Photo: RICHARD PIERRIN / Getty Images
In the past nine days, the United States has deported about 4, Haitian migrants without allowing them a hearing before a judge. Some of them set foot in Haiti for the first time in years and arrive in a country affected by an unprecedented political crisis.
The Joe Biden administration sent to thousands of Haitians back to their country using the Title 42, a law enacted under Trump’s mandate that allows immigration authorities to deport a person without having a hearing with a judge with the excuse of the COVID pandemic – 19 , which has provoked multiple criticisms .
Between 19 and the 27 in September Haiti received 37 flights from the United States with approximately 3, 900 Haitians. Among them, 2, 300 are parents and children who had reached the southern border of Texas crossing several Central American countries, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security. Now they are back in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with an uncertain future .
Even, many of them had not lived in Haiti for several years . Some had already settled in countries such as Chile and Brazil and later begin their journey to North America, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The organization also indicated that the 44% of deported Haitians are women and children . IOM Haiti Mission Chief Giuseppe Loprete told CBS News that many of those who arrive do so crying , he has even seen young people very scared to have returned to that country as soon as they get off the plane.
According to Loprete, at the island’s airports the IOM has been distributing articles of personal hygiene, feminine products and $ 100 dollars to cover basic expenses for newcomers. In addition, they have a mental health counselor in both places.
Haiti is the poorest country in America and has recently been hit by the insecurity, natural disasters such as the earthquake in August and a military uprising that assassinated President Jovenel Moise a month earlier, leading to a deep political crisis on the island. That is why experts doubt that that country is in the ideal conditions to receive thousands of deported people.
“The Title Expulsion Policy 42 is actually about immigration policies , and not about health public , it is clear from the number of medical experts who have lined up to condemn it in the strongest terms, ”he also told CBS News Lee Gelernt, member of the American Civil Liberties Union.
At a press conference, Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of National Security , referred to the current immigration policies and admitted that they “ have not achieved unanimity in public opinion “.
Read also :