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Amid an ongoing natural disaster and political strife, the Biden Administration continues to deport Haitian asylum seekers. In a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the Biden Administration confirmed that nearly 2,000 migrants had been sent back to Haiti since September 19.
"On Thursday, September 23, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security conducted two repatriation flights from Del Rio, Texas to Port-au-Prince, Haiti and three repatriation flights from Del Rio, Texas to Cap Haitien, Haiti with a total of 548 Haitian nationals on board. These flights will continue on a regular basis," a DHS statement obtained by USA Today reads.
"Since Sunday, September 19, 17 repatriation flights have left the United States and 1,949 Haitian nationals have been returned to Haiti."
For weeks, lawmakers and policy experts have demanded that the Biden administration stop sending migrants back to Haiti as the nation recovers from a natural disaster and deals with political violence. The situation took a turn for the worse when images of horseback riding U.S. border patrol agents using long "reins" to confront Haitian nationals emerged online.
"What we witnessed takes us back hundreds of years," Rep. Maxine Waters told reporters on Wednesday, according to FOX News.
"What we witnessed was worse than what we witnessed in slavery...cowboys with their reins, again, whipping black people."
Just yesterday, U.S. special envoy for Haiti, Daniel Foote, resigned from his position due to the "inhumane" treatment of migrants at the southern border.
"With deep disappointment and apologies to those seeking crucial changes, I resign from my position as Special Envoy for Haiti, effective immediately," Foote wrote in his resignation letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Despite these calls for reform, the Biden administration remains committed to sending more migrants back to Haiti in the coming weeks.
"3,901 Haitian nationals have been moved from the Del Rio camp to CBP custody or to other sectors of the United States border to either be expelled via Title 42 if possible or placed into removal proceedings," the DHS continued in its statement to USA Today.
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