NEW: The scale and speed of the Biden's current effort to expel Haitian asylum seekers en masse is without comparison in recent history.
The utter absence of infrastructure and resources to support those being removed cannot be overstated. theintercept.com/2021/09/21/bid…
The utter absence of infrastructure and resources to support those being removed cannot be overstated. theintercept.com/2021/09/21/bid…
Haitian officials say they simply cannot manage the influx — the most removals the country has received from the US in past seven years was 1,000 individuals.
Right now, the Border Patrol is "working around the clock" to expel more than 12,000 people in a week.
Right now, the Border Patrol is "working around the clock" to expel more than 12,000 people in a week.
To expedite the process, DHS is not testing the people being expelled for Covid-19 — this despite the fact that a basis for the mass expulsions is a public health order.
As of last week, less than one percent of Haiti's 11.5 million residents were vaccinated.
As of last week, less than one percent of Haiti's 11.5 million residents were vaccinated.
In the past couple months alone, Haiti has seen its president assassinated by Colombian mercenaries and weathered a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
In May, DHS Secretary Mayorkas extended temporary protected status to Haitians in the US on the grounds that the country is “currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources.”
Last month, DHS extended the protection to Haitians who made it to US soil before July 29, noting that the country was still "grappling with a deteriorating political crisis, violence, and a staggering increase in human rights abuses."
federalregister.gov/documents/2021…
federalregister.gov/documents/2021…
Those conditions continue to persist, raising profound concerns among longtime advocates. Nicole Phillips, legal director w/ @HaitianBridge said, "I can't think of a worse way of handling the situation."
She added: "This is anti-Black racism in our immigration policy. Period."
She added: "This is anti-Black racism in our immigration policy. Period."
Thread and video of expelled Haitians arriving in Port-au-Prince
https://twitter.com/ErlendOfte/status/1440459348833017865
Late breaking AP story suggests the administration might now be walking back its expel-them-all approach, opting instead for expulsions + a large though unspecified number of releases into the US + ramped up Mexican enforcement south of the border apnews.com/article/immigr… 
This latest development follows days of intense criticism in Washington directed at the White House and DHS over its handling of the Del Rio situation.
Though to be clear, AP reports that multiple daily expulsion flights to Haiti, both by the US and Mexico, are continuing.
Though to be clear, AP reports that multiple daily expulsion flights to Haiti, both by the US and Mexico, are continuing.
In a just released letter, @BennieGThompson and @RepGregoryMeeks request that DHS and State present "the documented assessments that informed the Administration’s determination that Haiti is equipped to welcome and resettle deportees" and halt expulsions
homeland.house.gov/imo/media/doc/…
homeland.house.gov/imo/media/doc/…
"Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my policy recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own."
https://twitter.com/JakobJohnston/status/1440992851035365376
Some context: the special envoy, Daniel Foote, was appointed after the assassination of President Moïse. He came up as a top counternarcotics official in Colombia and served as deputy chief of mission in Port-au-Prince from 2011 to 2012.
See here: theintercept.com/2021/07/26/col…
See here: theintercept.com/2021/07/26/col…
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