The Lonely Death of Pastor Dantica

In an interview she gave shortly after writing The Dew-Breaker, Edwidge Danticat spoke of growing up in Haiti with her aunt and uncle and how painful the separation was when she left at the age of 12 to join her parents in America. She spoke of learning to read when she was very young, of how her uncle, who worked in a school, would bring her books. Pastor Dantica--Edwidge's family acquired the extra 't' via a misspelling on an official form, ironically--died this week in US custody after fleeing from Port-au-Prince and applying for an asylum seeker's status.
"It is my nightmare that he died alone handcuffed to a bed," Edwidge told AP's Sam Dolnick.
Joseph Dantica started vomiting three minutes into an asylum hearing, after complaining that his medicine had been taken away. He died the next day; no one from his family was allowed to see him.
If that didn't make you angry enough, read this Sun-Sentinel report:
"As his family mourned, new details emerged of Dantica's final days at Krome. Dantica's son Maxo, who traveled with him to the United States, said Krome personnel took two prescription drugs from Dantica -- used to control his blood pressure and an inflamed prostate. The assertion contrasts a written statement by the Department of Homeland Security that said Dantica had "no legitimate prescribed medication" with him, but was carrying a folk remedy.
Maxo Dantica acknowledged his father used a bottled herbal mixture "for strength," which he said also was confiscated.
'They took his medicine away in front of me. Some doctor came and said, `He can't have that,'" Maxo Dantica recounted. "I begged them not to take it and I tried to warn them he might collapse, he might die. And the doctor said, `So he'll die.' He said it like a joke, but the joke came true."
As for the fine, honourable, caring souls over at Homeland Security, this is what they produced instead of an apology:
"Homeland Security rejected any responsibility for Dantica's death. 'Mr. Dantica died of pancreatitis while in Homeland Security custody, which an autopsy by the Miami-Dade County medical examiner's office revealed as a pre-existing and fatal condition,' the department said.
It added that it was 'unfortunate' that he died during the asylum interview. 'We understand his family's grief, but there is no connection between the pre-existing terminal medical condition he had and the process through which he entered the country.'
Some of Edwidge Danticat's work has dealt with the pains and trials of immigration, the constant doubts about whether it's worth exchanging a familiar tyranny for alien tribulations. Her uncle left Haiti because he had to: his church had been burned down the week before and he felt his life was in danger. He may have envisioned dying at the hands of torturers and murderers, but I don't think he or anyone in his family ever imagined that it would be in the US.
Robert Birnbaum sent a link to the Human Rights First page, where you can "call for an immediate investigation into this case and the Department of Homeland Security's broader policy of targeting Haitian nationals for immigration detention". The Babu usually doesn't encourage petition activism; but please, take a moment to sign this one.