FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2020
Contact: Victoria Villamil
Phone: 773-503-9944
Email: vvillamil@fanm.org
FANM Urged the Trump Administration to put a Moratorium on all Deportations To Haiti and Other Nations to Stop the Spread of COVID-19
On April 7th, 2020, at least 68 Haitian nationals were deported to Port-au-Prince. One of them was exposed to coronavirus at two different facilities. Family Action Network Movement (FANM) and other community leaders urged The Trump Administration to put a moratorium on deportations to Haiti and all other nations in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Marleine Bastien, Executive Director of Family Action Network Movement (FANM) stated, “If the US government wants to contain the spread of the coronavirus, it will immediately order a halt on all deportations. We have a moral obligation to defeat this virus for the people of Haiti and of the world. Deporting immigrants at this time of crisis is inexplicable and runs contrary to the orders and mandates our own local and state lawmakers have put in place. This must stop now.”
Institute for Justice and Democracy Haiti (IJDH) Policy Coordinator Steve Forester exclaimed, “Recklessly spreading coronavirus, one would think, should be a crime with maximum penalties attached. But that’s what DHS is doing by continuing deportations to Haiti and many other countries as if the coronavirus didn’t exist! All “normal” deportations, like yesterday’s of 68 persons to Haiti, of persons who have been detained in facilities which government officials have acknowledged are breeding grounds for infectious diseases, from a public health perspective, is a catastrophe endangering hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in foreign lands.”
FANM Board Member Jack Lieberman stated, “ It just shows the callous disregard for human life here. It also shows a lack of proper management and a lack of proper utilization of the government's resources.”
Maria Rodriguez, Executive Director of Florida Immigrant Coalition, stated, “These detentions and deportations continue to put the globe at risk. These detainees and deportees have families or non profits that can support and house them. We join on the call to stop the detention and the deportation of the detainees.”
Vanessa Joseph, Immigration Attorney at Catholic Charities Legal Services stated, “ As the daughter of Haitian immigrants and an immigration attorney, I find it incomprehensible that the US government would be so irresponsible as to deport anyone, especially during a time such as this. Haiti has been in and remains in a humanitarian crisis and that has only worsened in recent months, even before this pandemic took a stronghold. Exposing Haiti to more individuals who have had exposure to COVID-19 increases the risk that many more will not only be exposed to the virus but will ensure a certain death to many people who are unable to access any form of healthcare in Haiti.”
Family Action Network Movement (FANM) formerly known as Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Inc)/ Haitian Women of Miami is a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to the social, economic, financial and political empowerment of low to moderate-income families.
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