Publication Date
1981
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)
First Advisor
Alvino Fantini
Abstract
Beginning about 1972, many of the impoverished people of the Carribean nation of Haiti have fled their country for Florida. Because they come in sea vessels - invariably of questionable quality for an open sea voyage - a name which has been attached to them is that of "boat people". The Haitian boat people leave their homeland for reasons both economic and political in nature. Both their departure from Haiti and their arrival in the United States are illegal events. Once they reach Florida, therefore immigration authorities attempt to deport them, viewing the Haitians as "economic refugees" not entitled to political asylum. Those who are detained by authorities have been subjected to discriminatory practices, and those who have escaped detection remain vulnerable in a variety of other ways. Recently, two American Presidents have attempted to address the question of the Haitian boat people in the face of illegal immigration from many other countries similtaneously.
This paper attempts to explore more fully the situation in which the Haitians find themselves, and to draw conclusions from the body of facts.
Disciplines
Civil Rights and Discrimination | Education | Immigration Law
Recommended Citation
LaLime, Peter Gordon, "The Haitian Boat People: An Overview of the Present Situation Concerning Their Illegal Immigration to Florida" (1981). MA TESOL Collection. 339.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/ipp_collection/339