"Totally immoral"

Catholic News Service reports on an Archbishop who calls U.S. policy on Haitian migrants 'totally immoral.'

Calling U.S. immigration policy toward Haitians "totally immoral," Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami has urged "the powers that be" to grant temporary protected status to all Haitian migrants until the political and economic situation in their island nation stabilizes.

He also pleaded for the immediate release from detention of 101 Haitians -- including 13 children -- whose homemade sailboat washed up on Hallandale Beach March 28. One man died during the trip, which the migrants said took 22 days at sea, the last 12 without food or water. A U.S. Coast Guard official estimated the trip took about 12 days.

The migrants, some of them suffering from dehydration, are being held by the U.S. Border Patrol at several detention centers in south Florida.

Refugee advocates and immigration attorneys fear they will be moved elsewhere, far from relatives and a network of attorneys who could help them with their asylum claims.

"The church stands ready to make sure that these people have a place to go and people to take care of them while they make their claim," Archbishop Favalora said during a press conference at the archdiocesan Pastoral Center March 30.

The entire article is here.