Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas spoke with McClatchy as part of 'Beyond the Border,' a special series on immigration in the United States, releasing April 9.
Haitians trying to flee the gang violence ravaging the Caribbean country should avoid traveling by sea to the United States and will be returned to Haiti if they are intercepted, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told McClatchy and the Miami Herald. in an interview on Thursday.
Mayorkas said Haitians who attempted the dangerous journey have already been repatriated in recent weeks by the U.S. Coast Guard, which intercepted 65 Haitians near Great Inagua in the Bahamas on March 12.
Haiti's prime minister stepped aside last month when much of the country's capital, Port-au-Prince, fell under gang control.
The Secretary of Homeland Security also said that the Biden administration is not considering a renewal or expansion of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, which has allowed Haitian citizens currently residing in the United States to live and work here due to conditions unsafe in their country of origin.
“We are very focused on the situation in Haiti,” Mayorkas said. “Our message to Haitians is very clear: do not go to sea. We have seen too many tragedies when people endanger their lives, the lives of their loved ones. “We have legal, safe and orderly pathways for people who qualify for help in the United States to get here.”
More than 151,000 Haitians have been legally admitted to the United States under a two-year humanitarian parole program that the Biden administration launched in January 2023 for citizens of Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. As the deadline approaches, the administration has not said what will happen to these people's immigration status once the deadline runs out.
Activists and some lawmakers have been pushing to protect not only those already in the program, but also other Haitian migrants who have arrived in the United States since the last 18-month extension of TPS was announced. The current extension and designation extends until August 3.
“We have no plans at this time to redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status,” he continued. “Let me make it clear that when we intercept individuals from Haiti at sea we return them to Haiti as soon as possible. In fact, we have done so in recent weeks and will continue to do so. “We continue to enforce the law.”
Haiti is experiencing an unprecedented level of violence, where an alliance of armed gangs has vandalized hospitals, pharmacies, schools and police stations. The consortium controls the road to the country's main airport and seaport, which has caused shortages of food and medicine.
The United Nations says that at least 5.5 million Haitians currently need humanitarian assistance, which has become an increasingly arduous task given continuing shootings and unrest.
“The crisis extends far beyond the confines of Port-au-Prince, affecting communities across Haiti and leaving more than 360,000 people displaced across the country, many of them multiple times,” the International Office for Migration declared Wednesday. from the ONU. “For the nearly 100,000 internally displaced people living in camps, conditions are deplorable, amplifying the depth of suffering. Their needs include access to food, health care, water, psychological support and hygienic facilities.”
Haitians continue to be deported from countries in the region despite these conditions, according to the agency.
Last month, more than 13,000 Haitians were forcibly returned by neighboring countries and coast guards, according to data from the U.N. International Organization for Migration. While the overwhelming majority of repatriations occurred in the Dominican Republic, Haitians were also deported from the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas.
Some were intercepted directly by the countries, while others were picked up by the US Coast Guard, which patrols the Straits of Florida, the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and the US territory of Puerto Rico, and the waters off the coast. northwest Haiti.