Biden press secretary says president cares about Haiti but situation is ‘complicated’

Haiti’s multi-pronged crisis, which has led to the recent deaths of hundreds of people in recent weeks and continues to push the country to a humanitarian crisis, is “a complicated situation” that will take time to address, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Saturday during an appearance in Las Vegas at a minority journalists convention.

Jean-Pierre was an invited guest at the joint National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention, where she joined presidents Dorothy Tucker and Nora Lopez in a conversation about the Biden administration and her role as the first Black and first openly LGBTQ+ person to hold the position as White House press secretary. Jean-Pierre is also the first Haitian American in the job.

“It is not lost on me what this role means to so many young people out there,” Jean-Pierre said. “It is not lost one me the work that you all do because that is how powerful representation is.”

Jean-Pierre during her appearance touted the diversity of the administration along with its domestic policies.

Despite that, however, President Joe Biden has come under heavy criticism for some of his foreign policies, especially where Haiti is concerned. The volatile Caribbean country is in the throes of rampant kidnappings and deadly gang warfare that, according to the United Nations’ latest report, recently led to gross human rights abuses in northwest Port-au-Prince and death and injuries to more than 500 people just last month. Thousands more have been forced to flee from their homes.

Despite this reality, the U.S. in the first seven months of this year forcefully repatriated more than 20,000 Haitians compared to 19,629 for all of 2021, according to statistics from the United Nations’ International Office for Migration. Most returned migrants assisted by IOM were previously residing in Chile or Brazil, where several thousand child returnees were born - and were returned by the United States after journeying northward. The U.S.’s expulsions along with other recent decisions on Haiti have led some to question how much Biden cares.

In raising doubt, they have resurfaced a 1994 clip in which Biden, than a senator representing Delaware and discussing military intervention, said about Haiti: “If Haiti just quietly sunk into the Caribbean or rose up 300 feet, it wouldn’t matter a whole lot in terms of our interest.”

Asked by the Miami Herald about the comments and the administration’s policy of deporting Haitians, Jean-Pierre noted the questions concerning Haiti are personal to her.

“This is a very complicated geopolitical situation that we’re dealing with,” she said. “There is no great answer except that we have to do everything that we can to help the people of Haiti.”

Jean-Pierre said the U.S. has provided humanitarian aid and has had conversations with its embassy in Port-au-Prince, which today is located near the stronghold of two powerful gangs.

“There is no easy answer,” she continued. “And it’s going to take time to figure it all out and it’s not just the United States; clearly it’s countries in the region but I will say to you right now as someone who has parents who were born in Haiti, who considers myself also to be Haitian American, I’ve known this president for a very long time. This is very personal to him. He cares about the people and we are going to continue to do the work, working with the State Department and our National Security Team … . It’s just going to take time.”

Jean-Pierre touted Biden’s commitment to Haiti saying she has known him for more than a decade, traveling with him to Little Haiti during his presidential campaign and meeting with community leaders.

“I was with him when the earthquake happened in Haiti and how he reacted,” she said, “and how he dealt with a community that was hurting, that was grieving.”

“I’ve seen him with members of the community. He sees the country as, the people there…as friends of the United States.”