UNITED STATES: Group urges US President Joe Biden to immediately halt deportation of Haitians

The Jamaica Observer– SAN DIEGO, California (CMC) — With less than two weeks before Donald J Trump is sworn into office as the next president of the United States (US), a Haitian group in the US is urging the incumbent Joe Biden administration to halt the deportation of Haitians.

The Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) has strongly condemned the administration for what it described as the “blatant violation of international and domestic laws through the continued deportation of asylum seekers to the Republic of Haiti”.

HBA said that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been deporting Haitian nationals who are seeking asylum.

“These actions undermine the United States’ long-standing commitment to human rights, due process, and international obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1980 Refugee Act,” said HBA’s Executive Director, Guerline Jozef.

She said the recent wave of deportations, including vulnerable Haitian families fleeing violence, persecution and immense violence, “demonstrates a disturbing disregard for legal protections guaranteed to asylum seekers under US and international law”.

Jozef noted that in Haiti more than 700,000 Haitians have been displaced due to gang violence and more than 4,000 have been murdered.

She said that, for the past several years, the United States Department of State has designated the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country as a “level 4 — do not travel destination due to extreme violence”.

Furthermore, Jozef said Washington has evacuated most of its personnel including US citizens from the Caribbean country, adding that the violence has been so severe that on December 9, 2024, American Airlines announced that it had indefinitely suspended all flights to Haiti.

“Deporting individuals to countries in turmoil, such as Haiti, where political violence, insecurity and humanitarian crises prevail, contravenes the principle non-refoulement, which prohibits returning individuals to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened,” Jozef said.

“It is unconscionable that the Biden-Harris administration, which claims to represent the ‘soul of America,’ is sending Haitian asylum seekers back to Haiti, effectively condemning them to a death sentence. This administration has repeatedly failed to uphold its moral and legal obligations.

“By perpetuating anti-Black immigrant policies, particularly against asylum seekers of African descent, the administration continues to violate both domestic and international laws,” Josef said, adding that Haitian asylum seekers, fleeing unimaginable violence, have a lawful right to seek protection.

“Deporting them back to danger is not only cruel and racist, it is a blatant violation of the law,” she said, urging the United States Congress, in particular, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, and the Haiti Caucus, to “exercise its oversight authority and hold the administration accountable for its failure to adhere to the Refugee Act of 1980, which codifies the United States’ obligations to protect asylum seekers”.

“Haitian Bridge Alliance reaffirms its commitment to advocating for the rights and dignity of all asylum seekers, particularly those of African descent, and calls on all human rights groups and the public to stand against these violations of human rights,” Jozef said.

“Together, we must demand that the United States live up to its promise and legal obligation as a safe haven for those fleeing persecution and violence,” she added.

Last month, Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke joined US lawmakers and immigration advocates in calling on the Biden administration to protect Black immigrant communities during the lame-duck session.

The legislators said they were particularly concerned about how Trump’s proposed immigration policies will impact Black communities and families of mixed status.

Trump, who will be sworn in on January 20, has vowed to conduct mass deportation of immigrants, particularly Haitians. He had made the issue a central theme of his presidential campaign.

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