The United States has suspended deportation flights to Haiti, as a last sign that the Biden government is trying to impose control over the immigration and customs agency, Ice, according to community activists and Congressional sources.
The reported stoppage of Haitian flights came after a night of frantic calls from community activists and Congress officials to the office of the recently confirmed secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. It is unclear how long the suspension will last, and Ice did not respond to a request for comment Friday morning.
Upon taking office, Joe Biden ordered a 100-day moratorium on deportation, while the system and procedures for removing migrants and asylum seekers were subject to review. But on January 26, a Texas judge appointed by Trump issued a suspension of the moratorium that was being implemented, and Ice resumed – and in some cases increased – deportations to Africa, Haiti and Central America.
The deportations defied the guidelines set by Biden’s team, stipulating that removals should focus on suspected terrorists and convicted criminals who posed danger to the public. Since it was confirmed by the Senate, Mayorkas and his team have sought to control the ice, according to Congressional sources.
A flight to Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo was prevented from taking off at the last minute on Thursday so that the deportees could be witnesses in an investigation into allegations of physical abuse by agents of the ice. The cancellation and investigation mark a significant change in policy.
Ice has also increased deportation flights for Haitians detained on the southern border. On Thursday, there were two flights. Most removals were considered evictions under a public health statute of 1944, called Title 42, which had rarely been used before the Trump administration.
Human rights activists argued that the increase in political violence and illegality in Haiti meant that any deportation there would be unsafe.
Calls to the Mayorkas team on Thursday night and Friday morning are believed to have involved Guerline Jozef, co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigrant support group; Patrice Lawrence, co-director of the UndocuBlack Network; and officials in the office of Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.
Jozef declined to confirm the details of the discussions, but said: “I haven’t slept in 96 hours. This is a great victory.
“They were operating two flights a day in a hurry to deport as many people as possible,” she said. “We had babies four or five months old. We were so upset that we decided that, for now, these people would be protected. “
“Unfortunately, when it comes to black immigrants, we are the easiest fruit,” said Lawrence. Changing that, she added, is “about political will and understanding that sometimes you have to take risks”.
In recent days, US officials are also returning Haitians who arrived in Mexico from El Paso, Texas, back to the border city of Ciudad Juárez on foot, in apparent violation of a Trump administration’s agreement with the Mexican government. . When the United States invoked Title 42 as the coronavirus spread, Mexico agreed to accept Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans who had traveled through its territory, but not Haitians.