11/12/2021

A Perilous Crossing

The dangers facing Haitian refugees

In the twilight, a Haitian migrant crosses the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila state, Mexico, into the United States. He is among the tens of thousands of Haitians who have migrated through Central and South America since the 2010 earthquake and tsunami killed more than 250,000 people. This year alone, the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse by armed gangs, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, and Tropical Storm Grace have left Haiti in political and environmental turmoil.

News footage, including graphic images of US Border Patrol agents on horseback whipping asylum seekers, indicates the severity of the human rights crisis at the border as well as the US’ failed immigration policy.

Senior State Department official Harold Koh and U.S. special envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote recently resigned because of the Biden administration’s continuation of former President Donald Trump’s deportation policy. In his letter of resignation, Foote stated that he refused “to be associated with the United States’ inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees.”

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