Protest Planned Outside NY Immigration Office to Stop Deportations of 30,000 Haitians

Earlier this year, the Bush administration refused to grant Haitians the status, which allows them to live and work legally in the country. The request was made to delay the deportations until Haiti recovers from a string of deadly summer storms.

Meanwhile, in Haiti, a UN Security Council delegation recently praised the party of ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide for fighting to overturn the disqualification of its Senate candidates. The Haitian government had barred members of the Lavalas party from running in next month"s Senate elections for largely technical reasons.

The ruling came days before the fifth anniversary of the US-backed coup that led to Aristide’s ouster. Several thousand Haitians staged a protest to mark the day and to call for the return of Aristide to Haiti without conditions. Aristide has been living in exile in South Africa since 2004.

We are joined now by acclaimed author and activist, Randall Robinson. He is the founder and past president of TransAfrica and is currently a visiting law professor at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of numerous books, his most recent is “An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President.” He joins us from State College, Pennsylvania.

Randall Robinson, author of several books, including, “The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks,” “The Reckoning: What Blacks Owe to Each Other.” and “Quitting America: The Departure of a Black Man from His Native Land.” His most recent is “An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President.” He is the founder and past president of TransAfrica and is currently a visiting law professor at Pennsylvania State University.