Thursday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) called it “inhumane” to deport Haitian migrants back to a country that cannot accept them.
Wilson said, “I am pissed about the deportations back to a country that cannot accept them. That does not have the capacity to absorb them. When you get off the plane in Haiti, and you have been in Chile for 15 years, you look around, and you say, what am I going to eat? Where am I going to stay? What am I going to drink? Where am I going to work? Who will accept me? And we have no answers. This is a crisis.”
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “Do you think as a principle that until Haiti is up and running as a functioning government and society the U.S. has an obligation to take in any Haitian migrant who comes here?”
Wilson said, “I agree. I agree. I’m calling out to the international community and to the faith community that if you want to sponsor a Haitian migrant, please call my office. Because they need help.”
She continued, “There is no need to deport Haitians to Haiti. That is inhumane. They cannot accept them. They have no functioning government. No senate, no parliament, no president, and the prime minister is being investigated for murdering the president. So the government is in tatters. Why would you deport people back to a country that is just trying as hard as they can to stay afloat and take care of the people that are there? They just experienced an earthquake and a major hurricane.”
Wilson added, “Let’s be humane. The United States knows what to do. These are black immigrants. Treat them the same way you treat other immigrants.”
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