The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement on the treatment by the President Joseph Biden Administration on Haitian refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Adrian Dominican Sisters join other religious leaders nationally in calling on the Biden Administration to immediately end deportation flights of Haitians seeking refuge at the U.S.-Mexico border. We are deeply distressed by images and reports of the inhumane treatment of Haitians at the border.
In a letter sent to President Biden and his Administration, 177 faith-based organizations and 1,947 faith leaders representing diverse faith traditions write:
Haitian asylum-seekers are not only pursuing what is their legal right. They are also challenging us all to live in full alignment with our religious and spiritual values, which implore us to welcome the stranger and not to turn our back on those in need. Late last month President Biden stated that, “human rights must be at the center of our foreign policy, not the periphery.” Yet the expulsion of Haitian immigrants from the U.S. southern border illustrates just the opposite. We must back up bold statements with actions.
We join in calling for an end to the deportation flights and use of Title 42 to justify those expulsions; a safe resumption of asylum processes; holding border agents accountable for abuses against Haitian migrants; and vigorous pursuit of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) and other remedies to protect Haitian migrants from harm as they seek refuge from environmental, political, and social strife.
The letter notes that “It does not go unnoticed that Black immigrants are often targets of the largest mass expulsions from the U.S. Mass migration from Haiti does not occur simply in response to natural disasters – it is closely tied to harmful, racist U.S. and
Western foreign policies toward Haiti going back to 1804 when the country was founded by formerly enslaved people who fought for and won their freedom. We must address not only our treatment of Haitian migrants, but also our treatment of Haiti and the Haitian people, and begin to listen to their own solutions for their country’s needs.”
We Adrian Dominican Sisters further call on the United States Congress to enact comprehensive and long-overdue immigration reform, which is the only way to provide for rational and humane policies that serve the common good of all.