CARIBBEAN TODAY


Haiti's new P.M. sets job creation,

investment among main priorities


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti,
CMC Jean-Max Bellerive,
who was sworn-in as prime
minister last month, has listed
job creation and developing a
better investment climate
among the priorities for the
government of this Caribbean
community (CARICOM)
nation.
 "Haiti will continue to
work with all the partners and
all the people who believe in
stability and who believe the
only way we are going to
change Haiti is through pri-
vate investment and through
creating jobs in Haiti," said
Bellerive, 51, the sixth person
to hold the post since 2004.
 He also pledged to foster
better relations with legisla-
tors.
 Bellerive, who previously
served as planning and exter-
nal cooperation minister and
had held several positions
under at least six different
prime ministers in the past
two decades, succeeds
Michele Pierre-Louis, who
was ousted by the Haitian
Senate on Oct. 30.
 "We will take care of put-
ting (Members of Parliament)
more in accordance with what
we are doing," the economist
said.
 "It's the same program,
basically. We have the same
priorities (as the previous gov-
ernment)."

CO-OPERATION
 In addition, he said he will
continue working with the
United Nations special envoy
to Haiti, former United States
President Bill Clinton, "in the


same manner, in the same
commitment that he has with
the former government and
with President (R6n6) Pr6val.
 "The only way that we are


Bellerive


going to change Haiti is
through private investment,
through creating jobs in
Haiti," he said.
 Earlier this year, the inter-
national community, at a
donor's conference on Haiti in
Washington, pledged $324
million to help improve the
impoverished country's econo-
my. Bellerive's approach has
already been lauded by the
newly-formed Haitian
Economic Development
Foundation.
 "Our business community
is pleased to see that Mr.
Bellerive's focus will be to
continue furthering the pro-
business direction encouraged
by President R6n6 Preval,"
said Youri Mevs, the group's
president.
0


Caribbean nationals held unnecessarily


Caribbean nationals held unnecessarily


in U.S. detention


it's a game
with dire con-
sequences,"
said Alison
Parker, deputy
director in the
U.S. for the
human rights
group, and the
author of the
report.
 The
inspector gen-
eral's investi-
gation found
that the conse-
quences of
haphazard


WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Caribbean nationals, including
those who enter the United
States legally, are held unnec-
essarily and transferred need-
lessly within an expensive
immigration detention system
that denies many of them
basic fairness in the U.S.,
according to three new reports
issued here.
 In the first report, the
inspector general of the
Homeland Security
Department found that
detainee transfers by the
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) were so
haphazard that some of them
arrived at a new detention
center without having been
served a notice of why they
were being held.
 The Washington-based
Constitution Project called for
sweeping changes in agency
policies and amendments to
immigration law, including
new access to government-
appointed counsel for many of
those facing deportation to
the Caribbean and elsewhere.

'CHAOTIC GAME'
 In its report, the human
rights organization, Human
Rights Watch, said that gov-
ernment data showed trans-
fers were JA.LlL rilinii with
many long time residents of
cities like New York,
Philadelphia and Los Angeles,
being sent to remote immigra-
tion jails in Texas and
Louisiana, far from legal
counsel and the evidence that
might help them win release.
 "ICE is increasingly sub-
jecting detainees to a chaotic
game of musical chairs, and


~ reports


 Photograph by ICE.gov
Reports raise questions about U.S. detention strategies.


transfers
include a loss of access to
legal counsel and relevant evi-
dence; additional time in
detention; and "errors, delays
and confusion for detainees,
their families, legal represen-
tLi\ and the immigration
courts.

FLAWED PLANS
 In August, the administra-
tion of U.S. President Barack
Obama announced ambitious
plans to overhaul immigration
detention, a disjointed net-
work that relies heavily on
private prisons and county
jails. But taken together, the
three reports underscore the
gap between the plans and the
problems on the ground in a
system that, according to the
inspector general, is estimated
to be detaining more than
442,000 people a year.
 The reports cited a
Jamaican, who was trans-
ferred to Texas after three
months in detention in New
York and New Jersey.
Immigration authorities con-


tended that he should be
deported based on two prior
convictions for drug posses-
sion. In New York, his drug
misdemeanors were not con-
sidered an - r,, \ iL d
felony", and based on his 22
years of legal residency and
strong family relationships in
the U.S., he would have been
eligible for "cancellation of
removal", a form of relief
from deportation.
 However, in Texas, he was
barred from relief based on
Fifth Circuit rulings, and
deported to his native
Jamaica.
 The bipartisan group said
the agency makes it too hard
for people to avoid detention
while challenging deportation
and recommended a signifi-
cant easing in the burden of
proof, and a waiver from
mandatory detention for law-
ful permanent residents.

- CMC
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Jamaican killed during Florida shooting rampage


ORLANDO, Florida A
Jamaican man has been iden-
tified as the lone fatality dur-
ing a shooting rampage at an
office building here last
month.
 Police said Otis Beckford,
26, was one of six people shot,
but the only one killed, by a
disgruntled former employee
at an engineering and con-
struction firm.
 The authorities have


charged Jason Rodriguez, 40,
with first-degree murder in
connection with the shooting
spree after an extensive
search.
 "Obviously we have a
tragic incident here in the city
of Orlando," said Mayor
Buddy Dyer. "...The gunman
has been apprehended."
 Rodriguez surrendered to
police at his mother's home
after he was spotted by offi-


cers.
 A family member said
Beckford, an architect at the
firm, was the father of a
seven-month-old and was due
to get married soon.
 "You couldn't ask for a
better nephew or a son," said
Evelyn Cole, Beckford's aunt.
"He was just quiet, and he
never troubled anyone or got
into trouble," she added.
0


Bankrollers are Obama's Caribbean ambassadors


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2)
Belize by the U.S. Senate on
July 24, 2009, also has no
background in the foreign
service, but was president of
MAM-A Inc., formerly Mitsui
Advanced Media, the nation's
leading manufacturer and dis-
tributor of archival recordable
optical discs.


 Only 35 of the ambassa-
dors nominated globally so far
by Obama are career mem-
bers of the U.S. Foreign
Service. Forty-six of the presi-
dent's ambassador picks per-
sonally donated to Obama,
CRP found, giving him a com-
bined $306,700, while seven of
the ambassadors who were


politically appointed have
never personally contributed
to federal politicians above
the FEC's $200 reporting
threshold.

- CaribWorldNews
0


December 2009