The State Department has issued an alert urging U.S. citizens in Haiti to leave the small nation as soon as possible, warning that the U.S. embassy there “is unlikely to be able to assist U.S. citizens in Haiti with departure if commercial options become unavailable.” The State Department had already issued its highest alert instructing Americans to not travel to Haiti, citing “kidnapping, crime, and COVID-19.”
The U.S. has been more than clear that it’s simply too dangerous for Americans to travel to Haiti and that any Americans there must leave now. Yet deportation flights of Haitians under the anti-asylum Title 42 policy have continued, including a flight on Tuesday from Louisiana to Port Au-Prince, advocates said.
The previous administration implemented the unsound Title 42 policy at the onset of the pandemic under the guise of public health. In reality, that administration used the pandemic as an excuse to quickly deport asylum-seekers in violation of their rights. PBS NewsHour correspondent Yamiche Alcindor addressed the continued deportation of Haitians under the policy, including children, during an appearance on José Díaz-Balart Reports.
“How are you deporting people to a country that you’re now saying is insecure, that Americans shouldn’t go to, and that Americans should leave?” Alcindor asked. “The Biden administration’s answer has been, well Haitians that are being deported back, they’re being deported back with different security issues, they say. They face different ... fears.”
“Based on my reporting, though, when someone is deported back to Haiti, they’re facing the same insecurity that Americans living there are facing,” she continued. “They’re facing a 200% spike in kidnappings. They’re facing a country that has a gas shortage, that has food shortage, where people don’t feel comfortable going outside to get a piece of bread or a gallon of milk.”
“The big criticism of the Biden administration is ‘You should stop deporting people to Haiti.’ But of course, the Biden administration’s response is, ‘We have to continue to deal with Title 42, we have to continue to deport people that we find need to be deported.’”
But let’s be clear: the Biden administration had a choice when it came to continuing Title 42 when it came into power, and its choice was to keep it in place by appealing a court ruling that said asylum-seeking families shouldn’t be deported under the policy. Congressional testimony recently made public has also confirmed that Title 42 was never about public health. As advocates have long said, it was about keeping out vulnerable people.
Among the damning documents released by a House committee is a transcript of testimony by Anne Schuchat, who until earlier this year served as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) principal deputy director. Her testimony confirmed reporting last year that the policy was implemented despite scientists saying there was no evidence it was necessary. “Do you believe that that order was necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the U.S. at that time, at this specific time, March 20, 2020?” she was asked.
“No,” Schuchat replied.
Her testimony also confirmed the previous administration’s pressure on another CDC official, Dr. Martin Cetron. The Associated Press had reported that when Cetron refused to sign Title 42, the White House skipped over him and pressured the agency’s now-former director.
“Dr. Cetron takes the regulatory authority for quarantine very seriously and weighs—you know, the typical issue is, the least restrictive means possible to protect public health is when you exert a quarantine order versus other measures. And the bulk of the evidence at that time did not support this policy proposal,” Schuchat said.
She added that “his view was that the facts on the ground didn’t call for this from a public health reason.”
The U.S. has been more than clear that it’s simply too dangerous for Americans to travel to Haiti and that any Americans there must leave now. Yet deportation flights of Haitians under the anti-asylum Title 42 policy have continued, including a flight on Tuesday from Louisiana to Port Au-Prince, advocates said.
The previous administration implemented the unsound Title 42 policy at the onset of the pandemic under the guise of public health. In reality, that administration used the pandemic as an excuse to quickly deport asylum-seekers in violation of their rights. PBS NewsHour correspondent Yamiche Alcindor addressed the continued deportation of Haitians under the policy, including children, during an appearance on José Díaz-Balart Reports.
“How are you deporting people to a country that you’re now saying is insecure, that Americans shouldn’t go to, and that Americans should leave?” Alcindor asked. “The Biden administration’s answer has been, well Haitians that are being deported back, they’re being deported back with different security issues, they say. They face different ... fears.”
“Based on my reporting, though, when someone is deported back to Haiti, they’re facing the same insecurity that Americans living there are facing,” she continued. “They’re facing a 200% spike in kidnappings. They’re facing a country that has a gas shortage, that has food shortage, where people don’t feel comfortable going outside to get a piece of bread or a gallon of milk.”
“The big criticism of the Biden administration is ‘You should stop deporting people to Haiti.’ But of course, the Biden administration’s response is, ‘We have to continue to deal with Title 42, we have to continue to deport people that we find need to be deported.’”
But let’s be clear: the Biden administration had a choice when it came to continuing Title 42 when it came into power, and its choice was to keep it in place by appealing a court ruling that said asylum-seeking families shouldn’t be deported under the policy. Congressional testimony recently made public has also confirmed that Title 42 was never about public health. As advocates have long said, it was about keeping out vulnerable people.
Among the damning documents released by a House committee is a transcript of testimony by Anne Schuchat, who until earlier this year served as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) principal deputy director. Her testimony confirmed reporting last year that the policy was implemented despite scientists saying there was no evidence it was necessary. “Do you believe that that order was necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the U.S. at that time, at this specific time, March 20, 2020?” she was asked.
“No,” Schuchat replied.
Her testimony also confirmed the previous administration’s pressure on another CDC official, Dr. Martin Cetron. The Associated Press had reported that when Cetron refused to sign Title 42, the White House skipped over him and pressured the agency’s now-former director.
“Dr. Cetron takes the regulatory authority for quarantine very seriously and weighs—you know, the typical issue is, the least restrictive means possible to protect public health is when you exert a quarantine order versus other measures. And the bulk of the evidence at that time did not support this policy proposal,” Schuchat said.
She added that “his view was that the facts on the ground didn’t call for this from a public health reason.”