Following the news of the planned mass deportation of Haitian migrants from the Texas border, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn issued the following statement:
(Brooklyn, NY) -- “I am requesting that the President halt the planned expulsion of the tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants from the Texas Bridge. America is a land built by immigrant families, and I firmly believe these asylum-seekers should be afforded the opportunity to start anew, free of the risks of political persecution in a nation facing significant instability.
I ask the Biden administration to act with compassion towards the Haitian families at our border. These people are trying to attain the same American Dream my parents, and so many other immigrants, struggled to achieve decades ago.
Just a few weeks ago, the earthquake in Haiti caused thousands of fatalities, on the heels of the assassination of Haiti’s leader where a number of Haitian American Leaders penned a letter to President Biden on stopping deportation. So why are our request being ignored?
It is simply unethical to force these families, who are desperately clinging to their dreams, to go back to a country where they will risk losing not only the hope of a better life for their children, but their lives.
Today's leaders must differentiate their immigration policy from the hateful and xenophobic one embraced by the previous administration and their allies. We must protect the vulnerable and hold high the promise of freedom that Lady Liberty holds."
