Frederica Wilson calls on the White House to scrap plans to deport Haitian convicts

Rep.-elect Frederica Wilson -- whose departure from the state Senate has set off a flurry of politicking -- is joining the ACLU in calling on President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to scrap plans to deport Haitian nationals with criminal records who have completed their sentences.

The group calls it wrong to deport Haitians while the country is still undergoing a cholera epidemic. Read the letter here.

"Current conditions in Haiti are simply too dangerous to allow for the safe return of Haitian nationals with final removal orders," said the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office Director Laura Murphy. "If this administration resumes deportations to Haiti in mid-January, this administration will not only jeopardize the lives and safety of Haitian deportees, but will also violate international human rights and refugee laws."

Wilson -- who in January will assume the seat formerly held by Rep. Kendrick Meek -- noted her district has the largest Haitan population in the U.S.

"I am keenly aware of the devastation and the impact the present situation has on the constituents in my district and on their families in Haiti," Wilson said. "The trauma and heartbreak is tremendously catastrophic."

Comments

[Fulanito]

Is this woman serious?! She wants the White House to stop deportations of Haitian convicts?!

Maybe her hats are on just a little too tight!

[BM]

How nice. She is such a kind and understanding sole.

Beam me up Scotty! This woman is a nut!

[lvoutlet]

do you like shopping? you can go branddiscounting.com to see.more discount brands.

[Joel]

Clearly, she needs to keep them in the US so they will vote for her in '12

[crazeekitty]

Let her take 'em into her home if she likes them so much! How about it Representative?!

[Ron]

Kendrick was not the smartest fellow I ever met but Ms. Wilson makes him look like a Rhodes scholar.

[Paul observing]

It is interesting that one comment falsely refers to people as "convicts" even after they fuly served their sentences. Didn't the comment maker read the news story??? We used to say that people who completed their sentences had paid their debt to society. Now, the commenter cannot even state facts accurately. Hmm, I wonder if it has something to do with the fact we are talking here about immigrants of Haitian background.