A group of Florida lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to allow the Navy to patrol the waters off the U.S. coast in anticipation of a “mass migration” from Haiti.
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, along with Republicans Anna Paulina Luna and Daniel Webster, pushed for “an anticipated mass migration of Haitian aliens en route to the United States” through Florida, which would then authorize the Navy to “implement maritime interdictions feeding and repatriation of Haitians.”
Under U.S. code, when the president declares a national emergency, the Navy can help the Coast Guard return migrants to their home countries before they reach U.S. territory.
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, along with Republicans Anna Paulina Luna and Daniel Webster, pushed for “an anticipated mass migration of Haitian aliens en route to the United States” through Florida, which would then authorize the Navy to “implement maritime interdictions feeding and repatriation of Haitians
“What are we doing to prepare for that surge and ensure that these people are not released on parole to the United States, as the administration has done with people at the southern border, but instead are repatriated to the Port of Port au Prince? ?’ Gaetz asked during an Armed Services hearing last week.
Rebecca Zimmerman, the assistant secretary of defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, said the U.S. is not yet seeing “large numbers” of Haitians trying to cross from the coast to Florida, but “we are alert to that possibility.”
“I think you’re right: the driving conditions in Haiti could put pressure on more people,” she continued.
Gaetz said he has spoken with the Coast Guard and they need more Navy ships to support them.
Haiti is about 600 miles southeast of Miami, and boats carrying immigrants fleeing the country are common in Florida.
Ongoing violence in Haiti, where gangs control about 80 percent of the country’s capital Port-au-Prince, has left about half the population, some 5.5 million people, in urgent need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN .
People detained for deportation to Haiti stand in a police truck on the border bridge connecting Dajabon, Dominican Republic, with Haiti, Monday, March 18, 2024
People detained for deportation to Haiti stand in a police truck on the border bridge connecting Dajabon, Dominican Republic, with Haiti, Monday, March 18, 2024
The head of the United Nations children’s agency said the situation in Haiti is the “worst in decades” as millions face famine amid the wave of looting and violence.
Seven bodies were reportedly found Monday in Petion Ville in Haiti’s Ouest department following an overnight shooting.
UNICEF said one of its containers containing “essential items for the survival of mothers, newborns and children, including ventilators and related equipment” was looted on Saturday in the capital’s main port of Port-au-Prince.
The anxiety has further deprived some of the country’s most vulnerable of basic services, “at a critical time when children need them most,” the agency said.
That same day, Guatemala’s foreign ministry said the offices of its honorary consul in Haiti had been looted, but did not provide details of damage or theft or say who was responsible.
A body lies on the left side of a taxi and another on the ground behind it, after an overnight shooting in the Petion Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 18, 2024
‘It looks like a scene from Mad Max. Honestly, that’s what it seems like.
“Gangs, vigilantes responding to the gangs,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell CBS News.
‘Many people there suffer from severe hunger and malnutrition and we cannot provide them with enough help.’
Gangs have rampaged through Haiti in recent weeks, attacking key institutions and closing the main international airport. The gangs, led by a man nicknamed ‘Barbeque’, have come to power without clear leadership in the country and the resignation of the prime minister.
About 1.4 million Haitians are on the brink of famine, and more than 4 million people need food assistance, sometimes eating just once a day or eating nothing at all, aid groups said.
“Haiti is facing prolonged and massive hunger,” Jean-Martin Bauer, Haiti director of the United Nations World Food Program, told the Associated Press.
‘We have supplies for weeks. I say weeks, not months, I’m terrified of that.’
The country’s top gang leader, Jimmy ‘Barbeque’ Cherizier, has threatened the families of political leaders who would support a planned transition council to replace outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
A man throws trash next to the body of a murdered person in Port-au-Prince on Friday
Looting and widespread violence have further deprived some of the country’s most vulnerable of basic services
Gangs have rampaged through Haiti in recent weeks, attacking key institutions and closing the main international airport
Haiti Libre reported that the Haitian National Police invaded the territory of Barbeque on Friday as part of a strategy to unblock roads, confiscate firearms and facilitate the free movement of citizens.
More counter-terrorism US Marines have been sent to Haiti to strengthen security at the US embassy, 24 hours after the country’s prime minister announced his resignation amid mounting chaos.
The elite Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST) was sent in as the chaos continued and after top gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier called for a ‘bloody revolution’.
Ariel Henry resigned as prime minister on Tuesday as the Caribbean country was on the brink of civil war and bodies littered the streets.