A large group of protesters voiced outrage Friday in Boston at the federal government's treatment of Haitians at the U.S. border.
Haitian Americans United lead a group of more than 100 protesters outside the JFK Federal Building in downtown Boston to condemn the Biden administration's deportation of Haitians seeking asylum and the Border Patrol's use of mounted agents to police the migrants who have entered the U.S.
"Whether under the Trump administration or under the Biden administration, this country has said loudly, 'Haitians, we don't want you here,'" Ruthzee Louijeune, a candidate for City Council and organizer of the event, said to the crowd.
A collection of activists, elected officials and political candidates stood outside the city's federal building, some waving the blue and red Haitian flag. Many held signs denouncing the Biden administration's policy of deporting Haitian asylum-seekers through flights back to the island nation and the actions of immigration enforcers in Del Rio, Texas.
"We must continue to apply pressure on the Biden administration to say 'stop the flights' and afford each human being their God-given dignity," Louijeune said.
The Biden administration has been deporting Haitians and other nationals from a settlement in Texas where thousands have gathered.
In a statement, the group said it condemns "these inhumane actions in the strongest terms and calls on the Biden administration to put an immediate stop to human rights abuses at the border, including the use of COVID-19 as a pretext to deny entry to Haitians in need."
“It was particularly hurtful for Haitians to watch those images, as Haiti is still facing so many challenges related to a recent earthquake, the assassination of their president, the severe economic hardships, and the increase of gangs violence in the streets,” Dr. Geralde Gabeau, Executive Director of the Immigrant Family Services Institute, said in the statement.
Ali Noorani, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group based out of Washington, D.C. spoke on GBH’s Boston Public Radio Friday and described the current situation in Del Rio as “staggering,” after witnessing it first-hand earlier this month.
Noorani was also quick to chide Biden’s strategy of using deportation as a tool for handling migrant surges as nothing new.
“It failed during the Obama administration, it failed during the Trump administration, and now what we’re seeing is a deeply inhumane approach to Haitian migrants at the border,” Noorani said.
Looking towards solutions, Noorani called on the president to coordinate a substantial asylum and refugee program in Mexico, and boost flexibility with the nation’s H2-B visa program, which typically serves immigrants in the tourism and service sectors.
“[It’s] one of the only visa programs that the Executive Branch has control over, in terms of numbers,” Noorani explained.
GBH News' Aidan Connelly contributed to this report.
