April 18, 2024
Contact: Paige Censale, pcensale@haitianbridge.org 

San Diego, California – On Thursday, April 18, 2024, despite a humanitarian and insecurity crisis, the Biden-Harris administration deported more than 70 Haitian nationals to the Republic of Haiti. This administration must immediately cease deportation flights to Haiti. By continuing these deportations, the administration is knowingly condemning the most vulnerable, who came to us in their time of need, to imminent danger. Deportations to Haiti are intentional violence and blatant anti-Black discrimination. The hypocrisy by the Biden-Harris administration must cease. 

Last month, Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) and over 450 immigration, human rights, faith-based, and civil rights organizations sent a letter to the Biden administration urging the extension and redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and a moratorium on deportations. In addition, we requested the immediate release of detained Haitians and administrative closure of removal cases, expedited processing for the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program and the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole program, and other pathways that will assist Haitians to safely and legally seek protection in the United States

Guerline Jozef, the Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, released the following statement: 

“I reiterate my plea to the Biden-Harris administration to immediately halt deportations to Haiti. Black immigrants continue to be disproportionately impacted by draconian immigration laws. I am profoundly shocked by the level of hatred, inhumanity, and violence that the U.S. government is perpetuating on Haiti through these deportation flights, effectively sending people to potential deaths. Just last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that crises in Haiti had created “an untenable situation” for Haitian people. Yet, today, he and his colleagues authorized a deportation flight to Haiti, despite the glaring lack of safety there.”

Moreover, with a non-functional government in Haiti, it remains unclear who is even agreeing to receive these deportation flights. Why is the U.S. exacerbating chaos and cruelty in a country already grappling with a humanitarian and insecurity crisis? This action not only violates U.S. and international law but is also morally reprehensible and represents a flawed foreign policy.

Scores of Haitians have been killed and more than 15,000 have been forced from their homes since coordinated gang attacks began on February 29. Armed gangs infiltrated and attacked Haiti’s major airports and seaports, which has prevented de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning to the country from a trip to Kenya and ultimately led to his commitment to resign. On March 3, gangs organized prison breaks in Haiti’s two main prisons, freeing an estimated 4,500 detainees. 

Gangs torched or looted police stations across the country and killed several police officers, rendering Haitian police too powerless or too scared to control the outpour of detainees. Witnesses say the streets of Port-au-Prince reek with the stench of the dead, as corpses (casualties of violence) pile up too quickly to bury. Haiti is still designated as a level 4, do not travel,  by the State Department.  On March 10, U.S. Marines flew helicopters into Port-au-Prince in the middle of the night on March 10, to airlift non-essential embassy personnel and to bolster embassy security. 

Last year, the Haitian Bridge Alliance joined the National Urban League, NAACP, and the Southern Poverty Law Center in calling on President Biden to take all actions within his authority to protect Black immigrants who can’t return to their home countries due to armed conflict, natural disaster, or other emergent humanitarian reasons – including nationals from Haiti. We urge this administration to cease all deportations considering the deadly conditions that Haitians may face upon their arrival. Deportations to Haiti are a clear example of how the United States continues to contribute to the destabilization of the country.