Laws: January, 2003 - Number #5

Haiti. Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is led by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was returned to power with US military support in 1994 to discourage Haitians from setting out for the US in small boats. Aristide was charged with preventing fair elections in 2000, prompting a freeze on foreign aid, which Aristide blames for the economic stagnation that has gripped the country of eight million. Aristide's Haitian opponents say that Aristide uses race and class to divide the country- many Aristide supporters are dark-skinned.

Unemployment is 70 percent or more, and the number of manufacturing jobs has dropped to 25,000. In an effort to jump-start the economy, a bill in the US Congress would give Haiti the same duty-free access to US markets as was provided to sub-Saharan African countries by the African Growth and Opportunity Act in 2000. Haitian workers receive about $2 a day, the lowest in the Western Hemisphere.

There are an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 Haitians in the Dominican Republic. In December 2002, a Dominican court ruled that two children born to illegal Haitians in the Dominican Republic must be registered as citizens of the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic constitution provides for birthright citizenship, but many Dominican authorities fail to register Haitians born in there, saying their parents are in transit, which can keep them out of school. Several Dominican Republic deputies said they would appeal the decision to avoid a "social burden" on the Dominican Republic from more Haitians.

The Haitian constitution grants Haitian nationality to the children of Haitians regardless of where they are born, and does not recognize dual citizenship.

Since 2001, Haitians who reach the US are detained until their applications for asylum are resolved. On October 29, 2002 a ship with 200 Haitians ran aground in Miami. The first asylum applications filed by the Haitians were rejected by an immigration judge in December who found that the applicants could not prove they were subject to political persecution. The Haitians had 30 days to appeal the denials.

Mercosur. The Mercosur trade pact was amended in December 2002 to regularize unauthorized migrants in member states Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and in associate members Chile and Bolivia. Unauthorized Mercosur nationals can obtain legal status for two years by presenting a valid passport, birth certificate and clean criminal record to authorities in the country in which they are now living; they can obtain permanent residence rights if they can prove they can support themselves and their families.

Under the agreement, Mercosur migrants are to have "equal civil, social, cultural and economic rights and freedoms" as citizens of the country in which they are living, "particularly the right to work and to carry out any legal activity." The six nations are to communicate these rights throughout their migrant communities and to cooperate to combat the illegal employment of foreign workers.

Luiz Bassegio, coordinator of the Immigrant Pastoral Service of Sao Paulo, said, "This is what we have been demanding for so long on behalf of undocumented persons, a general and unlimited amnesty for them." However, he cautioned that the Mercosur agreement may not lead to large numbers of migrants coming forward, since a recent legalization in Brazil produced only 38,000 applicants from the estimated 200,000 unauthorized Bolivians and 100,000 unauthorized Paraguayans thought to be living in Brazil. There is disagreement on the number of unauthorized foreigners in Mercosur countries.

Chile. The US and Chile signed a free-trade agreement in December 2002. If approved by Congress, the agreement would eliminate tariffs immediately on 85 percent of the $9 billion a year in goods traded between the countries and tariffs on all goods within 12 years. Chile's principal exports to the United States include copper, fruit, fish and wine, and tariffs on these products would be eliminated gradually.

Chile, with 15.5 million people, has a GDP of $153 billion, or $10,100 per capita. The Chilean labor force is six million, of which 14 percent are employed in agriculture, 27 percent in industry, and 59 percent in services.

The US has free-trade agreements with Israel, Canada, Mexico and Jordan, and plans to add Singapore in 2003. Meanwhile, the Doha round of global trade talks, expected to be completed in January 2005, has bogged down. The 144 members of the World Trade Organization cannot agree on lessening patent protections for drugs sold in poor countries, freeing farm trade, and intellectual property rights.

Gonalo Baeza, "Latin America nears broad immigration pact," UPI, November 27, 2002.