U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) deported at least 72 people to Haiti on Monday, including a two-month-old baby and 21 other children, in an apparent blatant violation of the Biden government’s orders just to remove suspected terrorists. and convicted of potentially dangerous criminals.
The children were deported to Haiti on Monday on two flights chartered by Ice from Laredo, Texas to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The removals have sent vulnerable children back to Haiti, which is being agitated by major political unrest.
Ice is facing a growing chorus of “dishonest agency” complaints for his apparent refusal to heed the new guidelines set out by Biden and his secretary of internal security, Alejandro Mayorkas. The new administration ordered a 100-day moratorium on all deportations, which was temporarily blocked by a judge in Texas.
However, the judge’s restraining order maintained the new guidelines in force stipulating that only the most serious cases of immigration should be subject to deportation.
Last Friday, the government appeared to have won its attempt to control the ice when deportation flights to Haiti were suspended. But on Monday the immigration agency reaffirmed itself with renewed flights to Port-au-Prince, children and babies on board.
Human rights activists are dismayed at the deportations, which look a lot like the hard-line course set by Donald Trump. “It is unfair for us as a country to continue with the same draconian and cruel policies that were followed by the Trump administration,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the immigration support group Haitian Bridge Alliance.
She added: “I don’t know what’s going on between Ice and the Biden government, but we know what needs to be done: deportations must stop.”
Immigration advisers are particularly concerned about the safety of Haitian children deported on Monday, as they are being returned to a country that is involved in growing political turmoil. Haitian President Jovenel Moïse refuses to heed opposition requests that he resign in a dispute over the end of his term – his detractors say he should have stepped down on February 7.
Moïse has ruled by decree for over a year and recently suppressed public protests. On Sunday, the day his opponents urged him to resign, he announced the arrest of 23 people, including a Supreme Court judge and a police inspector who he said was planning a coup against him.
Two Haitian journalists were reportedly shot with live ammunition fired by the armed forces on Monday in volatile scenes at the Champ de Mars in central Port-au-Prince.
The Biden government generated more controversy by supporting Moïse in the dispute. The United States government has announced that it considers the Haitian president to have another year to go before leaving office.
Jozef said it is not safe to return children to this environment. “I fear for the children who were sent to the middle of this revolt. It is as if a house is burning, and instead of taking people for their own safety, the United States is sending helpless babies to the burning house. “
Ice is continuing deportations under the controversial use of Title 42, a health statute introduced in 1944 that was rarely used until recently. The Trump administration overburdened its application on the pretext that it was needed as a health protection against the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump continued to follow an aggressive approach to Haitian deportations until the final hours of his presidency. The day before he left the White House, a final deportation flight was sent to Haiti with a man who was not a Haitian citizen and had never been to that country.
Biden took office the next day, promising to follow a more human path. So far, however, Ice seems to be defeating that intention.