Panama government warns thousands more migrants coming for border
Samuel Chamberlain
Haitian migrants are seen crossing the jungle of the Darien Gap in Colombia heading to Panama. AFP via Getty Images
Panama’s foreign minister warned Wednesday that up to 60,000 migrants, many of them of Haitian origin, are making their way through the Central American country toward the US-Mexico border — threatening the Biden administration with a fresh illegal immigration crisis.
Erika Mouynes claimed in an interview with Axios that her government had notified the White House of the most recent migration surge, which culminated in more than 15,000 people gathering under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas and waiting to be picked up by border authorities earlier this month.
“We’ve engaged with every single authority that we can think of, that we can come across, to say, ‘Please, let’s pay attention to this,'” said Mouynes, who called on Washington to coordinate with other countries in the region on a plan to deal with the issue.
“We all have a role to play in this issue, and the regional approach is the correct approach,” she said. “It is impossible for Panama to solve it on its own.”
Panama’s foreign minister warned that up to 60,000 migrants could be headed toward the US-Mexico border.AFP via Getty Images
Mouynes met Monday and Tuesday in Washington with members of Congress as well as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. One lawmaker, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), told Fox News Wednesday that Mouynes had described how her country has seen “over 80,000 Haitian immigrants, Haitian evacuees, crossing from South America, through Panama, headed to the United States [this year].”
“This is all happening because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris refuse to enforce the law,” Cruz added, “and have essentially said anyone who wants to come to America, they’re gonna resettle them, they’re gonna give them benefits, they’re gonna let ’em stay, and it’s resulting in a public health crisis and a humanitarian crisis.”
Erika Mouynes claimed her government had notified the White House of the most recent migration surge. AFP via Getty Images
Axios, quoting estimates from the Panamanian government, reported that nearly 27,000 migrants are expected to pass through the hazardous jungles of the Darien Gap region in this month alone — more than made the trip in all of 2019.
“Let’s recognize that they all are heading toward the US,” Mouynes said.
Most of the migrants left Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake for economic opportunity in South America. As jobs there have dried up, their hopes have focused on the US.
Mouynes told Axios that Panama has started a migrant quota system in partnership with its two immediate neighbors, Columbia and Costa Rica. However, she added, other South American countries need to set up similar systems in order to keep migration numbers manageable.
Mayorkas revealed earlier this week that 13,000 Haitian migrants from the most recent surge will have their cases heard by an immigration judge — 10,000 of whom have been released into the United States.
Sen. Ted Cruz said that Mouynes claimed Panama has seen over 80,000 Haitian immigrants crossing from South America, through Panama, headed to the United States.REUTERS
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), another 8,000 had returned “voluntarily” to Mexico, while an additional 4,000 were being processed for expulsion or removal by DHS. Nearly 4,000 more were sent back to Haiti on a series of deportation flights.
President Biden famously handed off responsibility for the border issue to Vice President Kamala Harris, who embarked on a much-touted trip to Mexico and Guatemala in early June in an effort to address the “root causes” of illegal immigration.
However, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), pronounced last week that Harris’ tour had done nothing to fix the problem.
IMMIGRATION / Fanm News and Update
Family Action Network Movement's Executive Director, Marleine Bastien and Florida Immigrant Coalition Co-Executive Director, Tessa Painson joined a special delegation of Haitian leaders/stakeholders invited by the Department of Homeland Security to assess the conditions of Haitian refugees seeking asylum in Del Rio, Texas.
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Security Council Session on the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH)
4 October 2021
Statement of Special Representative Helen La Lime
Mr. President, distinguished members of the Council,
- It is an honor to once more provide you with an update on the situation in Haiti, which is currently undergoing one of the most fraught periods of its recent history. Already reeling from the ghastly assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on 7 July, the country was struck on 14 August by a devastating earthquake which affected over 800,000 people in its southwestern peninsula. These two events have led long awaited national and local elections to be further postponed. Meanwhile, insecurity has become rampant in Port-au-Prince, as kidnappings are once again on the rise and gangs have extended their control over large swaths of the city. In addition, thousands of migrants who had sought better living conditions in neighboring countries are being repatriated. For most observers, it is difficult to envision an end to the country’s seemingly never-ending crises which have pushed the resilience of the Haitian people to the brink.
Distinguished members,
- Since assuming office on 20 July, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has spared no effort to reach a political agreement with the various factions of the Haitian polity. Adopting an inclusive and consensual approach, he has sought to create minimal conditions for the holding of legislative, local and presidential elections, and thus steer a country in the midst of a profound governance crisis towards the regular functioning of its democratic institutions. In a positive step, actors from across the political spectrum and civil society organizations, including former opposition and ruling coalition groups, adhered to such an agreement on 11 September. The pact captures key demands expressed by national stakeholders, such as the formation of a new Provisional Electoral Council and the inclusion of the diaspora. It also foresees the holding of elections no later than the second half of 2022.
- One can only hope that Haitian political and civil society leaders will continue to work together to findcommon ground around a common project that will contribute to fostering a more appeased climate in which decisive action can be taken and essential reforms enacted
- To be sure, many points of convergence exist. For instance, there is a large national consensus on the need to reform the 1987 Haitian constitution, a charter widely viewed as contributing to the recurrent political and institutional instability. The draft Constitution submitted by the Independent Consultative Committee to the Prime Minister on 8 September should provide a basis for further constructive and inclusive debate on ways to reshape the Haitian political system.
- Likewise, the reestablishment of security, especially in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, must be prioritized by Haitian authorities. Since June, a significant and sudden increase in gang violence has caused the displacement of some 19,000 people from the communes of Cité-Soleil, Croix-des-Bouquets, Delmas and the Port-au-Prince neighbourhood of Martissant. The control that gangs exercise around strategic entry and exit points of the capital has had a detrimental impact on Haiti’s economy and the movement of people and goods. Applying the recommendations of a team of UN police experts deployed from May to July following a request from the late President, the Haitian National Police has sought to improve the effectiveness of its anti-gang operations by adopting a more balanced approach to prevention and repression, relying on increased police presence in problematic areas, and improving its intelligence-gathering mechanisms.
- Yet, an over-stretched and under resourced force alone cannot stem this worrisome rise in crime. Haiti’s main security institution will not be able to achieve sustainable results unless its capacities are strengthened, and government services are brought back to the impoverished neighborhoods that serve as fertile ground for armed gangs. Therefore, in addition to sustaining its efforts to reform the police with the support of the United Nations and bilateral partners, the Government must implement a more holistic approach to addressing gang violence, within the framework of the national strategy for community violence reduction which was developed with UN support and endorsed on 5 July.
Mr. President,
- Haitian citizens have unanimously condemned President Moïse’s gruesome death and called for a thorough investigation into his assassination – one which follows due process and the rule of law. For the shroud of impunity which has long enveloped Haiti to begin lifting, and for justice to prevail in this as well as several emblematic cases, judicial actors must be allowed to work independently, in an appeased environment, with reassurance that they will be protected while undertaking the delicate task of identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators.
- The Haitian judicial system also continues to contend with the protracted challenge of pre-trial detention which affects 82 percent of the country’s prison inmates, among the highest such rates in the world. National authorities must redouble their efforts to urgently address this issue, in close consultation with all judicial stakeholders. Furthermore, it is imperative that the process to review the new penal and criminal procedural codes continue as, once promulgated, they will be critical to combatting pre-trial detention as well as harmonizing Haitian law with regional and international human right standards.
Distinguished members of the Council,
- The 14 August earthquake has added a new layer of complexity to an already dire humanitarian situation. In the face of the most recent catastrophe to befall the country, the United Nations reiterates its support to the Government and people of Haiti, and salutes the active national leadership and coordination of the post-disaster response and recovery.
- Even as relief operations are still ongoing, early recovery and the restoration of livelihoods must be strongly supported in the areas affected by the earthquake. It is a race against time to ensure that children can return to school, that farmers do not miss the next planting season, and that people currently living in spontaneous displacement camps return to their homes as quickly as possible. We must ensure that Haiti does not become a forgotten crisis. I urge all Member States to contribute to the $187.3 million Flash Appeal launched on 25 August to respond to the needs of those affected by the earthquake as well as the $235.6 million 2021-2022 Humanitarian Response Plan, both of which are currently only about one third funded. Moreover, in the long term, the reconstruction process will need the full engagement of the Government of Haiti as well as the international community, to ensure a greener, resilient, and more inclusive recovery.
- Similarly, while the United Nations and partners have worked closely with the Government of Haiti to ensure it responds effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic, greater cooperation will be required to sustain and scale up testing capabilities as well as to promote public health and social measures. With only some 60,000 vaccines administered to date and less than one per cent of the country’s eligible population inoculated, increasing vaccine uptake in the coming weeks and months will prove vital to protecting Haiti and its most vulnerable populations from COVID-19 and the threat of more transmissible variants.
Mr. President,
- The situation in which Haiti currently finds itself can only be characterized as bleak. Nevertheless, there exist encouraging signs that only reinforce my conviction that, through urgent, determined and concerted action, Haiti’s citizens can address the deep structural challenges, as well as the governance and development deficits, which feed their country’s instability, insecurity, and ever-growing humanitarian needs. Along with the United Nations, the entire international community must continue to steadfastly stand alongside the Haitian people and their government as they endeavor to forge a path towards stability, security and sustainable development.
Thank you.
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What I saw in the border patrol images: African American/Haitian shared history
BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE OCT. 01, 2021
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
Growing up in Elizabeth, NJ, I and the handful of Haitian kids who lived there would sometimes get into schoolyard spats with our African American classmates. In the heat of the moment, the African Americans kids would call us “Frenchy” because of our surnames and accents. We would shoot back, “I’m not French, I’m Haitian.”
It would go on like this for a while, with the typical harmless things kids do. Then, we came to realize that these taunts were out of envy and nothing more. “Say something in French,” they would ask. We would say something banal, and we all would laugh.
When I first saw African Americans, I actually thought they were Haitians. In my innocence, I thought every Black person was Haitian. I remember saying to my mom that I didn’t know there were so many “Haitians” in New York.
At that time, most of the Haitians who had migrated to the U.S were middle class, but we lived in mostly poor Black communities — meaning that language was not our only division. So Haitian parents warned their children not to play or associate with “Ti Americain noir,” Creole for “little Black Americans,” whom they saw as criminals in waiting. That was the mainstream propaganda and trope, and Haitian parents fell for it like other immigrants have for generations before and since.
I’m glad to say that my mom was not such a parent. Liberal to the core, she welcomed my friends. Derrick Taylor, who passed away recently, was one of my best friends. A funny, irreverent, great guy. Derrick loved lambi, our conch dish, and my mom would oblige him with a heaping plate when he came over.
What most Haitian parents didn’t understand was that the reason they lived in the poor communities is that a system placed them there, whether or not they had money. It’s called structural and systemic racism.
After I graduated from Elizabeth High School, I should have taken a gap year before going to college, but of course, such a concept was foreign to me. Instead, I went to Rutgers, then Kean College. I didn’t do much academically, but that year was not all lost. I learned about the Civil Rights Movement and discovered Malcom X and Martin Luther King. I immersed myself in Black American life through books.
I felt buoyed by that history, like I had found my intellectual compass. I settled my choice down to three Historically Black Colleges and Universities down — Howard, North Carolina A&T and Morehouse. One day I ran into Derrick while he was home from school and told him of my plan.
“Homeboy, you have to come to FAMU,” he said referring to The Florida A&M University. “That’s where I am, you have to.”
I followed him there and that experience changed my life. Our shared cultures and challenges are more intertwined than either of us had realized.
A viral view of anti-Blackness
This reality has come to the fore with the latest crisis facing Haitians. We all saw it: U.S. Customs & Border Patrol agents treating Haitians seeking asylum the way that slave catchers of yore chased down African American runaways fleeing plantations. We all watched the agents, high on their horses, use the reins as whips to make sure these Haitian people, these Black people, didn’t come here.
It took a minute to sink in, even as the images went viral, but soon the Congressional Black Caucus, civil rights leaders and Black journalists pushed back hard. They united around Haitians because they didn’t see us as “Haitians,” but as the lost cousins that were dropped off at an earlier port during that peculiar institution we call chattel slavery.
It is about time that we Haitians come to the realization that we are Black Americans, just with a different accent. Heck, there are millions of us in Louisiana. All you have to do is watch an LSU game on any given Saturday and you will see Black people with French surnames.
New Orleans is the only place in America where people don’t wonder about my name and accent. I’m one of them.
Back at FAMU, I had met some students from Louisiana and one had invited me there and his mom told me about Marie Laveau, the famous Vodou priestess, and other luminaries that came from Haiti. When I ventured into the deep swamp towns and hamlets, I heard a Creole akin to that in Cap Haitien, a different accent.
At FAMU, after the freshman year, few people lived on campus. We lived in apartment buildings where the majority of the dwellers attended the school and these places became de facto dorms.
We would congregate at each other’ places, watch BET, and talk about the problems facing Blacks in America and how we would solve them when we became professionals. They would pepper me with questions about Haiti and its revolution.
At that time, the sheen had been wiped off the Haiti of my youth. In the early 1980’s, a wave of Haitian refugees coming by boat was top of the news in South Florida and nationally. I would try my best to explain the reality in Haiti, although back then I didn’t follow Haiti all that much. I reverted to the history for contextual background.
I’m still in touch with a cadre of these classmates to this day and we are on a chat group where we share the latest news of who has passed away and the trials and tribulations of our children. That is how I found out that Derrick had died.
Joint histories coming to light
I was one of a handful of Haitian students in the “Yard” as FAMU’s campus was known and was popular partly because I was a reporter at the FAMUAN, the school’s newspaper, eventually becoming its editor in chief.
These days, things are different. I was invited to speak by the Dean of the School of Journalism, where I was pleasantly surprised to see that Haitians were no longer a small minority of the student body. There is a Haitian Student Association in Tallahassee that includes students who attend FAMU, Florida State and Tallahassee Community College.
I spoke about my time at FAMU and campus life in the early 1980’s. The students
were mostly from South Florida, presumably children of the refugees who were arriving while I was in school.
They were fully integrated on campus life. They were part of the frat scene and were part of the larger Black family. Instead of being from Louisiana, their parents came from Haiti, and they had embraced the culture.
During our conversation, I asked them why they felt they started a Haitian club, considering the campus was majority Black and there was a Caribbean student club dating before when I was in school. I was told that while they identified with all of them, there was something special about being Haitian because of the country’s history. They wanted to preserve it and celebrate it.
I flashed a smile because I knew exactly what they meant. It’s time for this generation, who has embraced their African American and Caribbean cousins, moored solidly in their “Haitianity,” to coin a word, to rise. They, more than anybody, understand this moment. It is their moment to show the world where Black unity can take us.
The time for petty division is over. Haitians, Black Americans, Caribbean Americans and now continental Africans must realize that they are not competitors. We are collaborators facing an ever-rising tide of white nationalism in the world bent on pushing us back and holding us down.
If we can gain that unity, we can make the Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) coalition into a broader movement for social change, along with like-minded whites who support our cause.