Ingrid Brown, Gleaner Writer
THERE IS growing concern among Jamaicans living in the United States that the Patriot Act which gives the police and immigration department there sweeping powers, could see more of them being deported without the benefit of judicial hearing.
The concerns have heightened with another version of the Act being proposed.
Lawyers charge that under the Act, American police have been given greater authority to invade the privacy of people living in the U.S. They no longer need evidence to get a warrant and they can detain people indefinitely without charge. But with the proposed part two of the Act, persons including Jamaicans who are naturalised Americans, could be stripped of their citizenship if they are considered a threat to the U.S. in any shape or form.
An anxious group of Jamaican migrants who attended the Gleaner's Editors' Forum at Sheraton Suite Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday, voiced their concern about the developments.
"This could strip citizenship from naturalised citizens," said Dhalia Walker, a Jamaican-born immigration attorney based in South Florida, who was addressing the gathering of a wide cross-section of Jamaican migrants at the forum.
As early as January next year, Jamaicans and other migrants entering the U.S. will have their mug shots and fingerprints taken. The new laws will take effect in Miami, one of the main ports of entry into the United States.
"Since September 11 there has been more tightening of immigration laws," Ms. Walker pointed out. She made specific reference to three main areas of concern, namely migration, citizenship and deportation which directly affect Jamaicans living abroad as well as Jamaican visitors to the United States.
Based on all the different immigration issues affecting Jamaicans in South Florida, Ms. Walker urged those who are citizens to register to vote so that they could effect register to vote so that they could effect change at the local government level. She also encouraged all Jamaicans living overseas to file for their citizenship which she said was in their best interest.
Jack Wallace of the Florida Immigration Center, in Miami, while addressing a group of Jamaicans in South Florida earlier this year, pointed to the fact that the Patriotic Act had resulted in more people being deported as the security force has been given greater authority to invade the privacy of people living in the United States. He said statistics show that from 1992 the number of immigrants who are in INS custody increased from 5,000 to 20,000 this year.
Alan Scheib of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), also addressing a group of Jamaican immigrants, said the Patriot Act had seriously weakened the constitutional structure.
"Before, citizens would be protected from unlawful intrusion whereby the police had to go before the court with evidence before they could get a warrant. Now they can just get a warrant."
Two other main points of concern, he said, were that people can now be detained indefinitely without charges brought and secondly that the Government has access to almost all private records.
"The Government can now go to any public library to get information on what books you read there and what Internet you used," he said.
With the implementation of more laws each day it is only expected to become much more strained, many Jamaicans say.
Additionally, recent changes in immigration laws as they relate to an affidavit of support has seen more and more people declining to sponsor relatives to the United States.
At Friday's forum, Ms. Walker explained that persons wishing to live or study in the United States need to get an affidavit of support from another U.S. resident or citizenship reflecting the ability to take care of the U.S. immigrant financially until, if and when they become a citizen.
With the new immigration laws in place, Ms. Walker said persons providing such a document could very well find themselves being sued in a court of law if they refuse for any reason to take on that financial burden. "This affidavit is now legally binding to the point where they could sue in a court. This has made many people nervous to assist their relatives with such a document," she said, adding that it is also affecting many persons who have a desire to study in the United States.
Another immigration issue raised at the forum is that the judicial review has been removed from the immigration laws and as such major decision making is now left up to mere immigration employees.
"Before you could take your case to be heard in a court of law for a final decision , now all you have is immigration employees making all the decisions," Ms. Walker said.
Based on these new rules, people who have been arrested by the police for even minor offences may face deportation from the U.S. "Even if you never spent a night in jail or even been locked up, as long as the police arrested you, even for very minor offences you may face the possibility of being deported upon re-entry to the United States," she said.
Other speakers at the forum included Delano Franklyn, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, who spoke about Government policy and investments in Jamaica, Earl Maucker, senior vice-president and editor of South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Oliver Clarke, chairman and managing director of the Gleaner Company Limited and Earl Jarrett, general manager of the Jamaican National Building Society (JNBS).
