Washington, DC – People of faith are shocked and horrified by the Biden administration’s escalation of Haitian deportations and expulsions and the inhumane treatment of Haitians by Border Patrol officers at the U.S. southern border. The egregious actions of U.S. Border Patrol officers towards Haitian asylum-seekers reflect our nation’s long history of a broken immigration system built on racism and cruelty. Haitian children and families are at our borders because of multiple, compounding crises, including the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, food insecurity, and natural disasters that wiped out schools and entire neighborhoods.
Grounded in the convictions of their faith traditions to welcome the sojourner and provide refuge for the most vulnerable, members of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition are lifting their voices to urge President Biden and DHS Secretary Mayorkas to immediately stop deportations and expulsions of Haitians, end the Trump-era Title 42 policy, provide humanitarian protections for Haitians, and investigate the cruel mistreatment of Haitians by Border Patrol officers.
“As a pastor, I know all of God’s children deserve respect and a safe home – regardless of where they were born,” stated Rev. Jennifer Butler, CEO of Faith in Public Life. “Our Haitian neighbors must be treated with humanity and allowed to exercise their human right to seek asylum in this country. The horrific videos and images I’ve seen from the border this week are directly at odds with these principles. For years, Faith in Public Life and the diverse faith community have worked in solidarity with the immigrant-led movement for an immigration system that honors dignity and families. Just as we fought deportations during the Obama administration and the Trump administration’s brutal and evil treatment of families at the border, we continue working for immigrant justice today. We call on the Biden administration to hold Border Patrol accountable for abuses, halt all deportations to Haiti, and end the use of Title 42. We must welcome people with dignity, not drive them away with violence and callousness.”
“Seeing the cruelty and violence inflicted on Haitian migrants seeking asylum in Del Rio, Texas, this week is shocking but not new,” said Susan Gunn, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. “Like the time not too long ago when thousands of children were separated from their families by Border Patrol agents, we collectively ask our president, ‘Is this who we are?’ The cruel and reprehensible treatment of Haitians by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents is unacceptable and must stop. People fleeing to the United States from Haiti deserve at least what their country’s officials are calling for from the United States – a humanitarian moratorium on deportation. That would be the bare minimum. President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas need to take swift action to move forward humane and fair solutions to their plight – termination of Title 42 and an offering of humanitarian aid and assistance – so our country can answer another challenging question: ‘Who is my neighbor?’”
Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries director said, “To love our neighbors means to tangibly give protection to those whose lives are at risk, to open our hearts to God’s people whose hearts have been broken again and again by crises, to offer healing for wounds caused by traumas piled up by multiple layers of natural, political, and economic disasters. We join with our Haitian pastors and congregations – who are understandably outraged – to boldly decry multiple daily deportations enacted through cruel Title 42 policies and the tragic treatment of Haitians by CBP officials at the border. Instead, we urge President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to stop compounding traumas of Haitian migrants and be guided by morality to resume legal asylum opportunities, end Title 42 now, and use every vehicle possible to immediately halt deportations and provide protections for Haitian migrants through TPS or DED designations.“
“FAN joins the chorus of faith organizations who decry the inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants in Del Rio, and calls on the Biden administration to stop expulsions of thousands of Haitians to a country ridden with extreme poverty, political upheaval after the assassination of President Moise, and earthquake devastation,” stated Sister Marie Lucey, OSF, Associate Director of Franciscan Action Network. “The administration must also investigate the intolerable actions of Border Patrol agents. Black Lives Matter not only in this country, but also in Haiti, with the thousands of Black Haitian lives seeking refuge from horrific situations. Yes, the increase of migrants present at the border is challenging. But the United States is not a small, helpless country. We can meet the challenges if we have the will.”
“We are outraged at the Biden administration for their racist treatment of Haitians seeking refuge,” stated Peniel Ibe, IIC co-chair and Policy Engagement Coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee. “It is utterly disgraceful yet not surprising to witness the abuses being inflicted by CBP, and the expulsion flights being carried out by the Biden administration, while the people of Haiti face some of the worst crises in their nation’s history. This administration continues to flout promises of dignity while subjecting immigrants to dehumanizing experiences. When will it end? There is no more explicit proof of anti-Black racism in immigration than what’s being done to Haitian migrants today: the delayed TPS designation, ongoing deportations and expulsions, detention of families, and cruel and inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants seeking nothing more than to survive the horrors from which they’ve been forced to flee. Our demands of the U.S. government are not new, and the Biden Administration can no longer proceed like they do not know what it means to welcome with dignity. The Biden Administration must do everything possible to provide humanitarian protections for our Haitian neighbors.”
“The images of U.S. Border Patrol agents rounding up Haitians seeking asylum with whips while thousands more languish under a bridge in the unrelenting Texas heat are horrifying and profoundly disturbing,” said Katie Adams, Domestic Policy Advocate, The United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries. “When confronted with many thousands of Haitians who are seeking a place of refuge from devastations of natural disasters, compounded by political upheaval, the U.S. response is to expedite repatriations. There’s not an ounce of recognition that the calamity many face in Haiti lies directly at the feet of U.S. foreign policy for centuries. It’s been less than 100 years since the brutal occupation of Haiti by the U.S. and many years fewer since the U.S. withdrew their dictatorial hand over the affairs of the island nation. The administration is using the same tactics as the Trump administration – brutal intimidation and treatment as well as a reliance on violence and deprivation as deterrence. We call on the Biden administration to immediately halt deportation flights through a humanitarian moratorium and release Haitians in immigration detention. We must put an end to the mis-use of public health code Title 42 and stop all expulsions so that we can restore access to asylum.”
The Leadership Team of Sisters of Mercy of the Americas said, “The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas join with people across the world in expressing outrage over the shocking treatment of Haitian asylum seekers trying to enter the United States in Del Rio, Texas. These women, children, and men are among our most vulnerable sisters and brothers. They are fleeing a country that has in recent months experienced a political assassination, a massive earthquake and a fierce hurricane. These catastrophic events further burden a nation that has a long history of political upheaval and widespread, grinding poverty, conditions often exacerbated by U.S. policy over the years. We call on the Biden administration to immediately end deportation flights to Haiti and to undertake measures to assure that all Haitian asylum seekers have the right to make their case – a right which is guaranteed under both domestic and international law.”
“Title 42 is an inhumane policy that denies people their legal right to seek asylum,” said Naomi Steinberg, Vice President, Policy & Advocacy, HIAS. “We need no greater reminder of the cruelty of this policy than the horrifying images of Haitian asylum seekers huddled under a bridge and running to avoid being trampled by horses at the U.S. Southern border. The Biden administration must immediately take several key steps, including rescinding Title 42, issuing a new termination memo for the Migrant Protection Protocols and halting deportation flights to Haiti while the country is still reeling from a myriad of disasters. As the United States urges countries neighboring Afghanistan to allow Afghan asylum seekers to enter their territories to seek protection, for us not to do the same at our own border is unconscionable.”
“Respect. All people, regardless of circumstance or color, deserve respect by virtue of their precious humanity. The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd questions the images of Haitians being met with patrols on horseback and awaits an investigation. But the needs and safety of these refugees cannot wait. For, whether they came recently from Haiti or have been displaced in our hemisphere for a decade, we believe they are refugees and must be treated as such. Their country has known nothing but tragedy for decades. We must give them respite,” said Fran Eskin-Royer, Executive Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
“The inhumane treatment of Haitians seeking refuge is horrifying and a continuation of the U.S.’s deep history of anti-Black violence and discrimination,” said Elissa Diaz, IIC co-chair and Policy and Advocacy Manager at Church World Service. “We are shocked by the administration’s ramping up of deportations and expulsions of Haitian asylum seekers and migrants despite Haiti’s unstable, compounding political and environmental conditions. It is vital that the administration immediately end the use of the illegal and immoral Title 42 policy and restore asylum protections, urgently halt all deportation flights and expulsions to Haiti, provide Haitians with the opportunity for humanitarian protection, and hold CBP – an agency ripe with abuse – accountable for its abuses against Haitian migrants. It is well past time for the U.S. to welcome people with dignity and for the Biden administration to honor its commitment to humane and just immigration policy.”
“Justice Revival urges the Biden administration, CBP, and all immigration authorities to show respect for the God-given dignity of these migrant neighbors and treat them humanely. Our faith compels us to advocate for the human rights of all people—including those at our southern border who face turmoil and uncertainty in their homeland of Haiti. We must not allow long-standing challenges in our immigration system or the ever-present specter of anti-Black racism deter us from ensuring those in danger are welcomed to seek asylum, as international law requires.” stated Allyson McKinney Timm, Founder and Executive Director of Justice Revival.
“The events and images we’ve seen regarding Border Patrol’s inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants is atrocious and is a result of a continued culture of cruelty that manifests from the violent and deathly deterrence strategy employed for years by CBP at the U.S. southern border,” said Rev. Noel Andersen, Church World Service Director of Grassroots Organizing. “What’s worse, the Biden administration continues to defend the Trump policy to block asylum through Title 42 expulsions, weaponizing U.S. health code. We can and should end Title 42 expulsions immediately and fully restore access to asylum. It is a moral travesty that this administration is deporting Haitians back to unsafe conditions. All deportations and expulsions to Haiti should end immediately and all Haitians seeking safety should be allowed their due process to seek asylum and other forms of immigration relief.”
The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach team demands immediate response and accountability from the Biden administration on the actions against Haitian refugees seen at the border this week. Columban priest serving on the U.S-Mexico border, expressed, “The utterly racist, violent and inhumane treatment of unarmed, defenseless, and traumatized Haitian refugees by these CBP agents brings shame and disgrace upon our nation. May God forgive us and open our hearts with compassion.” The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach team urges “President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to immediately stop the inhume treatment, investigate and make necessary procedural corrections for CBP to ensure that such acts do not occur again. Additionally, they demand the termination of Title 42 and its use as a tool to expel migrants and refugees without allowing them to present their cases. Migrants and refugees fleeing dangerous, life-threatening conditions, such as people from Haiti, should be allowed to claim asylum in their quest to reach safety.”
“The Biden Administration’s violent approach to migrants traveling through Del Rio in Texas to seek safety is deeply inhumane and goes against international human rights law and our moral commitment to safeguard people’s basic rights,” stated Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, CEO and President, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. “These are people seeking humanitarian protection who have not broken any law. The expulsion of migrants under Title 42 is discriminatory and abusive in practice, as the Department of Homeland Security is targeting asylum seekers who are from Central America, Africa, and Haiti who are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and Latino. We have the resources to approach this in a humane way. In designating temporary protected status for Haitians, the Biden Administration recently stated that “Haiti is grappling with a deteriorating political crisis, violence, and a staggering increase in human rights abuses”. The actions of the administration will multiply human rights abuses many times and must be stopped. People in migration need material support to live and they also need due process in having their cases heard.”
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of over 55 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants. Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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