Fr. Michael A. Evans, S.J., National Director, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, co-authored this piece.
In early December, less than a year after the devastating earthquake that sent Haiti reeling into a downward spiral of death, destruction, displacement, and cholera, the Department of Homeland Security quietly announced to a small group of legal service providers and Haitian Americans that it planned to resume deportations of some Haitian nationals residing in the United States.
Human rights and religious organizations warned the U.S. government in face-to-face meetings, letters and phone calls that this new policy was dangerous and immoral, that deporting Haitians to Haiti at this time would place strain on an already over-stressed system. We warned that Haiti did not have the capacity to guarantee the safety of those deported and that Haitians who are deported are placed in holding cells with no access to food and clean water until they are fetched by a family member. These facilities had already proven to be rife with cholera. The U.S. government assured advocates and experts that a reintegration plan for those deported would be in place and that the Haitian government had given them guarantees that the human rights and human dignity of deportees would be respected.
Despite the pleas of American Jewish World Service and Jesuit Refugee Service/USA to reconsider the timing of the deportations, the Department of Homeland Security proceeded with its plan, rounding up about 300 Haitians up in Florida, New York, and other areas of the country, and shipping many of them to Louisiana to be prepped for deportation. Wildrick Guerrier, a 34-year-old man who had served an 18-month prison term before he was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody was among those sent to Louisiana, away from his family, his legal service provider, and his fiancée. Mr. Guerrier was reportedly frightened to return to country he had not set foot in since he was a teenager, a country inhabited by more than a million people displaced by the earthquake, in the grips of a cholera epidemic, and where he had no family connections.
On January 20th Mr. Guerrier and 26 other Haitian nationals were returned to Haiti. He was indeed placed in a Haitian jail where he was given access to no food or water. A week after his deportation, after suffering cholera-like symptoms including extreme vomiting and uncontrollable diarrhea, Mr. Guerrier died....
Fr. Michael A. Evans, S.J., National Director, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, co-authored this piece.
ReplyDeleteIn early December, less than a year after the devastating earthquake that sent Haiti reeling into a downward spiral of death, destruction, displacement, and cholera, the Department of Homeland Security quietly announced to a small group of legal service providers and Haitian Americans that it planned to resume deportations of some Haitian nationals residing in the United States.
Human rights and religious organizations warned the U.S. government in face-to-face meetings, letters and phone calls that this new policy was dangerous and immoral, that deporting Haitians to Haiti at this time would place strain on an already over-stressed system. We warned that Haiti did not have the capacity to guarantee the safety of those deported and that Haitians who are deported are placed in holding cells with no access to food and clean water until they are fetched by a family member. These facilities had already proven to be rife with cholera. The U.S. government assured advocates and experts that a reintegration plan for those deported would be in place and that the Haitian government had given them guarantees that the human rights and human dignity of deportees would be respected.
Despite the pleas of American Jewish World Service and Jesuit Refugee Service/USA to reconsider the timing of the deportations, the Department of Homeland Security proceeded with its plan, rounding up about 300 Haitians up in Florida, New York, and other areas of the country, and shipping many of them to Louisiana to be prepped for deportation. Wildrick Guerrier, a 34-year-old man who had served an 18-month prison term before he was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody was among those sent to Louisiana, away from his family, his legal service provider, and his fiancée. Mr. Guerrier was reportedly frightened to return to country he had not set foot in since he was a teenager, a country inhabited by more than a million people displaced by the earthquake, in the grips of a cholera epidemic, and where he had no family connections.
On January 20th Mr. Guerrier and 26 other Haitian nationals were returned to Haiti. He was indeed placed in a Haitian jail where he was given access to no food or water. A week after his deportation, after suffering cholera-like symptoms including extreme vomiting and uncontrollable diarrhea, Mr. Guerrier died....