Commissioner Monestime urges Biden to stop mass deportation of Haiti migrants from U.S.-Mexico border

[MIAMI-DADE] – Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jean Monestime has issued the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s plan to deport Haitians who gathered at the southern border.

“I am extremely troubled by the Biden administration’s announcement on Saturday that it would swiftly begin deporting Haitians who have gathered in the thousands at the southern border in Del Rio, Texas.

I am concerned that these rushed measures may constitute a violation of international law. Especially by deporting those refugees without diligently screening them to determine whether they have a reasonable claim to fear returning to Haiti. I am curious as to the methodology by which the Biden administration has determined that Haiti is stable after the assassination of President Moïse, the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck southwest Haiti on August 14th that left more than 2,200 people dead and an estimated 650,000 people in need of assistance, and the hurricane that immediately followed.

These events in conjunction with increased gang violence in Haiti seem to point to the fact that Haiti is not stable. For all these reasons, we asked that Washington stop the deportation of these freedom seekers and allow them their right to due process.”