Migrant families who were returned to Haiti by the US after attempting to enter the country from Mexico are outraged at their treatment and fear returning to a life rife with gang violence.
Following a devastating earthquake that struck the Caribbean nation last month, Washington temporarily halted the deportation of Haitian migrants.
However, over 15,000 Haitians have crossed into the country from Mexico in recent days and have been stranded in Texas for days under a bridge spanning the Rio Grande River, unable to continue their journey.
On Sunday, Washington began returning individuals from this institution, with three flights full of Haitian nationals landing inside the capital Port-au-Prince after departing from Texas hours earlier. “(US President Joe) Biden is fully aware of what is going on; however, he does not care,” one woman said, tears streaming down her cheeks as she described her time at a US migrant detention facility in Texas. Garry Momplaisir, a fellow returnee who spent 5 days at the same facility, stated that those held there were forced to sleep on a concrete floor beneath skinny plastic tarps.
“We were unable to shower. There were toilets, but no place to wash our hands “the 26-year-old added, who was deported alongside with his spouse and their 5-year-old daughter. While they waited for the Haitian government to complete their re-entry paperwork, the various back migrants took advantage of the opportunity to give their children a simple wash.
According to flight manifests, nearly half of the 327 Haitians deported via the United States on Sunday are under the age of five and were born elsewhere. Many of the Haitians had emigrated to Chile and Brazil in 2016 and 2017, prior to arriving at the US-Mexico border.
“My husband worked and I ran a small business in Santiago. We were able to save money, which allowed us to make the entire trip to the United States,” stated a 28-year-old lady who identified herself as Jeanne.
She, her husband, and their three-year-old son Mael, who has a Chilean passport, spent months and $9,000 traveling through South and Central America and Mexico on their way to the United States along a route that human rights organizations do not forget the various most dangerous within the world. “It’s an inexplicable phenomenon. In reality, no one could provide an explanation for the horror,” Jeanne stated.
“If I had acknowledged what I changed into going to stay via, I might have by no means made the trip,” she said, tearing up.
The idea that they might benefit from the extension of the Temporary Protected Status coverage within the United States, which allowed Haitians to temporarily live within the United States regardless of their immigration status, came from their own circle of relatives. However, the rule, which provides protections to migrants whose home countries are dealing with disasters such as natural disasters, was only applied to Haitians who were already inside the United States on July 29. Biden promised a more humane approach to immigration than his predecessor, Donald Trump, but the veteran Democrat has fought to stem the tide of migrants crossing the border since taking office in January.
“If I could have worked, I would never have left (Haiti),” Jeanne, who emigrated in 2016, said. “However, the situation has now deteriorated.”
Jeanne, whose mother is still abroad, will live with her in-laws in a gang-controlled neighborhood on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
“Imagine some guys breaking into the president’s house and killing him in his room,” Jeanne said, referring to Haitian President Jovenel Moise’s assassination in July.
