ASSISTANCE OF ICE OFFICERS TO U.S. EMBASSY,

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 001361 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINR SMIG HA SUBJECT: ASSISTANCE OF ICE OFFICERS TO U.S. EMBASSY, PORT-AU-PRINCE ¶1. The U.S. Embassy in Haiti wishes to express its appreciation to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Miami for its assistance in locating and interviewing a member of the Haitian Coast Guard who failed to return from training earlier this month. ¶2. Haitian Coast Guard Agent Malachie Lindor attended training in Texas and California; she missed her flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince on July 5th and joined her husband in Miami. When confronted by ICE agents, they both produced documentation of approved asylum requests based on her husband's application granted last year. Agent Lindor failed to provide this information during the screening for her training this past spring. ICE agents were able to verify the legitimacy of the documentation and held both Haitian citizens for as long as feasible while their status was verified. ¶3. ICE Agent Sanchez was very professional in both his research and communications with the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, which allowed us to provide factual and timely information to Haitian Government officials while they pursued their options. Obviously, their preference was for the return of their agent and the property that she possesses, but the information provided to us by the ICE agents in Miami assisted us in helping the Haitian Government decide the most feasible option. It was a pleasure to work with the agents of the Miami ICE office, even if the circumstances were less than desirable. SANDERSON