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27 members of Congress urge halt of deportations to Haiti during pandemic

Sun Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel / Anthony Man / April 14, 2020

A group of U.S. House members wants to stop the Trump administration from deporting Haitian nationals during the coronavirus outbreak.

To achieve that goal, they want a deportation ban included in any future coronavirus legislation, though the 27 members of Congress stopped short of threatening to oppose coronavirus relief efforts.

In March, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said it would delay most deportations, according to a statement from U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. Last week, the U.S. deported 61 people to Haiti, Reuters reported.

The president directed officials at U.S. consulates to stop processing U.S. visas for people from countries that do not accept repatriated migrants.

"Continuing deportations amid a public health crisis that has ensnared most of the world is thoughtless and cruel. Having traveled to Haiti and observed its health-care infrastructure firsthand, I fear that a widespread outbreak would devastate the island nation," Wilson said in a statement. "Deporting migrants after months spent detained in close quarters needlessly puts millions of Haitians at risk."

Wilson is a Miami-Dade County Democrat whose district includes the Little Haiti community plus part of South Broward.

Wilson was the leader of the effort to push House leaders to stop deportations. The letter to House leadership was signed by nine of the 13 Democrats in Florida's congressional delegation: Wilson, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Alcee L. Hastings, Donna E. Shalala and Debbie Wasserman Schultz from South Florida and Kathy Castor, Val Demings and Darren Soto from Central Florida.

The Census Bureau has estimated that more than 400,000 people of Haitian ancestry live in Florida, with more than seven of 10 in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.

It's an important voting bloc in Florida, where statewide elections are often decided by about 1 percentage point. Voters of Haitian ancestry lean Democrat, but it's not a monolithic vote; an estimated 20% voted for Trump in 2016.