On February 8, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported at least 72 people to Haiti, among them a two-month-old baby and 21 other children. These children were sent into harms way without any consideration of Haiti’s political unrest.
What happened to the100-day moratorium on deportations called by Biden?
These deportations were carried out under a 77-year-old public health statute, called Title 42, first invoked by the Trump administration after the start of the coronavirus outbreak. As a result officials said the moratorium alone would not have stopped the February 8 Title 42 deportations. An to compound the problem according to a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security this policy will continue to be applied to new arrivals at the border.
“It is unconscionable for us as a country to continue with the same draconian, cruel policies that were pursued by the Trump administration,” said Guerline Jozef, the executive director of the immigration support group the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
She added: “I don’t know what’s going on between ICE and the Biden administration, but we know what needs to be done: the deportations must stop.”
