House Democrats called on the Biden administration to cease all deportations to Haiti after controversial images showed border patrol agents blocking Haitian migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I’m pissed,” Rep. Maxine Waters told reporters Wednesday at a press conference. “I’m unhappy.”
The California Democrat said Haitians should be able “to petition to get into the country.”
“What the hell are we doing here?” Waters said. “What we witnessed here takes us back hundreds of years. What we witnessed was worse than what we witnessed in slavery. Cowboys with their reins again whipping black people, Haitians, into the water, where they’re scrambling and falling down, and all they’re trying to do is escape from violence in their country.”
This comes after the Biden administration announced Saturday it would deport Haitian migrants that entered the United States illegally. The increase of migrants from Haiti followed political unrest and an earthquake in the country.
Earlier this week, controversial images emerged of border patrol agents blocking migrants from entering the U.S., prompting allegations of mistreatment. Those allegations are now under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.
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Rep. Joyce Beatty, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said lawmakers visited with Biden administration officials Wednesday, noting the group was “not bashful” in calling for a full investigation.
“The nation has witnessed over the last 48 hours some of the most horrific things we’ve seen,” the Ohio Democrat said. “This is not acceptable to the Congressional Black Caucus.”
