Photo: Getty Images
Filippo Grandi, the United Nation's top refugee official, has warned America about its treatment of Haitian migrants at the southern border. Grandi has encouraged the Biden Administration to scale back health-related immigration restrictions such as Title 42 that were implemented in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As he explained, Title 42 denies "most people arriving at the southwest U.S. land border any opportunity to request asylum.”
“The summary, mass expulsions of individuals currently underway under the Title 42 authority, without screening for protection needs, is inconsistent with international norms and may constitute refoulement,” Grandi said in a statement obtained by Reuters.
Grandi's comments come less than 48 hours after millions of Americans witnessed images of horse-riding border patrol agents chasing Haitian migrants while using long "reins" in the process. When asked about the White House's response to these images, Press Secretary Jen Psaki characterized the photos as "horrific."
"What I saw depicted, those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were was horrible," Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters on Tuesday, according to The Hill.
"I fully support what is happening right now, which is a thorough investigation into what is going on there. But human beings should never be treated that way, and I’m deeply troubled about it."
Despite the Vice President being "deeply troubled" by the actions of border patrol officers, the Biden administration has continued to deport migrants back to a country that has been ravaged by natural disasters and political strife.
“If Biden continues with these deportations, he’s no better than Trump,” Haitian migrant Johnson Bordes told The Washington Post after being deported.
"This is an injustice. I don’t even know where we are going to sleep tonight.”
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