The Immigration Clinic recently achieved a significant victory as they welcomed back to the United States a client who was wrongfully deported to Haiti more than a decade ago. Advocating for their client's return, second-year law students Alexandra Buroz Morales and Diana Alonso had to overcome significant hurdles, including a finding by the U.S. Consulate that their client was not admissible to the U.S.
The client is one of six petitioners in a human rights case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and his return to the U.S. marks a significant milestone in the ongoing legal battle challenging the U.S. deportation of Haitian nationals.
"Reuniting our client with his family was a rewarding experience that validated our advocacy efforts," said Alonso. "As this was my first case with the clinic, I was thrilled to learn about this positive outcome, and I aspire to continue serving future clients with the same dedication and success."
"It has been incredibly fulfilling to witness the impact of our work with the Immigration Clinic,” added Buroz Morales. “We are thrilled that our client has been reunited with his family in the U.S. after such a challenging journey."
In 2010, an immigration judge deported their client in a hearing that lasted mere minutes and that did not address whether the client's three minor misdemeanor offenses years ago served as a basis for his deportation. The client appeared without a lawyer and was physically deported during the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti.
The six named petitioners in human rights petitions before the IACHR are challenging the deportation of people to Haiti in the middle of a cholera epidemic. Filed in 2014, the petition argues that the U.S. deported Haitian nationals without due consideration for the human rights and humanitarian crisis that gripped the country, and which was in direct violation of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man.
On January 5, 2024, the IACHR issued a favorable ruling allowing the petition to proceed to the merits. The decision came on the heels of the 14th anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti, took the lives of over 250,000 people, left thousands more wounded, displaced 1.5 million, and ignited the deadly cholera epidemic.
Despite the worst conditions and crisis in the country's history, people are still being deported to Haiti. The signal that this case can move forward will mean consideration that the U.S. must balance humanitarian factors against the government's interest in deportation whenever it seeks to send someone back to Haiti.
The petition now moves forward to the merits phase, where the Commission will ultimately rule on whether the U.S. deportation of the six named individuals violated the petitioners' rights to due process, protection of family life, and right to health and well-being.
Miami Law's Immigration and Human Rights clinics, Americans for Immigrant Justice, Alternative Chance, FANM – Haitian Women of Miami, and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti first filed the Petition with the IACHR on February 14, 2014, on behalf of five named individuals challenging their deportations to Haiti between 2011 through 2013. The Transnational Legal Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School joined later as co-counsel.
Read more about Miami Law’s Haiti advocacy.
