• 5:00AM: United Nations troops and Haitian Police forces launch a major military operation in Bel-Air, the neighborhood where Joseph Dantica has lived for the last 30 years and where he runs a church and school.
• 9:00AM: As Sunday services begin, a member of a local gang called RPK, who is being chased by UN and police, runs into Dantica’s church. The UN forces park an armored vehicle outside the church.
• 9:30AM: Gang member is killed as he leaves the church. The UN and police forces demand to enter the three-story church and school building because it gives a clear view of the alleys below where gang members are hiding. "We could not turn them down," says Dantica’s son, Maxo Osnac Dantica. "If we said no to the UN or the Haitian police we would be considered part of the gang and be dealt with the same way." The shooting from the roof of the church goes on with heavy fire for approximately 15-20 minutes while Dantica and his son and church members cower inside the building for shelter. Neighbors later tell Joseph and Maxo that at least 15 gang members are killed and 6 wounded.
• 10:30AM: UN and Police forces withdraw from the church and move to other locations in other parts of the neighborhood.
• 11:AM: Gang members come looking for Joseph Dantica and his son Maxo demanding that they pay for the burial of the 15 killed or be beheaded. Maxo flees with his five children. Joseph remains behind, hoping to negotiate with gang members, some of whom he has known since they were children. Negotiations fail. Joseph Dantica asks for a few hours’ reprieve to make some calls to see what he could do about the gang members’ complaints. Out of options, he runs into his house, gets his passport and a few items of clothing and runs to a neighbor’s house to hide.
• 3:00PM: The gang returns and not finding Dantica ransack the church, burns the altar and the school office. Everything is removed from the premises, including the doors.

• 5:00AM: One of Dantica’s neighbors smuggle him to another house in Bel-Air, where, according to his son, he "is forced to hide under a bed for three days."

• Neighbors and Dantica’s sister smuggle him out of Bel-Air and to his sister’s house in Delmas, where he is reunited with Maxo, who himself had been hiding in the countryside in Léogane. Both holders of valid US/Multiple entry visas—Joseph Dantica’s expires in 2008--they decide to leave for Miami together on Friday, October 29th, 2004.

• 12:32Am: Dantica and his son Maxo board American Airlines flight 822 to Miami.
• 3:30PM: Flight 822 lands in Miami. As they go through customs and immigration, Dantica and his son are asked how long they will be staying in the United States. Dantica, who has been visiting the United States regularly since the 1970 senses that he will be staying longer this time, declares that he has no where to go and fears for his life and requests "temporary asylum".
• 9:00PM: Department of Homeland Security officials contact Dantica’s brother in New York, Frank Dantica, to verify his story and confirm his identity.

• 1:30AM: Dantica’s niece, Edwidge Danticat, a Miami resident, receives a message from Immigration and Customs stating that her uncle is at the airport. She is not able to reach the phone on time and no contact name or number is left. She searches the Internet and is able to reach someone at Customs who would not give his name. He says he knows of the case but is too busy to talk to her as "two flights are coming in and I am the only person here."
• 2:00AM: Edwidge and her husband rush to airport hoping to retrieve Dantica. They are told by a second officer who answers the phone when they call from near the customs office at the airport, that Dantica will be not be released but will be taken to Krome. "We just called to notify you that he is here." She asks to speak to him and is refused. "He’ll contact you," she’s told, again by an officer who would not give his name.
• 12:00PM: Dantica and his son Maxo are taken to The Krome Detention Center after spending more than 20 hours in a holding room at Miami International Airport. When they arrive at Krome, they are separated. Dantica is taken to the medical "ward" at Krome, though, according to his son, "he did not appear sick." In the Krome medical ward, where he occupied a single room, without a bathroom—noteworthy, according this his son, because his prostate inflammation required that he urinate often—his Haitian medications for prostate inflammation and blood pressure are taken away from him and his son is told he will be given "American equivalents." A lawyer is retained, but can not see Dantica until Monday morning.

• 1:00PM: Attorney John Pratt visits with Dantica and his son Maxo at Krome. Dantica uses an artificial larynx, a voice box, and has trouble being understood by the Haitian translator he is assigned. According to his son, the Krome-assigned translator "insults him". His son is called in as his translator. Lawyer is seeking humanitarian parole for Dantica, based on his age and circumstances. Dantica’s "credible fear" hearing before an asylum officer is scheduled for the next morning.

• 9:00AM: In the waiting room before the hearing, Dantica tells his attorney John Pratt through another Creole-speaking detainee that he his not getting his medicine. When they are called into the hearing, Dantica begins vomiting, falls back against a wall and passes out. Dantica is then taken to the Public Health Service at Krome, where his attorney is not allowed to visit him. The attorney insists that his son Maxo be called in to give a sense of his medical history. According to Maxo, Dantica is briefly brought in, but then is made to leave by the deportation officer who says, "he is useless here. He’s not able to make him speak." Maxo tries to communicate with his father, but his father only seems to have enough energy to "shrug". His repeated requests to stay with his father are refused. Medics suggest to both Attorney John Pratt and Maxo that Dantica is faking his illness.
• 4:00PM. Maxo is notified at Krome that his father was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. No efforts are made to obtain medical information or history from Maxo, the closet relative and next of kin. Dantica’s attorney is notified that he will remain overnight at Jackson Memorial Hospital for "observation". Requests for family visits are denied

• 3:00PM: Requests for the lawyer or family members to see Dantica at Jackson Memorial Hospital are again denied. No details are given either to his son, niece, or lawyer about his condition. His niece calls Ward D—the detention ward of the hospital where he is being held-- to seek some information and is told that she can only get information from the Department of Homeland Security as "he is their prisoner."
• 8:45PM: Joseph Dantica dies.

Send a letter now to President George W. Bush demanding Justice for Dantica and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians!

For more information, please see:

NCHR Statements on Dantica and TPS:

• New York, November 19, 2004 -- Reverend Joseph Dantica Did Not Have to Die in Immigration Detention. It’s Time to End Policies That Single Out Haitians for Mean Treatment.

• New York, November 19, 2004 -- Backgrounder on Human Rights Conditions in Haiti.

• New York. November 17, 2004 -- Haitian Asylum-Seeker Dies in Immigration Custody. Haitian Rights Coalition Calls for Full Investigation.

Timeline: Events Preceding Dantica's Tragic Death Events Preceding The Death of the Rev. Joseph N. Dantica

Other Statements:

• Human Rights First: Baptist Minister Dies in US Immigration Jail

• Amnesty International: Urge Investigation into the Death of rev. Joseph Dantica

• Church World Service: Detention and Death of 81-year old Pastor Appalling

Dantica and TPS in the Media:

• NY Daily News, Nov. 28, 2004 -- A Death Bares America's Biased Policy

• Associated  Press, Nov. 27, 2004 -- Death of Man, 81, in US Custody, Another Haitian Tragedy.

• New York Times, Nov. 24, 2004 -- A Very Haitian Story, by Edwidge Danticat.

• New York Newsday, Nov. 21, 2004 -- Rev. Dantica, Haitian Who Died in Fed Custody.

• New York Post, Nov. 21, 2004 -- Tears, Rage Over Haitian Refugee Who Died in Fed Jail.

• New York Times, Nov. 21, 2004 -- New York Was Our City on the Hill, by Edwidge Danticat

• The Guardian, Nov. 20, 2004 -- Preacher's Death Prompts Protest.

• Associated Press, Nov. 19, 2004 -- Family, Activists Seek Answers in Death of Haitian Minister

• New York Daily News, Nov. 19, 2004 -- Fury Over Haitian Author's Kin.

• St. Petersburg Times, Nov. 19, 2004 -- Haitian Pastor Dies on US Doorstep.

• South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 17, 2004 -- Human Rights Groups Urge Probe Into Death of Haitian in US Custody.

• Associated Press, Nov. 17, 2004 -- Probe Sought in Haitian Detainee's Death.

• Miami Herald, Nov. 17, 2004 -- Probe Requested in Death of Haitian Man in Federal Custody

• Miami Herald, Nov. 14, 2004 -- Twice a Victim, First in Haiti then the US

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