Obama creates a Willie Horton by halting deportation to Haiti

Media Matters  01/23/12  Solange Uwimana

“Media’s False Comparison Births Obama’s “Willie Horton””

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201201230018

On Sunday, the Miami Herald reported on the case of convicted felon Kesler Dufrene, a Haitian national who was the prime suspect in a triple murder committed after he was freed following the Obama administration's deportation stay to that country. Right-wing media are now using the case to attack President Obama and push the racially charged narrative that Dufrene is Obama's "Willie Horton." But the circumstances surrounding Dufrene's case cannot be compared to those of escaped murderer William Horton.

In a blog post calling attention to the story, Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft accused Obama's "failed immigration policy" of "leav[ing] three more innocent people dead." Hoft wrote: "Thanks to the Obama administrations halt on deportations to Haiti last year three people are now dead, including a 15 year old girl." He added: "Can you say Willie Horton?"

According to the Miami Herald, Dufrene was ordered deported after being convicted of burglary; had his deportation held up because the Obama administration had suspended deportations to his native Haiti in the wake of the massive earthquake in that country; and was ordered released due to Supreme Court rulings preventing the indefinite detention of foreign nations who cannot be deported:

In February 2006, Dufrene was on probation for stealing a car when he was rearrested, this time for burglary. He was found hiding in a bedroom closet in a vacant house in Manatee County. Neighbors wrestled him down and held him until police arrived. Dufrene claimed he was cold and looking for shelter.

In July 2006, deputies again arrested him after a homeowner surprised him inside another Manatee County home. Five months later, Dufrene pleaded guilty to one of the burglaries and violating probation, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

In August 2007, records show, a U.S. immigration judge ordered him deported. He was released from state prison in September 2010, and handed over to immigration custody at West Miami-Dade's Krome Detention Center.

The federal government annually deported hundreds of Haitians convicted of felonies in the United States.

But after the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the Obama administration announced it was indefinitely halting deportations to the country.

"Under binding Supreme Court precedent, ICE's authority to detain any individual is limited when the removal of that individual is not likely in the reasonably foreseeable future," the immigration agency's statement said.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2001 and 2005 that foreign nationals who cannot be deported may not be held in detention longer than six months. Deportations resumed in mid-January 2011 -- three months after Dufrene was released from custody under ICE supervision.

Common Sense Review

There is no false comparison.  The only difference between Willie Horton and Kesler Dufrene is that Dufrene is an illegal immigrant. 

In both cases these people are released into the public as dangerous people.  What?!?!  Why are we allowing those who show aggressive tendencies out into public?  Then people are up in arms when they commit murders..  Aggressive tendencies not address or the person is not counseled to handle the tendencies, they will attack another…DUH!!!