MIAMI - The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, an influential Haitian Roman Catholic priest who was once jailed in Haiti for his political activities and fought for his countrymen's rights in the U.S., died Wednesday. He was 62.

He died in a Miami-area hospital, said immigration attorney Ira Kurzban, who was a longtime friend. Jean-Juste's brother, Kernst, said he died of complications from a stroke and a lung problem.

Jean-Juste, who was born in Cavaillon, Haiti, came to the U.S. as a young man and founded the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami in the late 1970s.

When the U.S. government began to systematically deport Haitian immigrants, he fought to ensure they received due process for asylum consideration, Kurzban said, adding that it was in part his activism that enabled Haitian asylum seekers to obtain work permits for the first time.

He was arrested in Haiti in 2005 on what international human rights groups called politically motivated charges. All charges against him were later dropped.