Born in the Bahamas, Raised in the US, Deported to ... Haiti?

[ensho]

http://counterpunch.com/boza04272011.html


As Bad as It Gets


As someone who writes about deportation, I hear and write about heartbreaking stories on a regular basis. Trust me, then, when I say that the deportation of people born in the Bahamas from the United States to Haiti is just about as bad as it gets.

Here's the scenario. When Haitian citizens have children in the Bahamas, and they are in that country illegally, the children are Haitian citizens. If those children subsequently come to the United States and commit a minor or major criminal offense, they face deportation to Haiti.

There is a woman currently in immigration detention in Northern Florida. Seth Freed Wessler interviewed her, and he calls her Natalia, so I will do the same. Natalia was born in the Bahamas to a Haitian woman, which makes her a citizen of Haiti, even though she has never been to Haiti. When Natalia was two days old, her mother brought her to the United States. Fast forward twenty years. Natalia, now the mother of a newborn, is caught shoplifting with the father of her child. Her attorney advises her to plead guilty to get a lesser sentence. She does. However, now she faces deportation to Haiti. The United States is the only country Natalia has ever known. She does not speak Haitian Creole. Yet, she faces deportation to Haiti, a country still recovering from a massive earthquake, with political unrest, and a cholera outbreak.

-snip-

----------------------

let's all guess what color they are

[lumpy]

1. That is heartbreaking. I had no idea that children born in

the Bahamas are not considered citizens of that country. I imagine there is little that the US can do about it unless maybe charges were dropped. I am guessing her child is a US citizen that only makes the scenario worse.

[SoCalDem]

2. A lot of places consider children to be the nationality of their parents

unless that parent has been naturalized & became a citizen before the birth.,

People in the US whose citizenship is questionable need to be very careful to not break even the teensiest of laws.. Law enforcement these days is looking for any way they can to avoid paying for incarceration.. a plane ticket out of the US is the cheapest way they can think of to avoid paying...and it gets rid of lawbreakers..even though the biggest criminals we have wear $1k suits & hang out on Wall Street and in DC..

[peacetalksforall]

3. Yep. Making up billion dollar schemes - some yong enough so tthat they can

have decades to brag abuot it.

Division - make us divided and divisive. And ready to make us subservient and fearful of the next release of schemes.

The road to control of us.