Haiti Report, September 26, 2024
A compilation of news about Haiti from the past week.
Migration Official shot and killed in Cap-Haitien
A high-ranking official with Haiti’s National Office of Migration was killed Wednesday in the north coastal city of Cap-Haitien. Kerwin Augustin, a regional representative who oversaw Haiti’s northern region, was shot near his house and died at a hospital, according to a reporter from Radio Caraïbes who was at the scene. The radio reported that Augustin was shot by unidentified people aboard a motorcycle. It wasn’t immediately clear why he was killed. No one has been arrested. High-profile killings are unusual in Cap-Haitien, which is relatively safe. https://apnews.com/article/haiti-migration-official-killed-cap-haitien-08dbefc427a0b04351372168e499badd?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share
President of DR warns of drastic measures if Multinational Security Support Mission fails
The president of the Dominican Republic warned Wednesday that his administration would take “drastic measures” to protect the country if a U.N.-backed mission in neighboring Haiti targeting gang violence fails. Luis Abinader did not provide details of what action he might take during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Abinader said the current mission needs to be fully established so that free and transparent elections can be held. Haiti has not held elections since 2016, and a transitional presidential council was ordered to do so by February 2026 “Practically one year from the holding of elections, the conditions are still not in place to do so,” Abinader said as he expressed concern over the future of the mission. “We cannot allow the effort made to date to fail. If that were to happen, Haiti’s collapse would be imminent.”
“More than three years of instability in our neighboring country has put significant pressure on our own security,” Abinader said. “The Dominican state has shouldered a high responsibility in the Haitian crisis, far more than should be expected of it.” Abinader said that last year, 10% of medical appointments involved Haitians and that 147,000 of 200,000 foreign minors in the Dominican education system are Haitian in origin. “The crisis in Haiti warrants particular attention,” he said. “We can’t do it alone.” Under Abinader, Dominican officials last year deported more than 170,000 people believed to be Haitians, according to government data. But the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration has estimated the number is closer to more than 224,000. https://apnews.com/article/un-haiti-dominican-republic-gangs-06ddf6972aee4e9fbe3c64893dc47e5f?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share
Former lawmaker and gang leader sanctioned by US
A former Haitian lawmaker and political party leader whose tight grip on the Artibonite region has helped fueled a climate of gang terror has been sanctioned by the Biden administration, along with the head of a powerful gang he reportedly helped form in the region. Prophane Victor, a former member of Haiti’s Lower House of Deputies, was added to a growing list of Haitian political leaders and gang chietftains on Wednesday “for his role in forming, supporting, and arming gangs that have committed serious human rights abuse in Haiti,” the U.S. Treasury Department said.
The U.S. also imposed sanctions on Luckson Elan, the leader of the Gran Grif gang, “for his involvement in serious human rights abuse related to gang activity in Haiti’s Artibonite department.” Known as General Luckson, Elan is accused of committing murders, kidnappings, rapes and attacks on agricultural property, livestock and transport vehicles. He has also contributed to the displacement of more than 578,000 Haitians who have been forced from their homes in the last three years.
“Victor and Elan, through their influence over or leadership of the gangs in Haiti, have sought to perpetuate the horrific violence and instability,” said Bradley T. Smith., Treasury’s acting under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article293027614.html#storylink=cpy
Guatemala to send 150 military police
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly that his country would send 150 military police officers to help Haiti fight violent gangs. The announcement comes as a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police officers in Haiti struggles with a lack of personnel and funding, prompting the U.S. to propose replacing it with a U.N. peacekeeping mission. Arévalo did not say when the military police would deploy.
More Support Needed for Multinational Security Support Mission
Following are excerpts from the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the Leader-Level Meeting of the Economic and Social Council Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti, in New York: Haiti's situation exemplifies a vicious cycle where decades of development deficits are deepened by ongoing insecurity and political instability. This cycle has severely hampered any progress towards sustainable development, deeply affecting the socioeconomic fabric of the nation. Haiti also has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the Western Hemisphere. These daily horrors must stop.
The Haitian National Police face significant shortages of human, material and financial resources. They need sustained and generous international support to equip and empower them to tackle the escalating gang violence and to protect Haitians from violence. The deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission in June is a welcome development. I salute the commitment of Kenya, Belize and Jamaica, who have currently deployed personnel to the Multinational Security Support.
The UN Trust Fund for the Multinational Security Support has received $67 million in voluntary contributions from Member States, out of a total of $84 million pledged. Still, much more is needed to ensure the Multinational Security Support can fulfill its mandate. This is why the Secretary-General has consistently urged Member States to contribute to the Multinational Security Support.
However, addressing security concerns alone is insufficient. Enhancing educational opportunities, health care access, social protection and economic development is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty and instability and foster a resilient society. Breaking the cycle of violence requires both political solutions and security measures — in parallel.
Progress on the establishment of transitional bodies is urgently to ensure that the elections timeline agreed by Haitian stakeholders and the restoration of democratic institutions by February 2026 does not slip. I call on all political stakeholders in Haiti to reaffirm their commitment to the political accord and roadmap to re-establishing democratic institutions. Finally, continued international support and collaboration are essential to ensure these political milestones are complemented by strong development policies. Today, nearly half of the population needs humanitarian assistance. Despite this dire situation, only one third — 36 per cent — of the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan remains funded.
https://press.un.org/en/2024/dsgsm1938.doc.htm
Kenyan President Ruto visited Haiti
“This mission initially was met with skepticism, criticism and pessimism,” he told the officers, adding that public opinion had come around. “You will do better when more equipment is made available,” he said. Later, at a news conference, Mr. Ruto acknowledged that the effort had been plagued by a shortage of equipment, tools and vehicles. This is also the view of many experts, who say the mission to secure Haiti has faced numerous problems, including a lack of resources. William O’Neill, a top United Nations human rights expert, on Friday called the humanitarian crisis in Haiti “an enduring agony” and said gangs had moved to areas outside the capital. People who live in the capital say the Kenyan officers, who arrived in late June, are rarely seen — an impression confirmed by recent drives around the city in search of them. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/21/world/americas/kenya-haiti-ruto.html?unlocked_article_code=1.M04.agMU.0EsLtsXrSt6o&smid=url-share
“This was not a military mission per se,” recalled the President of the Republic of Kenya, William Ruto, during an official visit to Haiti, Saturday, September 21, 2024. “The initial mandate of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2699 was a security mission in support of the police. It was not a military mission. That is what was agreed. Our job is to bring peace, security and stability by fighting gangs,” William Ruto said at the diplomatic lounge of Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in a joint conference with the chairman of the Transitional Presidential Council, Edgard Leblanc Fils.
However, recent developments show that discussions are underway to reclassify this mission as a UN peacekeeping mission. The President of Kenya, the West African country that is leading the Mission, has expressed support for the idea, while stressing Kenya's flexibility in following UN guidelines. "We have absolutely no problem with MMAS being transformed into a UN peacekeeping mission. If that is what the UN Security Council wants, we are ready to work with them under the new mandate," he said, announcing that an additional 300 Kenyan police officers will be deployed in October and 300 in November to strengthen the mission's human resource capacity.
President Ruto did not fail to praise his country's experience in peacekeeping missions around the world. "We have already participated in 46 different peacekeeping missions. We believe we have the experience to work with the HNP to secure the country," he said. https://lenouvelliste.com/article/250433/le-president-du-kenya-nest-pas-contre-une-transformation-de-la-mmas-en-mission-de-lonu
UN Human Rights Expert: Insecurity having dramatic human rights and humanitarian impact
Excerpts from press conference on September 20, 2024: Approximately one year ago, I stood before you and painted a bleak picture of the human rights situation in Haiti. Today, I am sad to say, that all indicators remain extremely worrying. The first, and most concerning of them, insecurity. Despite an international embargo, arms and ammunition continue to be smuggled into the country, enabling gangs to carry out large-scale attacks and extend their control and influence over new territories.
During my visits to the south of the country, in Les Cayes and Jérémie, I saw that areas previously not impacted by gang violence are now directly impacted, with galloping inflation, lack of basic goods, and flows of internally displaced people further increasing the vulnerability of the population, particularly children and women. The human rights and humanitarian consequences are dramatic. The police lack the logistical and technical capacity to counter the gangs. “The situation borders on the impossible. We have to learn to walk on water,” said a policeman at the Jérémie police station.
The Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), authorized by the UN Security Council in October 2023, has so far deployed less than a quarter of its planned contingent. The equipment it has received is inadequate, and its resources are insufficient. Meanwhile, the population continues to suffer from its human rights being violations. Sexual violence, used as a weapon by gangs to control the population, has drastically increased in recent months. Gangs have increasingly trafficked children, forcibly recruited them into gangs, and often used them to carry out attacks against public institutions and police operations. Youth are losing hope of a better future.
Gradual Return to Normalcy in Port-au-Prince, except for General Hospital
From February 29, 2024, until the end of April, gang warfare pushed everything out of downtown Port-au-Prince, like the powerful backwash of a raging sea. Major institutions and businesses moved into makeshift or poorly maintained spaces, or they simply shut down. Part of the population fled to provincial cities, while others ended up in displaced persons camps. Life had abandoned the city.
On Monday, September 23, 2024, a new picture begins to emerge from Bois Verna to Champ de Mars. Already at the intersection with Duncombe Street, a massive traffic jam stretches all the way to Tifou Crossroads. Small street vendors, roadside garages, a displaced persons camp in the former Ministry of Communication building, and various goods scattered everywhere paint a different scene. “Yes, we can talk about a resumption of activity. Last week, I repaired the air conditioning systems of seven vehicles in one day—something that hasn’t happened since December 2023,” says a technician specializing in car air conditioning in Bois-Verna.
Until July, most people's activities were confined to Tifou Crossroads. By late September 2024, many private and public transport vehicles crossed that zone—where an armored vehicle is almost always present—to reach Champ de Mars. On September 23, 2024, the scene at Champ de Mars included onlookers, a few athletes, passengers passing the time, barbecues, small vendors, and public transport. The people are there. However, businesses and institutions have not yet returned.
However, everything is happening within a limited perimeter, as if by order. From Capois Street to Lafleur Ducheine Street, activities gradually fade, giving way to piles of garbage on the road at Cameau Street. The same can be seen on Magloire Ambroise Street, where the road is coated in a thick layer of white dust; there is no sign of life from the intersection of Oswald Durand and Saint-Honoré Streets to Lycée Toussaint, which is visible from Champ de Mars.
Amid this stark contrast, the largest university hospital remains closed, isolated as if on a deserted island. Closed for seven months now, with hundreds of medical residents left without a place for training, the building of the General Hospital of the State University of Haiti (HUEH) is riddled with bullet holes. The consultation and hospitalization rooms resemble prison cells. A few rodents scurry along the main corridor, as if to signify that a return to normalcy is not happening anytime soon.
US to provide additional aid to Haiti
The United States announced on Wednesday an additional $160 million in aid to assist Haiti, where an international police force has been deployed for several months in an attempt to stabilize the gang-ridden country. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Port-au-Prince in early September, made the announcement during a ministerial meeting on Haiti held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This new aid is intended to support development, the economy, health, and security for the Haitian people, according to a statement from the State Department. This brings the total U.S. aid to Haiti to $1.3 billion since 2021.
https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/250490/united-states-allocates-additional-assistance-for-haiti
At the initiative of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a multilateral meeting was held on Wednesday, September 25, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The President of the Presidential Transition Council (CPT), Edgard Leblanc, and Prime Minister Garry Conille co-chaired the meeting with Secretary Blinken, alongside Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary and Minister of Foreign Affairs. This discussion, involving over thirty countries and regional organizations, aimed to assess Haiti’s security situation and secure further commitments for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission. Many partners announced financial and personnel contributions during the talks.
A source close to the discussions shared with Le Nouvelliste the commitments made during the meeting: "Canada announced its intention to contribute more to the UN-managed trust fund and is conducting studies to continue its training and support programs for the troops deployed on the ground. Belize indicated that its officers, recently arrived in Haiti, are working to facilitate the deployment of its troops. Germany has pledged additional funds for the MSS but did not disclose the amount at this time. France, which had already allocated €3 million, revealed an additional €2 million contribution to the fund. France also announced a €2 million donation to the International Organization of La Francophonie to fund training courses for personnel deployed in Haiti,” the source summarized. "The European Union will allocate between €5 million and €10 million to the MSS. Guatemala plans to deploy 150 police officers, including 16 women, to join the mission in Haiti. Suriname also pledged troops. South Korea will provide funds and equipment by January. Chile is considering supplying planes and boats to monitor Haiti’s coasts. Argentina will deploy 60 police officers on the ground and donate a mobile hospital and a water treatment center," the source continued.
https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/250491/haiti-secures-commitments-for-mss-in-new-york
Remarks of Sec. Antony Blinken, September 25: https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-a-multilateral-meeting-on-building-on-progress-to-restore-security-in-haiti/
Jacmel feels impacts of PAP crisis through influx of displaced people
The gang violence engulfing Haiti’s capital has not reached the port city of Jacmel. But the sun-drenched former tourist hub is nonetheless feeling the effects, as tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the gangs’ terror bunk with family and friends in this sleepy remote corner of Haiti. “Today there are two Haitis,” said Jacmel resident Roc Auxène. “There is one where the dangers are visible, where the people are living it, and the other, where it mostly has a psychological effect on us.” In recent months, more than 60,000 refugees have fled to the southeast, half of them settling in its capital of Jacmel.
Despite Jacmel’s sense of calm compared to Port-au-Prince, there’s fear that the terror strangling the capital and its neighboring Artibonite region will spread. A region of about three million people, the area known as the Great South includes the regional departments of Nippes, Grand’Anse and Southeast, places where rural and coastal towns were already struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and two devastating earthquakes in a span of 11 years. Now largely cut off from the capital, their residents are feeling the mental and economic toll of the gangs’ deadly hold. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article291515080.html#storylink=cpy
Transitional Council struggles to complete the Provisional Electoral Council
The human rights sector still does not have a representative on the Provisional Electoral Council despite the internal election organized within the sector to designate a representative. "In the sector, we chose Gédéon Jean. The problem is not the non-appointment of Mr. Jean, but the premise. The Presidential Transitional Council must face the facts that we made a choice. The Council should not give in to pressure from either the international or local actors to ignore our choice. This is a bad precedent for the holding of elections," Gardy Maisonneuve of the Karl Lévêque Center e said on the Panel Magik show. On Monday, August 26, 2024, the human rights sector appointed Me Gédéon Jean as its representative to the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). According to Camille Occius, executive director of the Citizen Organization for a New Haiti (OCNH), Me Jean was elected by an overwhelming majority in an election held at the Marriott Hotel with 81 votes. His two competitors, Freud Jean and Jaccillon Barthelemy, received 2 and 3 votes respectively. The election took place in a climate of division, as the OCNH decided to continue this process alone after the withdrawal of the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations (POHDH), the other structure chosen by the Presidential Transitional Council to lead this task. https://lenouvelliste.com/article/250446/cep-des-organisations-du-secteur-des-droits-humains-denoncent-lexclusion-de-leur-representant
Ships abandon port in Port-au-Prince
Shipping companies have not sent vessels to the Port of Port-au-Prince in recent days and are threatening to halt their operations due to deteriorating security in the bay, including the kidnapping of two sailors and gunfire directed at the APN facilities by armed gangs hiding in buildings. The Conille government has addressed the issue with the necessary urgency. Three 110-foot ships will soon be deployed to secure operations in the bay. The TPTC, PNH, and FAD’H have begun demolishing buildings used by gangs to shoot at the APN facilities. As smugglers cross the border with the Dominican Republic, there are growing questions about "who benefits from the disruption of operations at the Port of Port-au-Prince," according to various sources on September 18, 2024.
"Four ships that had anchored in the bay have left. The last ship to arrive at the Port of Port-au-Prince was on September 9. Several shipping lines have reported that they are not receiving bookings for container transport. It was already difficult to find ships for bulk transport. This is an extremely challenging situation. If it continues for another ten days, we risk shortages and a loss of revenue for customs," a source told the newspaper.
Reuters Journalists’ Gifts to a Notorious Haiti Gang Leader Spark Controversy
Two Reuters journalists, Adrees Latif and Sarah Kinosian, are facing criticism after a video, filmed on Saturday, shows gifts—including balaclavas, bottles of alcohol, and several packs of cigarettes— offered to Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier. Cherizier himself posted the video, and AyiboPost confirms, through four independent sources familiar with the situation or directly involved, that the journalists indeed brought him these gifts.
After the clip was released, the journalists fled Haiti out of fear for their safety. When contacted for comment, they referred AyiboPost to Reuters’ press office. A spokesperson for the media outlet told AyiboPost : “Reuters has a strict code of conduct to which all of its journalists must adhere. This was an error in judgement. We are investigating and will take appropriate next steps.”
Jimmy Cherizier, nicknamed “Barbecue,” is a former police officer who became one of Haiti’s most influential gang leaders. He heads the criminal federation G9 an Fanmi, a gang coalition accused of atrocities against the Haitian population. Due to his involvement in criminal activities, Cherizier is under international sanctions, including by the United Nations, which accuses him of human rights violations and contributing to the destabilization of the country.
https://ayibopost.com/reuters-journalists-gifts-to-a-notorious-haiti-gang-leader-spark-controversy/
Coast Guard repatriated 124 migrants to Haiti
Coast Guard Cutter Bear’s crew repatriated 124 people to Haiti, Wednesday, following two separate interdictions of irregular, unlawful migration voyages off the coast of Haiti. Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, migrants are processed to determine their identity and are provided food, water, shelter, and basic medical attention before repatriation to their country of origin or return to the country from which they departed. Since Oct. 1, 2023, the Coast Guard has repatriated a total of 631 migrants to Haiti. https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3911051/
Haitian Bridge Alliance files for arrest of Trump and Vance
A Haitian rights organization is seeking the arrest of former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and running mate JD Vance for false statements about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, which has led to a wave of bomb threats and other disruptions in public service in the small Midwestern town. The Haitian Bridge Alliance filed an affidavit Tuesday in the Clark County Municipal Court asking a judge to charge both men with violating seven Ohio laws and to arrest them. Under an Ohio statute, a private citizen with knowledge that someone has committed a crime can ask a court to affirm there is probable cause a crime was committed and issue an arrest warrant.
The affidavit was filed by Guerline Jozef, the co-founder and executive director of the Alliance, a Haitian-rights organization based in San Diego that has been trying to help members of the growing Haitian community in Springfield deal with the fallout of the false claims. In its legal filing, it asks for a judge, and not the prosecutor’s office, to review its request. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article292969879.html#storylink=cpy
The leader of a nonprofit representing the Haitian community invoked a private-citizen right to file charges Tuesday against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, over the chaos and threats experienced by Springfield, Ohio, since Trump first spread false claims about legal immigrants there during a presidential debate. The Haitian Bridge Alliance made the move after inaction by the local prosecutor, said their attorney, Subodh Chandra of the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm. Charges brought by private citizens are rare, but not unheard of, in Ohio. Examples might be a grocery store charging a customer for a bounced check. State law requires a hearing to take place before the affidavit can move forward. As of Tuesday afternoon, none had been scheduled.
Trump and Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, are charged with disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing and complicity. The filing asks the Clark County Municipal Court to affirm that there is probable cause and issue arrest warrants against Trump and Vance. “Their persistence and relentlessness, even in the face of the governor and the mayor saying this is false, that shows intent,” Chandra said. “It’s knowing, willful flouting of criminal law.”
Rep Clay Higgins facing censure for slander
House Democrats attempted Wednesday to quickly censure a Republican congressman who slandered Haitian immigrants in a post he made on social media, but GOP leadership stamped out the effort. Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana described Haitians in racist terms Wednesday afternoon, calling them “wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters” in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Higgins, a far-right lawmaker who has voiced conspiracy theories, deleted the post after Democrats confronted him on the House floor. https://apnews.com/article/house-republicans-haitian-immigrants-87ea8b8d376fba4cc0017eae102299da?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share
Leader of Haitian Community Center in Springfield
“I recently spoke by phone with a Haitian community leader, Viles Dorsainvil, who runs Springfield’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center, a nonprofit that was founded last year. Dorsainvil, who is thirty-eight years old, was born in Haiti and moved to Springfield in 2021. Our conversation, edited for length and clarity, is below. In it, we discuss what life has been like for Haitians in Springfield during the past several weeks, his own journey to America and to Springfield, and how he tries to make sense of why people have demonized his community.” https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/a-haitian-immigrant-in-springfield-experiences-the-best-and-worst-of-america?utm_brand=tny&mbid=social_twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_social-type=owned
Haitian Americans: A Socioeconomic Snapshot
In recent days, there have been false and incendiary claims about Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio. This has led to serious public safety concerns – including threats directed at local schools and businesses, and to national media discussions about the economic impact of these newly arrived immigrants. Some historical and socioeconomic context would be helpful.
Haitians have a long history in the United States. A Haitian military unit, the Chasseurs, fought for US independence during the Revolutionary War and were crucial to the US military victory in Savannah, Georgia in 1779. The arrival of Haitians in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in New Orleans and the lower Mississippi Valley was important in the development and culture of the region. The larger, more recent waves of Haitian immigration have been at least partially the result of French and US policies and repeated interventions that have helped to foster poverty, underdevelopment and political instability in Haiti. Today, many Haitian Americans serve as elected officials at all levels of government.
This factsheet presents a quick look at the socioeconomic status of the 1.2 million people in the United States with Haitian identities. Haitian Americans are a diverse population. Almost two fifths of them were born in the United States. While they can be found in every state, nearly half of them live in Florida. They work in all major industries, with a strong concentration in healthcare. As is fairly common with other immigrant groups, Haitian Americans appear to experience intergenerational upward mobility. US-born Haitian Americans have a higher educational attainment and higher incomes than the Haiti-born population.
https://cepr.net/haitian-americans-a-socioeconomic-snapshot
OPINION/ANALYSIS
Roxane Gay in The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/the-haitian-question
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in New York Times
Edwidge Danticat in The Washington Post
Opinion Haitian Americans again must proclaim our humanity: This country should make no room for hate.
In our middle school in Brooklyn in 1981, there were two dismissal times — one for the other children and one for those of us who were Haitian American. Our teacher of English as a second language, Mr. Dusseck, who was born in Haiti, would keep us in class an extra hour so that while leaving school we would not be beaten up, spat on or called dirty Haitians, boat people and, in the early days of HIV/AIDS, AIDS carriers. Being 12 years old and having just arrived in the United States from Haiti, I didn’t understand why we were being targeted.
I didn’t yet know that in a Feb. 11, 1799, letter to Aaron Burr, as enslaved Haitians were battling the world’s most powerful armies to become the first Black republic, Thomas Jefferson referred to Haitians as “cannibals of the terrible republic,” a smear that — after many previous cycles — recirculated online in March. At 12, I was only vaguely aware that, during the 1915-1934 U.S. occupation of Haiti, Marines were often dismayed, as Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan put it, by “n---ers speaking French,” and that they had imposed forced labor on Haitians, shot at Haitian protesters, and captured and killed resistance leaders and put their corpses on public display. I had not yet read the memoirs written by some of these Marines, books with titles like “Cannibal Cousins,” which inspired movies such as “I Walked With a Zombie” and “White Zombie,” at the center of which are glazy-eyed Haitians salivating over white flesh.
In 1982, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed Haitians — the only group identified by nationality — as being at high risk for AIDS and banned Haitians from donating blood. I watched as my parents’ friends, many of whom worked in food preparation and hospitality and as caretakers, lost their jobs and, like us children, were taunted with accusations of having “dirty blood.” Though word of our stigmatization quickly spread worldwide, in those days there was no social media to amplify unfounded claims second by second, minute by minute, including by politicians and a platform owner with millions of followers. Back then, there were no endless streams of dehumanizing memes and AI-generated images to repeatedly reinforce, however false, whatever people wanted to believe about Haitians. Now, in the volatile mix of a contentious U.S. election with immigration at its center, we again find ourselves as proxies for racist and xenophobic tropes — a twofer, if you will.
In August, even before the claims made by former president Donald Trump while debating Vice President Kamala Harris and before vice-presidential candidate JD Vance began tweeting that Haitians were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, an armed neo-Nazi group marched through that city’s downtown during the Springfield Jazz and Blues Festival. A Haitian business owner stated, during an online town hall held this past weekend by the Haitian Times, that fellow residents on a neighborhood chat were urging Springfield gun owners to pick up their weapons and solve the Haitian problem themselves. After the pet-eating rumors were debunked, Vance still urged “fellow patriots” to “keep the cat memes flowing,” including what he and others purport to be images of cats on a grill in someone’s backyard.
Despite more than two centuries of Haitian vilification, this moment feels particularly dangerous. People have been empowered to attack us with both words and deeds. Americans are being told that Haitians are a threat to their way of life, that they are here to eat their cats, dogs and geese and take over their towns, cities and country. Last year, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) published an op-ed in the Daily Caller titled “Don’t Haiti My Florida,” in which he claimed that a member of the U.S. Coast Guard told him that when Coast Guard vessels approach boats carrying Haitian refugees and asylum seekers, “sometimes the Haitians soak babies in gasoline and threaten to burn them alive if we board.” An egregious libel suggesting child sacrifice. Like both Trump and Vance, Gaetz also claimed that Haitians carry and spread infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
It seems, as François Pierre-Louis, a professor of political science at Queens College in New York, pointed out at the Haitian Times town hall, that Trump and his acolytes are “preparing the terrain” for mass violence. Trump recently declared at a campaign rally in Wisconsin that his proposed mass deportation of millions of immigrants, should he win the election, could become a “bloody story.” This past week, bomb threats have been made against schools, universities, hospitals and government buildings in Springfield. Some Haitian American residents are afraid to leave their homes or send their children to school. All of this is happening as the Haitian diaspora is also deeply saddened by the current situation in Haiti, in part because of a massive influx of U.S.-made high-caliber weapons in the hands of armed groups, causing both internal displacement and migration.
In moments like this, I often find myself, at least initially, at a loss for words. How should I best proclaim our humanity? Should I tout our great art, music and literature, adding, in this case, our wonderful cuisine? Should I highlight our community’s present and past contributions to the United States? I mulled some words by the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister Dominique Dupuy tweeted them last week: “The function, the very serious function of racism, is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. … There will always be one more thing.”
The distraction part has worked. Notice that we are now speaking about people eating cats rather than Vance’s much-condemned and ridiculed “cat ladies” comments. The national media is flooded with stories of a “Haitian invasion” rather than discussion about Trump’s dismal debate performance. This is also a political strategy recycled, as others have pointed out, from an age-old xenophobic playbook: demonizing immigrants.
In the past week, I have been speaking with some Haitian Americans in Springfield whom I know through family ties. Two of the families have lived in Springfield for more than 20 years. One longtime resident, Margery, was at the Sept. 10 City Commission meeting where the parents of Aiden Clark, the 11-year-old boy who was tragically killed in a 2023 bus crash involving a Haitian immigrant driver, were also present. Margery was there to speak in support of the Haitian community, which continues to feel under assault. She wanted to stress that the newly arrived Haitians she interprets for and helps fill out paperwork and find places to live are here legally, unlike what has been claimed, and that they are hard workers who want to invest in Springfield. She was also moved by Nathan and Danielle Clark, Aiden’s parents, who, even as they were grieving their son, called for the hate-spewing to stop.
The day after the commission meeting, Margery saw a new sign on her neighbor’s lawn, and she sent me a picture of it. Though she knows there could be very tough days ahead for the Haitian community, the sign gave her a bit of hope. It read, “Hate has no home here.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/18/haitian-americans-slander-distraction/