Haiti

Lawful Assembly Episode 18: Fear of Freedom

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This is an interview with Rev. Craig B. Mousin, an Adjunct Faculty member of the DePaul University College of Law and the Grace School of Applied Diplomacy.  The podcast contends that United States discrimination against Haitians over the last two centuries has created a moral obligation to Haiti and its residents.  Most recently, efforts to swiftly deport Haitians, contrary to the Refugee Act’s non-return requirement, reveals how efforts to restrict Haitian asylum-seekers over the last forty years has contributed to the continual denigration of asylum protections under the Refuge Act of 1980.

ACTION STEP:  The United Church of Christ offers you a way to promptly inform your representatives that deportations to Haiti must cease at:  https://p2a.co/MnT2c4m

A petition to stop Haitian deportations:

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-demand-that-the-biden-administration-halt-all-deportations-to-haiti?source=2021EndDeportationstoHaiti_NIJC&referrer=group-national-immigrant-justice-center&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=daa3e06b-7fb9-41d5-90db-1f488e4d0344&sl_tc=button

For additional information on the history of United States responses to Haiti and Haitian asylum seekers, Azadeh Erfani of  the National Immigrant Justice Center’s writes:  “President Biden, It is Past Time to Protect Haitian Asylum Seekers, at:  https://immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/president-biden-it-past-time-protect-haitian-asylum-seekers

An American Immigration Council report on Haiti can be found at: Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, “Del Rio Migrant Camp Shows How Biden Administration Is Not Living Up to Its Promises” at:

https://immigrationimpact.com/2021/09/21/haitian-migrant-camp-biden-promises/#.YVSS8S1h1fE

See also, Raymond Joseph, former envoy of Haiti to Washington, “Haiti Cries Out: Where is President Biden, as My Countrymen Swelter Under a Bridge in Texas,” https://www.nysun.com/foreign/haiti-cries-out-where-is-president-biden-as-my/91660/

Former Justice Harry A. Blackmun’s quote from his dissent is at page 208 in Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, 509 U.S. 155, (1993).  His other quotes in the podcast are from his law review article, “The Supreme Court and the Law of Nations,” 104 Yale L.J. 39, 44 (1994). (https://www.jstor.org/stable/796983).

Professor Peniel Joseph’s quote can be found at: “This Is the Story of Haiti That Matters Most,” (August 20, 2021) at: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/20/opinions/haiti-earthquake-flooding-assassination-revolution-joseph/index.html

Professor Annette Gordon-Reed’s quote can be found at:  “We Owe Haiti A Debt We Can’t Repay,” (July 21, 2021) at:  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/opinion/haiti-us-history.html

Our Solidarity with Haiti

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Dear members of the DePaul Community,

While most of humanity continues to be focused on seeking solutions for problems due to the pandemic, the Haitian people are immersed in yet another unsustainable crisis.

The situation of the Haitian people today is truly overwhelming given a generalized situation of violence, widespread anarchy, the assassination of its President a month ago, the horror of widespread kidnappings, food insecurity, and more.  And today, the Haitian people are submerged in yet another natural disaster due to the magnitude-7.2 earthquake that has killed 1,300 people (a death toll expected to increase) and left thousands injured or homeless and seeking basic support with very little infrastructure to serve them.

We cannot be indifferent to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti.  I call for all of us at DePaul to be aware of and to recognize the pain and suffering of our neighbors there, and to extend our care to faculty, staff and students from Haiti.  We must not turn from the desperate situation of the Haitian people due to the many issues they are facing.  This is a reality that impacts all Haitians, but particularly affects Haiti’s poorest people, whose dignity is constantly assailed from every direction.

I invite you to engage in chains of solidarity and to generously contribute to mitigate in any way possible the pain of the Haitian people. For those seeking a place to donate, I recommend donations be contributed to a fund for Haiti at Catholic Relief Services.  CRS has a strong presence on-the-ground in Haiti and many local partners there who should be able to direct assistance to those most in need.

For those who don’t know, members of the worldwide Vincentian Family are also active in Haiti. I have communicated with multiple Family members who are glad to hear of our concern but have related that they do not have a campaign available for direct contributions to their work.  If that changes, I will let you know.  They do ask for prayers for Haiti and told me that, among others impacted, there is a group of Vincentian Youth who have had two members die and probably all of whom have lost their homes and belongings.

Please be mindful.  Please be generous.  Please attend to members of our DePaul community from Haiti or with strong ties there. And please support Haiti as you can. There are many areas of the world in need of support and contributions, but Haiti is certainly the nation most in need in our hemisphere.

Thank you,

Fr. Guillermo Campuzano, CM
Vice President of Mission and Ministry