US Steps Up Deportation Flights to Haiti
In the week leading up to the election, the Trump Administration has scaled up deportation flights to Haiti. Many were deported while they asylum cases were pending using a 1944 public health law, thereby sidestepping legal obligations to give asylum seekers a fair hearing. The 1944 law allows for emergency measures to prevent the introduction of communicable diseases. The reality is that the United States is the country most affected by COVID-19 and is placing Haiti at risk by deporting people who may be infected. Haiti's political instability and poor health care system leave it under-prepared to respond to a significant increase in cases. COVID-19 continues to be a tool for the Trump Administration to block asylum to the maximum extent possible - even for those already here. The full article by the Guaridan's Julian Borger follows.
