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CNN Live At Daybreak
Immigrant Discrimination?
Aired October 30, 2002 - 06:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to Florida, where more than 200 Haitians, who made it to shore in Miami, are awaiting their fate, and it could be a long and unpleasant wait. Many people say the U.S. government has a racist policy towards Haitian immigrants.
Reporter Nichelle King of CNN Miami affiliate WSVN joins us with more on this story.
Where are they now?
NICHELLE KING, CNN AFFILIATE WSVN REPORTER: Right now, they are here at Krome Detention Center behind me, and this is a bittersweet morning for those Haitian migrants. Their long journey has finally brought them to American soil, but they are far from free.
They are here at this holding facility, and as American immigration policy and history repeats themselves, this could be the extent of their American experience.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Crammed in a tiny boat, they took their chances leaping into the ocean.
DELRISH MOSS, MIAMI POLICE: When we got here, sure enough, there were people in the roadway, there were people on the shore, there were people still on the boat.
KING: More than 200 Haitian immigrants crowded the boat, jumping into the Atlantic to swim to American soil, with the Coast Guard not too far behind.
LUCIANA SALAME, WITNESS: They just started jumping off into the water and swimming.
MAYRA VIDAL, WITNESS: I don't know people actually let them, or they just jumped in the back of a pickup truck.
KING: The scene spilled onto the highway. On the Rickenbacker Causeway, some migrants stopped unsuspecting drivers, packed pickup trucks, begged for rides to freedom.
MOSS: We've got reports that some people may have left on pickup trucks, but we've got the causeway pretty contained -- contained pretty quickly. So, we think we've got most of the people. If some got away, that's possible, but we may never know.
KING: Desperate mothers even dropping their children into the waiting arms of migrants (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first they told us that they were hungry and they were cold, they were thirsty. There were two pregnant women there, and then they told me that they weren't feeling well.
KING: From infants to 40-year-olds, dozens of men, women and children barely understanding where they're going and why they're here.
All left Port-au-Prince eight days ago. Hungry, dehydrated and exhausted, they reached American soil. Immigration and Naturalization agents transported the migrants by bus to Krome Detention Center. Well-wishers cheered them on, hoping their long journey will result in freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Inside your heart, you know, of course, you're rooting for them. I mean, they want to be free, they want to eat, provide for their children, of course.
KING: At INS, members of the immigrant community rallied, some with several family members on the boat. A translator told us community members wonder if the American government will ever allow them to unite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that they have to release both the Haitians and the Cubans that are in Krome, because they keep sending the Haitians back and they release the Cubans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: (AUDIO GAP) policy that Colleen Paul (ph) was just speaking about allows Cuban migrants to come to the United States and stay in the United States once they reach American soil. However, Haitian migrants, once they reach American soil, generally do not get a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to turn back to the island.
Live in Miami, Nichelle King, WSVN.
COSTELLO: All right, thanks, Nichelle, for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 30, 2002 - 06:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to Florida, where more than 200 Haitians, who made it to shore in Miami, are awaiting their fate, and it could be a long and unpleasant wait. Many people say the U.S. government has a racist policy towards Haitian immigrants.
Reporter Nichelle King of CNN Miami affiliate WSVN joins us with more on this story.
Where are they now?
NICHELLE KING, CNN AFFILIATE WSVN REPORTER: Right now, they are here at Krome Detention Center behind me, and this is a bittersweet morning for those Haitian migrants. Their long journey has finally brought them to American soil, but they are far from free.
They are here at this holding facility, and as American immigration policy and history repeats themselves, this could be the extent of their American experience.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Crammed in a tiny boat, they took their chances leaping into the ocean.
DELRISH MOSS, MIAMI POLICE: When we got here, sure enough, there were people in the roadway, there were people on the shore, there were people still on the boat.
KING: More than 200 Haitian immigrants crowded the boat, jumping into the Atlantic to swim to American soil, with the Coast Guard not too far behind.
LUCIANA SALAME, WITNESS: They just started jumping off into the water and swimming.
MAYRA VIDAL, WITNESS: I don't know people actually let them, or they just jumped in the back of a pickup truck.
KING: The scene spilled onto the highway. On the Rickenbacker Causeway, some migrants stopped unsuspecting drivers, packed pickup trucks, begged for rides to freedom.
MOSS: We've got reports that some people may have left on pickup trucks, but we've got the causeway pretty contained -- contained pretty quickly. So, we think we've got most of the people. If some got away, that's possible, but we may never know.
KING: Desperate mothers even dropping their children into the waiting arms of migrants (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first they told us that they were hungry and they were cold, they were thirsty. There were two pregnant women there, and then they told me that they weren't feeling well.
KING: From infants to 40-year-olds, dozens of men, women and children barely understanding where they're going and why they're here.
All left Port-au-Prince eight days ago. Hungry, dehydrated and exhausted, they reached American soil. Immigration and Naturalization agents transported the migrants by bus to Krome Detention Center. Well-wishers cheered them on, hoping their long journey will result in freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Inside your heart, you know, of course, you're rooting for them. I mean, they want to be free, they want to eat, provide for their children, of course.
KING: At INS, members of the immigrant community rallied, some with several family members on the boat. A translator told us community members wonder if the American government will ever allow them to unite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that they have to release both the Haitians and the Cubans that are in Krome, because they keep sending the Haitians back and they release the Cubans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: (AUDIO GAP) policy that Colleen Paul (ph) was just speaking about allows Cuban migrants to come to the United States and stay in the United States once they reach American soil. However, Haitian migrants, once they reach American soil, generally do not get a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to turn back to the island.
Live in Miami, Nichelle King, WSVN.
COSTELLO: All right, thanks, Nichelle, for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
