Immigration Laws: March, 2002 - Number #7

Haiti. Haitians continue to emigrate, with many traveling in boats to the Bahamans and then to Florida. In January 2002, Bahamian authorities detained 861 Haitians, up almost 50 percent from a year earlier- the 60,000 Haitians are about 20 percent of the Bahamas' 300,000 residents.

The US Coast Guard stopped 67,140 Haitian migrants at sea between 1992 and 1994. In 1999, some 1,039 Haitians were interdicted at sea, and 16,000 Haitians immigrated legally to the US.

The US is opposing new loans to Haiti until the Aristide government settles a dispute with the opposition over the validity of May 2000 elections.

Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic received $1.75 billion in remittances in 2001.

Some Dominicans attempt to enter the US by crossing the 60-mile wide Mona passage in homemade boats called yolas. In FY01, some 1,951 foreigners were apprehended on Puerto Rico's west coast- 99 percent were Dominicans- and 143 yolas were seized. A government spokesperson said: "The Dominican Republic is trying to discourage people from traveling in boats, we have basically told them that they will die trying."

The United States and Canada in 2001 deported more than 3,000 Caribbean citizens, most to Jamaica, Guyana and the Dominican Republic. Caribbean leaders complain that Caribbean-born criminals sent back to their home countries are contributing to rising crime.

There were 26,481 Dominicans registered as living in Spain in 2000, among them 12,043 in Madrid and 7,185 in Barcelona. In 1999, 10,994 Dominicans had Spanish work permits; most were maids.

Argentina. Argentina is the first nation to be removed from the US Visa Waiver Program that had allowed nationals of 29 nations to enter the US for up to 90 days without visas: "Due to the current economic crisis in Argentina and the increase in the number of Argentine nationals attempting to use the program to live and work illegally in the United States, the Department of Justice, in consultation with the Department of State, has determined that Argentina's participation in the [Visa Waiver Program] is inconsistent with the U.S. interest in enforcement of the immigration laws of the United States."

Argentineans had visa-free access for six years, and some 411,000 Argentineans arrived in the US in 2000.

According to a 2002 survey, a third of Argentina's 37 million people would leave the country if they could. Unemployment rose to 22 percent after Argentina defaulted on its $141-billion debt and devalued the peso, which had been pegged at 1 peso to $1. The participation of Argentina, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Uruguay in the Visa Waiver Program was put under review after September 11.

Argentina in the 1990s attracted large numbers of migrants from Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay, but at least 30,000 left in December-January as they lost their jobs. Argentina in 1900 was one of the 10 richest nations in the world, and in the past century it has had the largest middle class in Latin America. However, many Argentineans have experienced downward mobility in the past few years: half of the country's 15 million poor have fallen from the middle class since 1985.