China Romance
General Discussion and Useful Links => The Campfire => Topic started by: chen yan on January 13, 2010, 09:43:53 pm
-
Does brothers watch the news about Haiti earthquake?
It says there are 100,000 people die.That's a terriable disaster, It is the same amount like the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. God bless them! We really have to be grateful we are still alive.
-
actually Chen, CNN is reporting over 100,000 and more like 200,000. It is sad, and I'm watching CNN right now and the help hasn't arrived yet, but the news reporters arrived this morning. EX president clinton is there now, he is spokesperson for United Nations. He is saying that help is on the way. People are sleeping in the streets, the park and anywhere they can. The president of Haiti was on tv 5 minutes ago, saying that he has no place to sleep and no home to go to. When asked what he was going to do, he said he didn't know. Now keep in mind that this is the president of Haiti that is homeless and doesn't know what to do. This is sad!
-
The Parks and streets away from buildings is the safest place to be in case of aftershocks.
I was in a earthquake in London once. just 20 seconds and very minor but I just could not focus on what what happening - I cannot imagine what the people who go through that high a richter scale ranking for so long.
TV always get there first - sometimes they have crews standing by for such events and it takes then minutes to get on their way. But the relief orgs have to get themself together first. Nice to hear that the Chinese were the first on their way and the Chinese already have 200 UN peace keeping soldiers there.
Willy
-
Now that is somthing I didn't know, according to cnn, reporters were the first? They have not said anything about the chinese. Go figure?:huh::huh::huh:
-
to bad for all those people hopefully help will arrive soon
they do have some un people there with search dogs looking
-
I'm the closest to Haiti. There is a large population of haitians here as well (Little Haiti) so they have been having full coverage of it all day long. The aid is taking off in the morning they are loading up the planes in Homestead (air force base further south).
-
I read on MSN tonight that the U.S,China,And Germany were on there way with relief supplies and manpower to start helping with the clean up and the hunt for survivors.
-
They are flying in many of the hurt that need hospitalization to Miami. There are already crews there helping. The place is a mess. Shoddy buildings to begin with didn't help. There's no regulation so they built homes on side of hills and mountains with no main supports.
-
There is a lady here that trains cadavor dogs up in the hills, I saw her at the post office yesterday and she told me she is sending 4 dogs there today.
-
Willy is right,
The French news mentioned that the Chinese relief planes got there first, search and rescue and medical teams according to the report. The French sent a couple of planes with mobile hospital and more search and rescue, all of Europe are getting their act together, at least the core countries.
The largest support group is being deployed by the US, not that this is a comptetition ... a US aircraft carrier will be there shortly and so will 2 French Navy ships.
I was in Haiti in 1979 (12 years old), a horrible experience to be honest, slums everywhere, the smell of open air sewage, crowds of people living in cardbboard houses, so many people without jobs and really no money at all. That poor little country has been hit hard in the last 10 years, a too harsh dictator caused a rebellion, they've had bad damage due to hurricanes in 2008 and just got to the end of rebuilding what could be before the earthquake struck.
The more help they will get the better, the long years of humanitarian help have ony increased corruption and criminality, a French reporter said that the GDP of Haiti had increased by 3% last year, but 3% of not much is still not much. Maybe this would be an occasion to put the country under UN government, clean out the corrupt administration and rebuild and develop an economy, and bring them back to democracy in the next 20 years or even later. I can't be that hard, they are less than 10 million without national identity, no economy, little education except for their diaspora.
Those people have suffered too much already.
Enough ranting ... :D
Frank
-
Actually, the person who I admire during this whole affair is the president of Haiti. There he was on TV, in a t-shirt and dirty baggie pants, covered with dust, didn't have a place to stay, didn't know where he would sleep that night, but was outside digging people out with his bare hands. Now that's what I call a man of the people!!!
You wouldn't see any other president in a t-shirt helping out like that....
After I saw that, I had a lot of respect for that man.
-
that was a good thing he was doing instead of being somewere
safe and clean and fed he was there digging in with everyone else
you do have to admire that. the new huriicane seaso is coming up so lets all
hope that they get passed by this year that would not be a good thing
-
I've got a weeklong snowstorm coming my way (Arizona) this next week, will have to send that white stuff to Vince, I hear he likes it now.....:icon_cheesygrin:
-
The Chinese news do not hold back anything when it comes to showing the dead bodies and the horrific injuries sustained by the dead. In the UK the news is so sterile but here it certainly brings a new meaning to the suffering they went through and are still going through.
Trouble is another couple of days and it will be look after the living but in between we will see the miracles of a few people who have survived through the most horrific ordeal imaginable.
Offically the poorest country in the world where the majority of people had nothing of worth and what little they did have is now gone!
I think we should all give thanks for what we have.
Willy
-
Willy, I always everyday give thanks for what I have.
They were showing rescuers going through a rubble when I noticed you can tell which ones were chinese... They had the bright red jumpsuits on with hard hat. Actually I thought it pretty good that they were there already. I wondered if they were part of the UN who were there before the quake?
-
Actually the UK news has been quite graphic on this story, C4 news in particular.
I guess the worst country to live in the world just got even worser, which always seems to happen unfortunately.
By the way, for UK brothers the Kevin McCloud thing about Indian slums on C4 is worth a look (part 2 is on tonight). Living conditions are much worse than anything I saw in China, but the poverty stricken people seem just as happy as the folk I saw in Wuhan. I loved his observations about the granny preparing her vegetables on the floor, it was exactly the sort of thing that troubled me in Wuhan!!!
-
somethings that go on in china are not for the faint of heart Brett
i saw that the first cargo plane of food from china has arrived in haiti
this is a welcome relief for them and much needed
-
Oh I saw many disturbing things in China. But what disturbed me most was the Yichang convenience store that stored the drinks cans upside down (ring pull end face down). I have never seen this done anywhere else on the planet :huh:.
-
No Brett , ring pull down is the way to go , saves getting to much dust on where you are going to drink from , regards Ying and Robert
-
thats true plus the handling of the cans are
from the bottom. i still to this day drink my
soda or beer with a straw if i dont have a clean glass
to drink from
-
Struggle to get aid to Haitians as looters roam
Associated Press Writers
1 hr 11 mins ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Hundreds of U.S. troops touched down in shattered Port-au-Prince overnight as U.N. and other aid organizations struggled Friday to get food and water to stricken millions. Fears spread of unrest among the Haitian people in their fourth day of desperation.
Looters roamed downtown streets, young men and boys with machetes. "They are scavenging everything. What can you do?" said Michel Legros, 53, as he waited for help to search for seven relatives buried in his collapsed house.
Hard-pressed government workers, meanwhile, were burying thousands of bodies in mass graves. The Red Cross estimates 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's cataclysmic earthquake.
More and more, the focus fell on the daunting challenge of getting aid to survivors. United Nations peacekeepers patrolling the capital said people's anger was rising that aid hasn't been distributed quickly, and warned aid convoys to add security to guard against looting.
On Friday morning, no sign was seen of foreign assistance entering the downtown area, other than a U.S. Navy helicopter flying overhead.
Ordinary Haitians sensed the potential for an explosion of lawlessness. "We're worried that people will get a little uneasy," said attendant Jean Reynol, 37, explaining his gas station was ready to close immediately if violence breaks out.
"People who have not been eating or drinking for almost 50 hours and are already in a very poor situation," U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva. "If they see a truck with something, or if they see a supermarket which has collapsed, they just rush to get something to eat."
The quake's destruction of Port-au-Prince's main prison complicated the security situation. International Red Cross spokesman Marcal Izard said some 4,000 prisoners had escaped and were freely roaming the streets.
"They obviously took advantage of this disaster," Izard said.
But Byrs said peacekeepers were maintaining security despite the challenges. "It's tense but they can cope," she said.
The U.N. World Food Program said post-quake looting of its food supplies long stored in Port-au-Prince appears to have been limited, contrary to an earlier report Friday. It said it would start handing out 6,000 tons of food aid recovered from a damaged warehouse in the city's Cite Soleil slum.
A spokeswoman for the Rome-based agency, Emilia Casella, said the WFP was preparing shipments of enough ready-to-eat meals to feed 2 million Haitians for a month. She noted that regular food stores in the city had been emptied by looters.
More than 100 paratroopers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division arrived at the Port au Prince airport overnight, boosting the U.S. military presence to several hundred on the ground here, and others have arrived off Port-au-Prince harbor on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
Helicopters have been ferrying water and other relief supplies off the Vinson into the airport, U.S. military officials said.
"We have much more support on the way. Our priority is getting relief out to the needy people," Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, deputy commander of the U.S. Southern Command, told ABC's "Good Morning America."
The command said other paratroopers and Marines would raise the U.S. presence to 8,000 troops in the coming days. Their efforts will include providing security, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Hundreds of bodies were stacked outside the city morgue, and limbs of the dead protruded from the rubble of crushed schools and homes. A few workers were able to free people who had been trapped under the rubble for days, including a New Jersey woman, Sarla Chand, 65, of Teaneck, freed by French firefighters Thursday from the collapsed Montana Hotel. But others attended to the grim task of using bulldozers to transport loads of bodies.
Driving a yellow backhoe through downtown Friday morning, Norde Pierre Rico said his government crew had cleared one house and found four people alive. But "there's no plan, no dispatch plan," he said, another sign of a lack of coordination and leadership in the rescue and aid efforts in these early days of the crisis.
Experts say people trapped by Tuesday's quake would begin to succumb if they go without water for three or four days.
Haitian President Rene Preval told The Miami Herald that over a 20-hour period, government crews had removed 7,000 corpses from the streets and morgues and buried them in mass graves.
For the long-suffering people of Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, shock was giving way to despair.
"We need food. The people are suffering. My neighbors and friends are suffering," said Sylvain Angerlotte, 22. "We don't have money. We don't have nothing to eat. We need pure water."
From Europe, Asia and the Americas, more than 20 governments, the U.N. and private aid groups were sending planeloads of high-energy biscuits and other food, tons of water, tents, blankets, water-purification gear, heavy equipment for removing debris, helicopters and other transport. Hundreds of search-and-rescue, medical and other specialists also headed to Haiti.
The WFP began organizing distribution centers for food and water Thursday, said Kim Bolduc, acting chief of the large U.N. mission in Haiti. She said that "the risk of having social unrest very soon" made it important to move quickly.
Governments and government agencies have pledged about $400 million worth of aid, including $100 million from the United States.
But the global helping hand was slowed by a damaged seaport and an airport that turned away civilian aid planes for eight hours Thursday because of a lack of space and fuel.
At Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport, a stream of U.S. military cargo planes was landing Friday, but they had to circle for an hour before getting clearance to land because the quake destroyed the control tower and radar control, and the U.S. military was using emergency procedures.
Aid workers have been blocked by debris on inadequate roads and by survivors gathered in the open out of fear of aftershocks from the 7.0-magnitude quake and re-entering unstable buildings.
"The physical destruction is so great that physically getting from point A to B with the supplies is not an easy task," Casella, the WFP spokeswoman in Geneva, said at a news conference.
Across the sprawling, hilly city, people milled about in open areas, hopeful for help, sometimes setting up camps amid piles of salvaged goods, including food scavenged from the rubble.
Small groups could be seen burying dead by roadsides. Other dust-covered bodies were dragged down streets, toward hospitals where relatives hoped to leave them. Countless dead remained unburied. Outside one pharmacy, the body of a woman was covered by a sheet, a small bundle atop her, a tiny foot poking from its covering.
Aid worker Fevil Dubien said some people were almost fighting over the water he distributed from a truck in a northern Port-au-Prince neighborhood.
Elsewhere, about 50 Haitians yearning for food and water rushed toward two employees wearing "Food For The Poor" T-shirts as they entered the international agency's damaged building. "We heard a commotion at the door, knocking at it, trying to get in," said project manager Liony Batista. "'What's going on? Are you giving us some food?' We said, 'Uh-oh.' You never know when people are going over the edge."
Batista said he and others tried to calm the crowd, which eventually dispersed after being told food hadn't yet arrived. "We're not trying to run away from what we do," Batista said, adding that coordinating aid has been a challenge. "People looked desperate, people looked hungry, people looked lost."
Engineers from the U.N. mission have begun clearing some main roads, and law-and-order duties have fallen completely to its 3,000 international troops and police. David Wimhurst, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission, said Haitian police "are not visible at all," no doubt because many had to deal with lost homes and family members. The first U.S. military units to arrive took on a coordinating role at the airport.
Batista, the Food For The Poor project manager, went back to the Dominican Republic late Thursday and awaited the arrival of 100 shipping containers loaded with rice, canned goods and building supplies.
"I don't think that a word has been invented for what is happening in Haiti," he said. "It is total disaster."
-
My thoughts go with the families...
-
An update on what's going on here in the US. ALL Haitians that were to be deported for being here Illegally are now getting VISA'S to allow them to stay for up to 18 months? We will be rebuilding the country. Give give give, the funny part is they HATE Americans. They are rude, they rape, murder and rob from anyone. Sure let them stay? Let them live in Washington DC, see how they like them.
-
Just reading a recent article....
With aid still scarce in many areas, there were scattered signs that the desperate — or the criminal — were taking things into their own hands.
A water delivery truck driver said he was attacked in one of the city's slums. There were reports of isolated looting as young men walked through downtown with machetes, and robbers reportedly shot one man whose body was left on the street.
An AP photographer saw one looter haul a corpse from a coffin at a city cemetery and then drive away with the box.
So tell me, The country is surrounded by the best fishing in the world and nobody knows how to fish? to keep from being hungry. I'm not saying don't help them. I'm saying let them do for themselves and clean up the mess they have there. They would have water if they didn't throw all their rubbish into the streams and other water supply. Look at there history and you'll know why.
-
Whilst filled with sadness and horror for all the innocents who have suffered in Haiti......Our TV is carrying many clips of gangs armed with machetes roaming the streets, looting and intimidating survivors.
Somebody should shoot these bastards and let the International Community rush to the aid of those who deserve it.
DavidE
-
seems like even the bad ones come out during bad situations to
reak havoc. but i think its a small percentage of people and there
are many who are good and need the help. we have the same in the
states when a disaster happens minus the machetes. or some racially
motavated sitiuation.
-
Vince, don't be too harsh with the Haitians, that country has been on the brink of implosion for over 30 years ... it's a disaster, and the people are not at fault. It's the international community that exploited them, supported crook dictators ... the people have a right to hate most countries, including France of course, I'm not pointing fingers.
The reason why their water is polluted is because they burned their vegetation for cooking, because there was no other fuel. Erosion does the rest, and to go fishing you need boats. I did some snorkeling on a little island next to Haiti, there were no fish larger than a quarter anywhere, this was 30 years ago.
I usually don't but I will donate this time, even if it looks like Haliburton will make a fortune again :icon_cheesygrin:
The US are invading Haiti right? 10K soldiers just for peace keeping? :angel: That's a good thing in my opinion by the way.
-
Like I said don't get me wrong I'm not saying don't help. But I see the US is going to go overboard on this and move the whole damn population here, rebuild the entire country with new buildings and homes and then sit on it like Iraq until they chase us out as they did once before when we were there to help a few years ago.
I'm right here in the middle of it all. Some are real nasty if you say anything to them. Just today I went to pick up a few things at the supermarket. In the produce aisle there were two women (Haitian), They don't stop the cart along where they are picking their choice they put the cart across the aisle so no one can pass. I'm first on like one the left and another spanish lady is on the right both waiting and then the line grew all waiting for them to move the cart. Well they did, they turned it around across the aisle again??? EXCUSE ME? Got me a dirty voodoo look. Common sense 8-9 people waiting for an opening and you don't move the cart?? It's on purpose. Oh by the way they do it with their cars as well. They won't move them either. So the US government will give them a year and a half (18 months) visa? This is a repeat of the 80's for the Cubian's I guess they didn't learn the lesson. Remember Scarface and Miami Vice? That was the outcome of it.
They are already shipping in victims here. I live a mile from an airport. The activity of planes going over has increased greatly. This is where they flew in those missing students.
And Frank, no need to tell me what they did to the French in colonial days. They haven't changed, that's the point.
Here's the local paper article on just what I was saying...
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Haiti evacuees arrive in South Florida
Vice President Joe Biden warns of difficult aid and recovery effort
By Anthony Man and Brian Haas, Sun Sentinel
January 16, 2010
Evacuees from Haiti have begun arriving in South Florida and across the United States as relief efforts struggled to gain a foothold in the quake-ravaged nation.
Planes carrying the injured and foreign nationals fleeing for safety landed throughout the day at airports from Miami-Dade to Palm Beach counties. The airlifts were part of a massive U.S. relief effort that Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday would be long and difficult.
"There is going to be a lot of second-guessing," Biden warned at a meeting with Haitian civic and political leaders in Miami-Dade County. "We're going to get all this in shape, but I just want everybody to know this first 72 hours, this first week, is pretty hard to get everything we need in there."
Local families with relatives in Haiti have struggled to reach loved ones since Tuesday's devastating earthquake. Biden sought to assure them that the U.S. would do all it could to help.
"How deafening that silence is for so many Haitian-Americans," he said, describing attempts to get news about family members. "I can't imagine how searing the pain they feel is."
That pain was reflected that evening at a vigil at Toussaint L'Ouverture High School in Boynton Beach. More than 100 people crowded the school's lobby as somber faces murmured quiet prayers and community leaders spoke about local relief efforts.
"More help is getting into Haiti. More victims are being found," said Joseph Bernadel, co-founder of the charter school. "More people are receiving food and water."
And more people are learning the terrible toll the earthquake continues to exact.
"I found out I have three or four cousins who died in Haiti," said State Rep. Mackenson Bernard, D-West Palm Beach. "I found my sister's home is destroyed."
But while relief efforts continued at a frenzied pace, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, traveling with the vice president, directed a hard-line message to those who want to help.
Turning to directly toward a bank of television cameras, she told Haitians not to attempt to flee and come to the United States. She said they would be sent back.
Napolitano said attempts to leave the country would hurt the recovery effort by diverting resources from providing relief to interdicting those trying to leave. On Friday, she signed the order granting temporary protected status to Haitian nationals who already in the U.S. when the quake struck. But it doesn't apply to any new arrivals.
"There may be an impulse to leave the island to come here. You will not qualify for TPS status," she said. "This is a very dangerous crossing. Lives are lost every time people try to make this crossing."
Biden promised that the U.S. response would last long beyond short-term, immediate needs, but people need to realize that Haiti has limited capacity to receive people and supplies because of airport and port damage. And the U.S. needs to respect the sovereignty of the nation of Haiti and comply with its requests.
Biden and Napolitano urged people to send money instead of goods, given the country's fractured transportation.
"The number one need of all of these groups is just plain, cold cash," Napolitano said.
-
And Frank, no need to tell me what they did to the French in colonial days. They haven't changed, that's the point.
Hehe sorry, I meant it the other way around, what the French did to Haiti ... and some other countries which I won't name... What Haitians did as a result could be called a mild and justified revenge.
-
With 8000 US marines there, I can tell you that the first asshole to pull a machitie on them will be looking down the business end of
an m-16....:s
-
there bringing a knife to a gun fight
-
New 6.1-quake hits Haiti, people flee into streets
By PAUL HAVEN and MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writers
21 mins ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A powerful new earthquake struck Haiti on Wednesday, shaking rubble from damaged buildings and sending screaming people running into the streets only eight days after the country's capital was devastated by an apocalyptic quake.
The magnitude-6.1 temblor was the largest aftershock yet to the Jan. 12 quake. The extent of additional damage or injuries was not immediately clear.
Wails of terror rose from frightened survivors as the earth shuddered at 6:03 a.m. U.S. soldiers and tent city refugees alike raced for open ground, and clouds of dust rose in the capital.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered about 35 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of Port-au-Prince and 6.2 miles (9.9 kilometers) below the surface.
"It kind of felt like standing on a board on top of a ball," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Steven Payne. The 27-year-old from Jolo, West Virginia was preparing to hand out food to refugees in a tent camp of 25,000 quake victims when the aftershock hit.
Last week's magnitude-7 quake killed an estimated 200,000 people in Haiti, left 250,000 injured and made 1.5 million homeless, according to the European Union Commission.
The new shake prompted Anold Fleurigene, 28, to grab his wife and three children and head to the city bus station. His house was destroyed in the first quake and his sister and brother killed.
-
Wow a 6.1 is the size that screwed up San Francisco and oakland California, and I remember the damage there, freeways colapsed it was a nasty one, so it shook the heck out of them agian. Guess the whole Island is gonna be leveled and start over.
-
There was another I think yesterday or the day before off the Cayman Islands not far from Haiti. But then this morn another. Shake, Rattle and Roll...
-
Hey, not the caymen Islands, I dive there.
-
It was south of Caymen, not sure how far off? So Rocky have you dived in Hell?
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (CBS4)
Another earthquake has shaken the Caribbean region on Tuesday; just one week after a devastating quake struck the island nation of Haiti. According to the United States Geological Survey, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit just 40 miles off the coast of George Town in the Cayman Islands.
The quake was roughly 6.2 miles below the surface of the earth which is approximately the same depth as the 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti. A tsunami alert was briefly issued and then canceled after the quake struck around 9:23 a.m. local time.
Tuesday's quake off the Cayman Islands follows another earthquake that shook Guatemala and parts of El Salvador on Monday. Monday's Central American quake hit 60 miles southwest of Guatemala City.
All of the recent quakes have all struck on or near the fault between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. No injuries or deaths have been reported in the Cayman Islands on Tuesday or in the Monday quake in Central America.
-
what about the cruise ship that landed on the other side
with its passengers did you see that one
-
No didn't even hear of this??
-
natural disasters brings out the best in people or the worst
seems like a lot of worst here
-
I fully understand it is not appropriate for me, or anyone to poke around in the religious thread with non-christian ramblings....and therefore I keep out of the way...what you believe is your business.
But since we seem to have drifted into religion flavoured issues on this Haiti Thread, I would just like to ask one question.......
I note that there is a lot of rejoicing and Christian togetherness for all those who somehow survived this awful disaster...but why, oh why does any God (of any type or form) allow such a thing to happen in the first place. What do we say to the families and friends of the 100,000 plus innocents who were brutally killed in this event.
Is this some sort of gigantic religious lottery.......some win, some lose.
And if church is people, not a building...why kill the people, is it not enough to demolish the buildings...and leave the people alone ???
I cant reconcile any of this in my mind...based on religion.
David
-
DavidE
some people need something to believe in and
the answers will be there i guess when we die
and then see what happens at that time. maybe
that will be when we can get answers to all these
questions that come to mind. i often wonder the same
especially were kids are concerned. why are they born
with problems or why do they die so young? i guess i will
have to wait for those answers.
-
whats the latest in the states about the quake?
has releif made it there to help them? not seeing
much on it here in gz
-
thanks mike for the articles
-
Over 1 million starving people, 114 million donated, that would leave 114 million - 1 dollar mcdonalds burgers, so what are they going to feed them when the burgers run out? Better come up with a better plan, no matter how had we try, people are going hungry.
-
Rocky makes a good point.At some point and time all the aid is going to stop.Then What does Haiti do? They have already pissed away all the help the aid the rest of the world had sent them before the earthquake.
-
maybe they will learn lessons from the quake??? just a thought
anythings possible
-
maybe they will learn lessons from the quake??? just a thought
anythings possible
Yeah they learn how to row the boat to the US.
-
Well, i hope when they re-build the cities and towns, they build to a standard that is resistant to earthquakes, and not just throw up the crap that they built with before!!
They need Engineers and building specilists to teach them what's good and what's not. Just the sort of job/service where active retired Engineers and specilists could make good use of there life-long skills..... Just a thought of mine!!!!
David....
-
They need Engineers and building specilists to teach them what's good and what's not. Just the sort of job/service where active retired Engineers and specilists could make good use of there life-long skills
Sounds good on paper but that's not the way the are. They have never gotten off there asses to do anything except spread AIDS.
-
Vince,
have you had a bad experience with someone from there?
just seems a little rough on the area and yes i know they
are looking for the handouts and have for a while but this
is a little different with what happened. just a little curious
as i have never dealt with anyone from there.
-
Ted yes they live near and around here. Not so much as Miami but... To many immigrants here. Maybe some come to better themselves as Mike mentioned. I have no problem with anyone like this. But when it's an everyday event? An example would be changing a diaper on the street. They just throw it to the ground and walk away. God forbid you say something to them? like pick it up.
Then it's the history of the country. The US has gone to help for near a century and they take the help and then do nothing to continue with what they were taught. They are the type of people that cry they have nothing when they are stocking it away out of view. They don't care for the human life only themselves individually.
-
Ok this had been on my mind all night. I think I need to put things in prospective of where I'm coming from on this issue. It's not a color thing or obviously not a culture problem. It's Haitian's behavior for their fellow man I have a problem with. I have been to some of the islands near Haiti. Even the Dominican Republic (same Island). I even did a job for a Dominican Republican in NY and helped name his child, they gave him my name, first and middle. How's that for a customer.
China had/has (one yesterday) earthquakes and besides the outside help they received the Chinese people gathered and took care of helping that area, getting people out, food, water and whatever else was needed. Sept. 11, NYC, people helping people whoever, where ever, same for the others in Wash. DC and Penn. It's just natural to do so.
Even here when a hurricane hit many homes where damaged, trees down, phone poles down, cell phone towers on battery backup only lasted about a day. No damage to my home at all (I rebuilt it). But there was weeks of no water, no power, no food. First thing I did after was check the neighbors. In a few days the Red Cross was here and set up food for all. I even served the food to the hundred or so that showed up. I shared my next door neighbors generator and anything needed that I had and the same from them we shared. Didn't matter what color or if they didn't speak english. It was the thing to do for the fellow human being.
Haitian's? Don't do this. They will kill each other over a bottle of water, not because they're thirsty but because they want it. They should be digging out their loved ones instead of waiting for others (outsiders) to come and do it. You can read about how they act. I even posted an article about one that went to the graveyard and dumped the corpse out and took the casket? No respect. Since they don't have respect for others I have no respect for them. Help them, yes. Send water, food whatever it takes. But there has to be a limit. Just like there history, they will sit back and take but not do.
-
Vince,
i didnt think you were a racist just thought you had some bad experiences
with them were your at. your right they need to help each other. i read on the
net there are places with machete carrying people charging tolls to go any
further??? now what the ###l is that kind of crap doing going on?? your right
in the us we band together and give help. of course we have instances like
in new orleans were the help was felt to be to little and to late so those people
turned it into a race issue but if i recall that was the only time that ever happened
but there they seem to be exploiting their own people
-
The katrina hurricane was different. The Government reacted slowly, but there were many individuals out there getting people off roofs until the gov. held them back saying they'll do it and couldn't decide how to? But the individuals weren't charging for the boat ride.
It was just a thought that "some" might misunderstand the posts. If they were white, I would feel the same. In a time like this they should be compassionate for there countrymen. They seem to lack this.
-
sometimes the worst is brought out when a disaster strikes.
i remember people charging large prices for water until it hit
the media
-
Did you all forget about the dome.That wasn't handled well at all.Beatings robery rape gunfire murder
-
Vince,
I have found humor in may of your posts. I am glad that your last couple of post on the subject were rethought.
The bottom-line is when you start talking about Haitians as a collective group. In my opinion you are off base.
It is pretty simple. All Haitians - like all Americans are not alike. Far from it. So too me it is a stretch to say that all Haitians do is spread Aids, or row a boat to America or Miami - or where ever it was you referenced. Maybe I read your posts wrong.
People are people. Some are good, some or evil, some are downright disgusting.
But right about now, people are hurting in mass - and some of your comments are off track.
-
"Haitians as a collective group"? Of course not all. But as a country?
"So too me it is a stretch to say that all Haitians do is spread Aids" ? I'm not bring sarcastic, it's a fact they have a large AIDS population and no course of action to stop it. So it keeps multiplying.
It's easy to say they are not that bad. You don't live here among them. An area in Miami called Little Haiti. You do not see them when there is a break in a TV program about another boat load coming in. And to see there protests, many all the time.
(http://www.floridausaimages.com/wp-content/gallery/flaimmigration/NB_FLA_32014.jpg)
(http://majimbokenya.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/art_boat_uscg.jpg)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_t5CFZhL40BE/SnBfXIwlsdI/AAAAAAAACQc/getqfRugpls/s400/12a-Haitians.jpg)
(http://www.sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/haitians-rally-for-tps-no-deportations-pompano-beach-fl-0228091.jpg)
Maybe you don't know that as far back as 1915 the US went in to help, and again in the 1980's, 1990's, 2000, and again now. And what are they doing right now as the US is there again helping? Complaining, we should give more?
For a few months work as dropped off. I don't even get a call. What to do? I changed jobs. Can't do accounting? I do remodeling. Finishing up a store remodeling job. One down 4 to go. If this drops off I'll do power washing of homes, if that drops, I move to another. What are they doing? Why aren't they doing the digging? Why aren't they getting the water flow going? Why aren't they setting up or repairing hospitals? Why do they have the time to go loot, rob places? You may think it's off track but it's just that I see more.
-
metooap, I might have leaned into the subject to hard on you, sorry for that. It does bother me when people don't "try" to help themselves. It may come across as being mean? But there are so many things going on in helping, it sounds like the US is taking over the country instead of helping. It's going to come back and bite them in the ass. Miami - Dade county is emptying a county jail to make room from the thousands from Haiti that are being brought in? The ones that were suppose to be sent back got a free visa for a year and a half? This all sounds like the island is being cleared out so we can rebuild it. Then what? Are they going to return? If it was my home I would be there doing all I could. That's the difference. They remind me of Huckleberry Finn where he got all the neighborhood kids to paint the fence for him.
To say "all"? no, I don't mean all. I'm sure there are many that are doing what they can. But the masses out weight the few. I'm not happy that the government chooses neighboring countries and gives them easy access, visa and bends the laws for some and on the other hand gives us months of crap with China?
-
Vince
You are not leaning too hard. Pictures and all you are simply aggressively expressing a point of view.
This is fine.
My point is simple, if you start lumping people together, whether Haiti, the Bronx, China or wherever, you are going to have a problem. Because If you are to say all Haitians are this way or that way, then that would mean you have either met all Haitians - or you are God.
I understand your frustrations with the immigration system. Trust me, I wish, as a country we would not have to take one year or more to get our wives and love ones from China VISAs. Especially since some other countries take about 3 months.
On the other hand, you and I are fortunate, because with relative ease we can get a VISA to China or anywhere else for that matter. Why? Not because you are I are such great people. We simply happen to be born and or citizens of the US.
Most of the Haitians you are talking about have about as much influence over their government, as you or I, when it comes to changing our country's policy on extending VISAs to our love ones from China - little or none.
I am not a preacher. In fact, the Church doors would probably buckle as I approached them. I am a full fledged capitalist that see great merit in the game "QQ Garden" that so many people in China play. But I know with great blessings come great responsibility.
Think about it. The same things have been said about "Little Italy, "Chinatown", on and on. It seems to me through your posts you are way too bright to buy into this - all those folks crap.
If you have not gone to China - by the looks of things - soon you will be in China. Looking at in your opinion the most beautiful and sexiest woman you have ever seen. While you are looking at your future wife, think about it, some fool there will be looking at you. Saying what the hell is our beautiful woman, doing with an "a.. hole" like you? Surely she could find better in this great land of ours. As this fool passes you and your lady by, your lady will simply look at you smile, and hold your hand even tighter. Because she knows that some may think you are this way or that way. But to her she knows..to her you are her umbrella, you are solid as a rock.
-
well this is a strong topic but as i see it is is great to ask and recieve help
but your part in that is to also try and help yourself along with the others helping
you just a thought
-
ttwjr32,
I agree - we each have a responsibility to help ourselves.
I have no problem telling anyone to get up off their ass.
As long as I know that - that person - is sitting on their ass.
The problem comes in when one is bold enough to say without a speck of proof - everyone is sitting on their asses.
I do not buy this or buy into it.
-
Because If you are to say all Haitians are this way or that way, then that would mean you have either met all Haitians - or you are God.
Well I didn't want to mention it? I haven't talked to every Haitian so... it will rain for 24 hours where you are. :icon_biggrin:
Your right, I shouldn't pick on them just from the media reports. I am usually more skeptical of the media.
-
Vince,
Now you sound like the guy that I have been reading in your other posts.
The earth quake victims need help. We have a responsibility to extend our hand. They have the responsibility to pull themselves up.
Now as for as the rain - give me about 30 minutes. Let me go find old what's his name - Noah that's it!:icon_cheesygrin:
-
its probably one of the few places were the bad and lazy outweigh the good hard
working people but how did that come about? from to much aid? i dont know but i
do know i had a good vacation there one time for a week. but didnt venture all over
to see first hand
-
ttwjr32
At least you added to the economy - right?
I can name a few other places where the bad and lazy outweigh the hard working folks.
I will not name the place.
But here is another thought.
I do not think the earthquake made a distinction between the bad, lazy, and hardworking folks.
Right now we can't either. We just have to help - and hope that our efforts get to as many hardworking people as possible.
-
Well I never said we shouldn't help. But to what extent? is what worries me.
I have a knack that I notice most others don't have. When doing a project or anything else I know where and how it's going to end up. It's hard to explain. It's sort of like before you put a certain air pressure in your car tires you know what the ride will be like, how it will brake, take turns. this is what I see with Haiti, so it worries me how it's going to end up?
South Florida is a multi-cultural state. I meet all kinds of people from all over. Just the other day I met a Hungarian (I thought he was German). It's almost like NY? Haitians protest here all the time. In one way they should. In another a protest isn't going to help. The protesting is they want the same immigration rights as Cubans. They should, but the Cubans shouldn't have it easier then the rest either. They have the wet foot, dry foot law for them and nobody else? For those not knowing what that is? If they come on a boat and make it to land they can stay? Passing all the immigration laws to the side. Then knowing that I/we have to jump hoops to have a wife come here to live? It gets my blood boiling. It's just not fair.
-
Vince,
doesnt it always seem to be harder to get things done when you dont try
to circumvent the system? when you do circumvent the system it seems to
be easier for you. at least on these type issues. the frustration is just endless.
-
Vince and ttwjr32,
Really we are talking about apples and oranges here.
First we are talking about the earthquake and devastation. Here I think we should help individually and collectively as much as we can.
Also we are talking about immigration - which is a different can of worms altogether.
On this issue - to me it is pretty clear, find the end of the line, get in it, and follow it until it is your turn. On the other hand I agree, with you it burns me to know end to know that in a matter of two months, I will be married and ticked off because I have to wait another 12 months or so to process a VISA to the US for my wife. So I understand what you are saying.
The only thing that is a saving grace is when I look at my wife, I say 12 months, 5 years, it does not matter, Until we get the VISA I am staying in that pudding line - if you know what I mean. :icon_biggrin:
-
Well it's pears. The subject falls into the earthquake and how the US is helping. The immigration is part of it. It's one of the things they are "helping" with. Currently there are three counties taken in Haitians. Miami, Broward and Palm Beach. So everything written is the fallout of the earthquake.
-
i saw and read that also they are bringing them to the usa
its one thing to help but i dont think that is the way. why
dont they spend the money to bring them here and feed
the people who are in tough times already there?? send the
help to them and if they abuse and misuse then its on them
but bringing to the country is not the answer needed
-
Well like I wrote earlier, they are clearing out a holding area named Chrome, moving them somewhere else and bringing in haitians to stay there? So who's rebuilding? I'm just finishing a job where I had a helper. He couldn't do anything? Part of the job was a drop ceiling (suspended). It takes 14 seconds to cut a tile where needed. It took him 2 hours to cut 1 tile? I laid into him for the time lost. And by the way he's Italian or at least he says he is? But that's another story. But dealing with such a person I get the feeling, like me the US will be rebuilding this way. Ending up doing it all.
-
vince what is chrome? or is that just what they are calling it?
-
Chrome Detention Center
Chrome Detention Center in Miami of the Department of Homeland Security. Basically it is the detention hold for people being sent back to whatever they came. Mostly criminals. If they have a criminal record they can't stay.
Ran across this article from a few years ago, but it shows just what I was posting.
CNN correspondent Mark Potter has just learned that six people have now been charged, apparently with attempting to smuggle these Haitian migrants into the United States. Mark Potter is down at the federal courthouse and the U.S. attorney's office, and hopes to bring us additional details as soon as they are available.
Meantime, demonstrations continue this day in Miami, as they did yesterday, and more are scheduled for this afternoon, as supporters of these Haitian migrants, who are arguing for equal treatment of them, continue to protest their treatment here in the United States so far. This, following very stunning pictures, but not unfamiliar to those who live in south Florida, of this latest arrival of Haitian migrants to the United States.
More than 200 of them jammed onto an overcrowded, 50-foot wooden boat, landing in Miami's Key Biscayne. Some argue that these Haitians should be treated like Cuban migrants; that is, to allow them to be paroled into the United States and then make their cases for political asylum.
Right now, as it is, for the most part, these Haitian migrants do not have the opportunity, their supporters say, to hire lawyers to represent them to try to fight their case in a U.S. court.
Now, today, a Democratic congresswoman, Carrie Meek, confronted Republican incumbent Governor Jeb Bush about this, asking him to take advantage of his family ties to try to fight and try to change U.S. immigration policy. She was asking him for help.
-
maybe that is why the chinese cant go to many coutries of their own
free will. they could use the political asylum in their quest to leave China?
dont know just a thought?
-
Our right to live is something which cannot be discussed by anyone.
But if our right to live is made conditional upon an obligation to fall to our knees, our reply once again is that we will not accept it.
From South of the border
-
that is correct FransB but one also must take steps to
help oneself in times like this and not just rely on others
for all the help. i believe it works both ways. gratitude will
go a long way. its unfortunate that many people take advantage
of others generosity at times of disaster
-
The history that “binds” the US and Haiti
Many “commentators” show any inclination to probe the history of US-Haiti relations and its bearing on present catastrophe confronting the Haitian people.
Rather, the backwardness and poverty that have played a substantial role in driving the death toll into the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands are presented as a natural state of affairs, if not the fault of the Haitians themselves. The United States is portrayed as a selfless benefactor, ready to come to the aid of Haiti with donations, rescue teams, warships and Marines. Especially US Warships and US Marines.
In a cynical and dishonest editorial, the New York Times Thursday January 14, 2010 began, “Once again the world weeps with Haiti,” a country which it goes on to describe as characterized by “poverty, despair and dysfunction that would be a disaster anywhere else but in Haiti are the norm.”
The editorial continues: “Look at Haiti and you will see what generations of misrule, poverty and political strife will do to a country.”
In a background article on the Haitian disaster, the Times adds that the country “is known for its many man-made woes—its dire poverty, political infighting and proclivity for insurrection.”
In a shorter and even more dismissive editorial, the Wall Street Journal celebrates the fact that the US military will play the leading role in Washington’s response to the earthquake as “a fresh reminder that the reach of America’s power coincides with the reach of its goodness.”
It goes on to draw an obscene comparison between the Haitian earthquake and the one that struck southern California in 1994, in which 72 people died. “The difference,” the Journal declares, “is a function of a wealth-generating and law-abiding society that can afford, among other things, the expense of proper building codes.”
The message is clear. The Haitians have only themselves to blame for the hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, because they failed to create sufficient wealth and lacked respect for law and order.
What is deliberately obscured by this comparison is the real relationship, which has evolved over more than a century, between “wealth generation” in the United States and poverty in Haiti. It is a relationship built on the use of force to pursue US imperialism’s predatory interests in a historically oppressed country.
By the Obama administration and the Pentagon deploying a US Marine expeditionary force in Haiti, it will mark the fourth time in the past 95 years that the US armed forces have occupied the impoverished Caribbean nation. This time, as in the past, rather than aiding the Haitian people, the essential purpose of such a military action will be to defend US interests and guard against what the Times refers to as the “proclivity for insurrection.”
The roots of this relationship go back to the birth of Haiti as the first independent black republic in 1804, the product of a successful slave revolution led by Toussaint Louverture, and the subsequent defeat of a French army sent by Napoleon.
The ruling classes of the world never forgave Haiti for its revolutionary victory. It was subjected to a worldwide embargo that was led by the United States, which feared the Haitian example could inspire a similar revolt in the US’s Southern slave states. It was only with southern secession and the outbreak of the Civil War that the North recognized Haiti—nearly 60 years after its independence.
From the dawn of the 20th century, Haiti fell under the domination of Washington and the US banks, whose interests were defended by sending US Marines to carry out an occupation that continued for nearly 20 years, maintained through the bloody suppression of Haitian resistance.
The US Marines left only after carrying out the “Haitianization”—as the New York Times referred to it at the time—of the war against the Haitian people by building an army dedicated to internal repression.
Subsequently, Washington backed the 30-year dictatorship of the Duvaliers, which began with the coming to power of Papa Doc in 1957. While tens of thousands of Haitians died at the hands of the military and the dreaded Tontons Macoute, US imperialism saw the murderous dictatorship as a bulwark against communism and revolution in the Caribbean.
Since the mass upheavals that brought down the Duvaliers in 1986, successive US governments, Democratic and Republican alike, have sought to reconstruct a reliable client state capable of defending the markets and investments of US firms attracted by starvation wages, as well as the property and wealth of the Haitian ruling elite. This entails preventing any challenge to a socio-economic order that keeps 80 percent of the population in dire poverty.
This effort continues today 2010 under the tutelage of Bill and Hillary Clinton—respectively the UN’s special representative to Haiti and the US Secretary of State—who together have Haitian blood on their hands.
Washington has backed two coups and sent US troops back into Haiti twice in the past 20 years. Both coups were organized to overthrow Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first Haitian president to be elected by popular vote and without Washington’s approval. Together, the coups of 1991 and 2004 claimed the lives of at least 13,000 more Haitians. In 2004 overthrow, Aristide was forcibly transported out the country by US operatives.
Needing them in Iraq, the US withdrew its troops in 2004, contracting the job of repression out to a 9,000UN peacekeeping force under leadership of Brazilian army.
Despite Aristide’s capitulation to the demands of the International Monetary Fund and his willingness to compromise with Washington, the mass support he attracted with his anti-imperialist rhetoric made him anathema to the ruling elites in both Washington and Port-au-Prince. On the orders of the Obama administration, he is barred from returning to Haiti and his political party, Fanmi Lavalas, remains effectively outlawed.
This is the real and continuing history that, as Obama put it, binds Haiti to US imperialism, which bears overwhelming responsibility for the desperate conditions that have compounded the carnage inflicted by the earthquake.
There are, however, other ties that bind and are deeply felt, as the immensity of the tragedy in Haiti unfolds. There are over half a million Haitian Americans officially counted in the US and undoubtedly hundreds of thousands more who are undocumented. Their presence concretizes the class interests and solidarity that unite Haitian and American workers. Together, it is their task to sweep away the conditions of poverty and devastation in both countries, along with the capitalist profit system that created them.
DrFransBRoosPhD
The above may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Consequently such material is available to the reader under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material is without profit, and can be used without profit for research and educational purposes. To use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” request permission from the copyright owner.
-
although some of the choices by the USA govt havent been at times, the best,
but i do not believe that the USA can be blamed or held responsible for everything
that has gone on in this country. thats a ludicrous response to make. but as i have
said in another post everyone has the right to their opinion and should be allowed to
voice that opinion. for every negative one made by someone you can always find a
positive one. i was born and lived in the USA most all of my life and agree its not a
perfect country but it is still a very good country even with all its problems. and i will
say i used to get disturbed when i would hear many immigrants compliain about it there
and after hearing it for a while i would think to myself "then go home" if your unhappy
here. everyone has choices and if this choice isnt working for you then return home or go
elsewere to reside. and living in california i did hear this often enough
-
Two things that aren't clear. This first one...
This effort continues today 2010 under the tutelage of Bill and Hillary Clinton—respectively the UN’s special representative to Haiti and the US Secretary of State—who together have Haitian blood on their hands.
Not totally correct. The Clinton's have a stake in Haiti only first it's part of her job and two they honeymooned there so they have sort of feelings for the place.
The other is this...
On the orders of the Obama administration, he is barred from returning to Haiti and his political party, Fanmi Lavalas, remains effectively outlawed.
This is one of the carry over from the previous administration not an order from the Obama administration.
The military was there because of the danger when they dropped off food, water and supplies. Unruly Haitians hurting each other and making it impossible to land for they would be under the blades and not clear the way fro landing to drop off the supplies. They were there to make sure ALL was getting it.
There is something that happen I think yesterday? A group of about a dozen theives tried to rob a bank. They were caught and didn't get any money. When asked, one said he did it because he was hungry? How much FOOD does this bank have? Just goes to show the excuse of hunger is used for anything.
-
but we always get the blame for the root of all evil in the world Vince
somehow it is our fault and that just gets me fuming. yes we sometimes
make some bonehead decisions but we cant be blamed for everything
just pure hogwash if you ask me but anyway it will happen again. they just
needed the money to buy food they were only going to take enough for dinner
yea right
-
"blamed for everything" I can relate to this. I've had it all my life. Never could figure it out? I gotten blamed and wasn't even there? I think it comes from trying to do good?
I'm not saying this (US) is a bad country at all. Just some of the things they come up with? At there level and the smarts they're suppose to have they should know better.
-
i agree Vince dammed if we do dammed even more if we dont
-
Haiti's Creole proverb ...
High on a mountaintop in the rugged badlands of central Haiti, a starling sight confronts the visitor: an enormous, looming fortress rearing skyward, like a medieval castle whisked from the south of France and dropped in the hills of Hispaniola.
This is the Citadelle Laferriere, the largest fortification in the western hemisphere. It was built between 1805 and 1820 by order of the megalomaniacal Henri Christophe, a leader of the slave revolt of 1791 that ejected the French and made Haiti the first Black republic in world history.
King Christophe, as he styled himself, built the citadel at the cost of thousands of workers’ lives. He meant to ensure Haiti would repel an expected French invasion; but Christophe committed suicide (some say with a silver bullet) as mutinous troops closed in.
The citadel remains - the French never came.
Enemies within
But as it turned out, some of Haiti’s worst enemies came not from abroad, but from within. The peasants who slashed and burned the lush forest, turning most of what was a verdant island into arid, rocky scrub. The power-mad, corrupt and oppressive rulers who treated the nation and its people as their personal plaything, from mad king Christophe to the evil Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his loathsome son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc”. The corrupt elite that maintains a stranglehold on the country’s wealth, with 2% of the people controlling 90% of assets.
Not all of Haiti’s many tribulations are self-imposed, of course. The United States has meddled in Haitian affairs almost since the country’s founding, and usually for the worse—despite the aid that Haitian volunteers provided as foot soldiers in America’s own Revolutionary War of independence from Britain.
The oppressive hand of the US included a 19-year-long occupation in the 20th century, and support for the Duvaliers as a bulwark against Cuban communism.
Unequal trade treaties have always given the US the upper hand, and in recent years a NAFTA-like abolition of tariffs on American rice has driven thousands of farmers in Haiti’s Artibonite Valley off the land and into the teeming slums of Port-au-Prince. Successive US presidents—Bill Clinton and George W. Bush—first installed the popularly elected President Jean Bertrand Aristede back in office after a military coup, and then arranged his ouster and exile.
Now, in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake of January 12, 2010, Haiti faces perhaps the greatest crisis in its history. As international aid pours into the Port-au-Prince airport and trickles out to the people most in need, plans are afoot for a wholesale restructuring.
Partnership promised
Between 100,000 to 400,000 Haitians will be relocated out of the cities into newly built, hopefully earthquake-resistant, buildings. Promises of enduring partnership and help from the international community are flying through the humid Haitian air.
And what of the 15,000 to 20,000 US troops on the ground? Will they be a temporary presence, or a long-term presence? Will the international community insist on transparency, an end to corruption and a fundamental rebalancing of the distribution of wealth? Will the US alter the trade deals to give Haiti a chance to protect its meager remaining industries and agriculture?
Most Haitians are still too raw with shock and agony to consider the long-term questions. But the time will come, and sooner than many would think. Then we shall see if the promises of a clean slate and a New Haiti are as enduring as the Citadelle, or as evanescent as a Caribbean breeze.
There is a Creole proverb that helps explain the difficulties of life and to inspire the will to endure: “Deye morne, gainyan morne” - behind the mountains, are more mountains.
-
Somewhere in here I gave mention to an arrest of a few Florida Motor Vehicle dept. Where a few others pulled up to the parking lot in a van full of immigrants and gave thousands for Drivers licenses for them. Having the DL gives them clearance for work and immigration loses track of them. Well they all got caught. Why I posted it here? Half the people in the van were Haitian. Here's the latest.
South Florida man gets 5 years in immigration fraud case.
A South Florida man has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding immigrants seeking immigration benefits.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami reported that 45-year-old Victor Abreu was sentenced on Friday. He and five others, three of whom have also pleaded guilty, were indicted in October.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents in Fort Lauderdale began investigating Abreu's company in May 2007. Abreu and his employees were accused of soliciting payments from illegal immigrants by falsely promising to assist them with immigration matters.
Abreu and others then prepared the false immigration documents, which led to some illegal immigrants getting legitimate work authorization cards and driver's licenses.