Assembly Member, Rodneyse Bichotte.
Photo by Tequila Minsky, File
Caribbean L 6 ife, June 28–July 4, 2019 BQ
PATIENTS’
CHOICE
RATED & AWARDED BY PATIENTS
SM
By Nelson A. King
Amid President Donald
J. Trump’s threatened
deportation in two weeks of
millions of Caribbean and
other undocumented families
if Democrats do not submit to
changes in asylum law they
have long opposed, a Haitian
American legislator in Brooklyn
is urging Caribbean nationals
to “stay put.”
“We’re asking everyone
to stay put,” New York State
Assemblywoman, Rodneyse
Bichotte, the daughter of Haitian
immigrants, who represents
the 42nd Assembly District in
Brooklyn, told Caribbean Life,
in an exclusive interview, on
Saturday, reacting to the US
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) agency’s
plan to round up millions of
undocumented immigrants for
deportation.
“It’s a violation,” added the
representative for the largely
Caribbean district. “New York
City is a sanctuary city; ICE is
not supposed to harass people.
If there are issues, call 311
(a New York City hotline that
seeks to address residents’
issues and complaints).
“As a legislator, we have
worked with legislators across
the state, so there would be
no discrimination,” Bichotte
continued. “Do not open doors.
ICE cannot come in without a
signed warrant by a criminal
court judge. They can only
come in if you let them.”
“If you are in a public space,
ask, ‘am I being arrested or
detained’”, she said. “If yes,
exercise your right to remain
silent, and ask to speak to a
lawyer. If no, ask if you can
leave and then leave calmly.”
Bichotte said the US
Constitution allows all
residents, regardless of
immigration status, to exercise
the 5th Amendment right to
remain silent.
She also said that if
Caribbean nationals are
passengers in a car, ICE can
only ask information about the
driver.
“They do not have the right
to question passengers,” she
said. “Passengers need to be
silent and not say anything.
Leave home only when you
have to, and do your best to be
a passenger with a driver who
has (legal) papers.”
ICE said that its agents
were planning Sunday to
round up Caribbean and other
immigrants in 10 major US
cities.
But Trump tweeted on
Saturday that he was delaying
the plan for two weeks.
“At the request of Democrats,
I have delayed the Illegal
Immigration Removal Process
(Deportation) for two weeks
to see if the Democrats and
Republicans can get together
and work out a solution to the
Asylum and Loophole problems
at the Southern Border,” he
said. If not, Deportations
start!” ‘
On Friday evening,
Speaker of the US House of
Representatives Nancy Pelosi,
Democrat of California, had
reportedly called Trump to
persuade him to annul the
immigration raids.
According to reports,
Trump said he would consider
her request but made no
commitments.
On Saturday, Pelosi publicly
decried Trump’s proposal as
“heartless” and urged the
president to “stop this brutal
action.”
Earlier last week, US
Congresswoman Yvette
D. Clarke, the daughter
of Jamaican immigrants
strongly criticized Trump’s
plan to deport millions of
undocumented Caribbean and
other immigrants.
Bichotte urges Caribbean
nationals to ‘stay put’