant presence of Caribbean
nationals among the group of
those arrested was not an indi-
cation that the region was a
special focus of the agency's
operation.
 "No country was target-


NEW YORK, CMC -
Influential United States
Congressman Charles Rangel
has called on Washington and
the Caribbean community
(CARICOM) to fashion a
"blueprint" that would accel-
erate economic and social
development in the region.
 Rangel said this is now
necessary in light of recent
efforts by both parties to nor-
malize their tattered relations.
 The dean of New York's
Congressional delegation, who
represents Harlem, said the
"blueprint" would take
regional countries "forward".
 "These islands are among
our strongest allies, and they
deserve a better deal from its
powerful neighbor and trading
partner," Rangel said.
 Rangel said the U.S. has
an onus to make the region
more "competitive" in this age
of globalization and trade lib-
eralization.
 "We have to extend a
helping hand to the island-
nations and coastal states in
the Caribbean so they can be
competitive.
 "It must be a blueprint on


ed," she said.
 The operation was spear-
headed by ICE Fugitive
Operations teams in Miami,
Tampa, Jacksonville and
Orlando, according to a press
release issued by the agency.
The release stated that the
arrests were part of efforts by
ICE "to identify and arrest
those who pose a threat to our
community and who have no
legal right to remain in the
country".
 ICE claimed that "among
the arrested were 130 fugitive
criminal aliens that were
ordered removed from the
U.S. by a federal immigration
judge but failed to comply
with their lawful orders.. .The
remaining 53 arrested were
illegal aliens amenable to
removal from the United
States.
 "All have been charged
administratively for being in
violation of immigration
laws", the release added.

CRIMINAL HISTORY
 The agency said "many of
the fugitives arrested during
this operation have a history
of violent criminal activity
that includes sexual assault of
a child, driving under the
influence (DUI), child abuse,
aggravated assault, cocaine


 1 -mi
Rangel
which everyone can agree as
to what has to be done for the
Caribbean to be competitive,"
he added.

'COMMITMENT'
 "There must be a commit-
ment by the U.S. that it is a
part of our obligation because
the Caribbean countries have
been our friends and neigh-
bors. We must also look upon
this exercise as part of our
national security. When we
are dealing with the
Caribbean, we never have to


trafficking and weapons viola-
tions".
 Among the arrested was
Liston Bartley, a 55-year-old
Jamaican who had been con-
victed of indecent assault after
impregnating a 12-year-old
girl. His subsequent appeal to
the Board of Immigration
Appeals (BIA) was denied
and he was ordered by an
immigration judge removed
from the U.S. Up to press
time Bartley was still in ICE
custody awaiting deportation.
 ICE also reported that its
agents diL\ NLrLd and seized
a SKS 7.62mm assault rifle, a
9mm pistol, seven grams of
marijuana, three scales and
$2,200 in U.S. currency fol-
lowing a consent search given
by Clovis Walbert Pinnock, a
citizen of Jamaica". Pinnock,
according to the agency,
entered the country in 1997 as
a visitor but failed to depart as
required by law and was sub-
sequently ordered deported
by a judge. He is a convicted
felon who had been on the
run since 2001.
 Nationals from the follow-
ing other countries were also
nabbed during the operation
which, according to ICE, "was
a combined effort between
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)


worry about our backs.
 "We may disagree from
time to time, as sovereign
nations often do, but the
states in the region have stood
with us as our friends," he
said.
 Rangel believes the recent
meeting in The Bahamas
between U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and
CARICOM foreign ministers
was a first step towards the
creation of the "blueprint".
 "The comprehensive plan
should emerge from follow-up
meetings between officials of
both sides and in subsequent
talks between Rice and the
foreign ministers," he said.
 Rice is expected to meet
with the region's foreign min-
isters in September "on the
margins" of the United
Nations General Assembly.
Rangel was instrumental in
helping to broker the recent
meeting between then U.S.
Special Trade Representative
Robert Portman and CARI-
COM trade ministers in
Washington.
0


 DAMIAN P. GREGORY

Months after the
 United States State
 Department threat-
ened Jamaica and 14 other
countries with sanctions if
they did not take steps to
combat cases of human traf-
ficking mostly of women and
children that has become the
focus of international atten-
tion, the island's status on the
list of countries involved in
the practice has been down-
graded.
 There are between 600,000
and 800,000 persons trafficked
across international borders
each year, the majority of
those are women and children,
and about 80 percent of those
are minors under the age of
18, the State Department
estimates.
 The 256-page annual
report is intended to heighten
awareness about the problem
of human trafficking and
encourage governments to


United Nations, CMC -
Caribbean community
(CARICOM) diplomatic rep-
resentatives at the United
Nations say they have been
inundated with requests from
other countries to support
their individual bids for a seat
on the newly-established U.N.
Human Rights Council
(UNHRC).
 "We have been inundated
with requests from other
countries for support," said
Crispin Gregoire, Dominica's
ambassador to the U.N.
 Gregoire told the
Caribbean Media Corporation
(CMC) that since the UNHRC
is a new entity, "a lot of coun-
tries want to be founding
members of it."
 St. Lucia's U.N.
Ambassador Julian Hunte,
said there were more candi-
dates than available seats on
the UNCHR.
 "This is the level of com-
petition that exists, where
there are more candidates
than seats. It's intense lobby-
ing across the board," he said.
 Hunte's Trinidadian coun-
terpart, Philip Sealy, said can-
vassing for votes on the 47-
member council for the May 9
elections has, indeed, been
intense.
 "In most regional group-
ings, there are more candi-
dates than vacancies. Member
states are, accordingly, being


form new partnerships to fight
it. Countries that engage in
trafficking are ranked accord-
ing to tiers, or categories,
according to activities they
were believed to have partici-
pated in. Jamaica was initially
ranked in Tier 3 of the report.
 "Jamaica is a source coun-
try for children trafficked
internally for the purpose of
sexual exploitation", the
report stated in June 2005
when it was first released.
"Jamaica is a transit country
for illegal migrants moving to
the U.S. and Canada; some
may be trafficking victims.
Jamaicans are also trafficked
into forced labor in the
United SiL, k .

IMPROVEMENT
 But according to a Feb.
2006 interim report, things have
begun to improve for some of
the island's most vulnerable.
 "The government of

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)


approached by the candida-
tures countries seeking sup-
port for their respective candi-
datures," he told CMC.
 Last month, the U.N.
General Assembly adopted
Resolution 60/251 establishing
the UNHRC as a subsidiary
organ of the General
Assembly. The UNHRC,
which will be based in
Geneva, replaces the U.N.
 Commission
 on Human
 Rights.
 Members of
 the Council
 will be elected
 "directly and
 individually"
Hunte by secret bal-
 lot, Sealy said.
 Membership
will be based on equitable
geographical distribution, with
the groups of African and
Asian states both getting 13
seats each, the group of Latin
American and Caribbean
states eight, the group of
Western European and other
states seven. The group of
Eastern European states will
get six seats.
 Gregoire said the United
States, which voted against
the UNHRC resolution, is not
seeking a seat.
 "There's a perception that
they would not get enough
votes," he said.
0


Developed countries lobby

 Caribbean for U.N. seats


 U.S. Congressman wants 'blueprint'


for economic and social development


May 2006