Teen's Dash to Freedom After Two Year Marathon

Summary

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This is a happy ending to a legal battle pitting [Joseph] against the United States and the Department of Homeland Security. Joseph was shifted between federal custody and an uncle's care. U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami intervened on Joseph's behalf and lobbied long and hard for the boy's future.

Joseph's case became a case study for advocates' assertions of the unequal treatment of Haitian refugees. While the "wet foot, dry foot" policy applied to Cuban immigrants allows many Cuban defectors the chance to start anew, Haitians have not been granted the same consideration and generally have had to justify and prove their asylum claims to a higher standard.

"Today I'm happy. I'm too much happy," Joseph said at a news conference Monday. Meek, lawyers and Haitian community leaders stood with the teen.

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Extract

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Teen's Dash to Freedom After Two Year Marathon

It was October of 2002. Hundreds of South Floridians were making their daily commute across the Rickenbacker Causeway. At the same time 200 Haitian refugees, fleeing poverty, crime and ins...

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