A message to the Biden administration: Halt deportations to Haiti now | Opinion

Amid simultaneous humanitarian, security and health crises, Haiti finds itself in a critical state where there is an urgent need for empathy and understanding by the international community.

With a lack of a functioning government and the ever-increasing dominance of gangs in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, the conditions in Haiti are dire, necessitating a compassionate approach that refrains from deporting Haitian refugees scattered globally, as they escape the many hardships faced in their homeland.

Despite this, the Biden administration has taken a hypocritical and confusing stance toward the state of affairs in Haiti. In July of this year, the administration issued a travel advisory, warning U.S. citizens about the perilous situation in the country and explicitly cautioning against travel due to the elevated risk of being kidnapped for ransom or otherwise attacked by members of Haitian criminal gangs..

A few days afterward, the U.S. State Department ordered the evacuation of family members of U.S. government employees and non-emergency personnel from Haiti, underscoring the gravity of the security concerns.

Nonetheless, their actions have demonstrated a stark contrast to their advisories. As recently as Nov. 30, ICE Air Operations carried out the 289th deportation flight under the Biden administration to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

By continuing to deport Haitian refugees, the Biden administration is demonstrating total and utter indifference towards the profound threats the refugees encounter, jeopardizing not only their physical and mental health but also their very lives and fundamental personal liberties.

While it can be acknowledged that the administration has made strides by rolling out beneficial immigration policies for Haitians, including the extension and re-designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) as well as the enactment of a humanitarian parole program in which many Haitian migrants qualify, it contradicts itself by continuing the removal of Haitians to unsafe conditions.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas himself stated that the conditions in Haiti have “compelled the humanitarian relief” that the administration has provided.

In my role at Americans for Immigrant Justice, I oversee our pro bono “Detention Hotline,” serving individuals in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody across the three immigration detention facilities in Florida.

Through this hotline, I regularly field calls from detained Haitian migrants, who share the harrowing experiences they’ve endured that led them to flee their homeland, as well as genuine fears of deportation to the island. Many of them have been subjected to torture. Others have been kidnapped for ransom.

A gentleman I personally spoke to, whom I’ll call Marc, stated that a local politician aligned with the gangs stormed into his house, tortured him and forced him to turn over all of his properties to them.

He told me, “This is currently a common practice in Haiti where the average citizen has no one to protect them.”

The Biden administration must immediately and unequivocally adhere to the imperative November 2022 directive from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) by implementing an immediate moratorium on all deportations to Haiti.

Any failure to act with utmost urgency places Haitian migrants at an intolerable risk of persecution, torture and irreversible harm, constituting a blatant and unacceptable violation of international refugee and human rights law.

Cesar Flores is an immigrants’ rights activist and paralegal at Americans for Immigrant Justice, a South Florida nonprofit organization that provides free legal services to underserved migrants detained in ICE custody throughout the state of Florida.