Haitian refugees still held at US base

Issue 

Haitian refugees still held at US base

Attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City are still concerned about 271 Haitian refugees imprisoned in the US military base at Guantánamo in Cuba.

All have credible fears of persecution if returned to Haiti, but because they have allegedly tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, they are forced to remain indefinitely on Guantánamo. Forty of these 271 are dependents and small children. Many of the refugees are women, some are pregnant and some are ill.

These Haitians expected to be freed and brought to the United States shortly after Bill Clinton was elected president. During his campaign, Clinton promised to lift the HIV exclusion. Even while the bar remains, Clinton could order the acting attorney general to parole the Haitians into the United States.

The conditions in Guantánamo are deplorable, and life- threatening to people with much weakened immune systems. According to Centers for Disease Control, Guantánamo is a health risk to the people living there. The American Medical Association has denounced the policy of HIV exclusion.

The US government's policy will be argued in a federal district court in Brooklyn on March 8. A petition is also pending in the Supreme Court, and must be answered by the government on March 10.

Many of the Haitians in Guantánamo have been imprisoned for over a year.

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