Red Tape Ties Up Scores of Miami Students in Haiti

By Lynn Schnaiberg

After being entangled in American red tape in their native Haiti for nearly six months, 13-year-old Edlaure Jean-Baptiste and her 9-year-old sister, Stephanie, returned to Miami just over a month ago and were swaddled in hugs from their parents and teachers.

The girls, both Dade County public school students, had been required under U.S. immigration law to return to their homeland for processing by the American embassy there. Scores of other Haitian-born youngsters from the Miami area remain stranded in Haiti awaiting such processing.

As tensions in the island nation have become more intense in recent weeks, so have the fears of educators and community leaders in Miami over the...