MIAMI – Congresswoman Wilson is seeking to include a provision in any future COVID-19 response package that would bar the Department of Homeland Security from deporting Haitian nationals.
In March, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said that it would delay most deportations and that public safety was its top priority, but on Tuesday, April 7, ICE deported 61 migrants to Haiti, despite calls to delay the flight.
Congresswoman Wilson led a letter signed by 18 other members of Congress, urging acting DHS Secretary Chad F. Wolf to reverse this decision.
On Friday, April 10, the Florida lawmaker sought support from her colleagues for another letter calling on House leadership to include the provision halting Haiti deportations in the next legislative package addressing the novel coronavirus.
Continuing to deport migrants to Haiti would have implications for the U.S. because Haiti’s health-care system is so dramatically compromised, and the island nation does not have the infrastructure in place to care for a large number of coronavirus patients.
If an outbreak occurs in Haiti, the United States may be forced to financially intercede and care for the people of Haiti because a pandemic would be too overwhelming for the nation to conquer.
Enforcing deportation orders also puts ICE agents at risk. The agency has confirmed that at least 60 of its employees have tested positive for the virus.
“ICE needs to allow these detainees to shelter in place. That’s what President Trump promised. Deportations create a very dangerous environment for the airports, the Caribbean, and ICE itself. This is another mechanism to spread the virus across the world,” said Congresswoman Wilson.
So far, the Florida lawmaker has been joined by 23 other members of Congress in urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to adopt language suspending deportations to Haiti.
The letter, which is slated to be sent on April 13, has been co-signed by Representatives Frederica S. Wilson (Fl-24), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-9), Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), Ted Deutch (FL-22), Eliot L. Engel (NY-16), Lois Frankel (FL-21), Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-4), Joseph P. Kennedy, III (MA-4), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Andy Levin (MI-9), James P. McGovern (MA-2), Gregory W. Meeks (NY-5), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Albio Sires (NJ-8), Darren Soto (FL-9), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-2), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-7), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), and Maxine Waters (CA-43).
