According to internal Homeland Security documents obtained by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), Mexico has been granting Haitians 20-day transit documents in order to reach the U.S. border. This policy and lax immigration enforcement in the U.S. has led to a 1,800% increase in Haitians illegally crossing the border in 2016.
The documents showed that the number of Haitians apprehended at the border increased from only 339 in FY15 to 6,121 in FY16. As of last week another 2,600 are waiting in northern Mexico with another 3,500 already in Mexico on their way to the U.S.
“The exponential increase in Haitian migrants showing up at the southern border is truly astonishing, and it shows one of the many consequences of President Obama’s immigration policy, which invites illegal entry and exploitation of the system,” said Joe Kasper, chief of staff for Mr. Hunter.
“Mexico doesn’t want them, but it’s entirely content with putting migrants — in this case Haitians — right on America’s doorstep,” he said.
Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies, said, “We could shut this down in a hurry simply by telling asylum seekers that they need to apply in one of the eight or nine safe countries that they passed through on the way. Otherwise, we are just asking to see another 160,000 or more applicants next year.”
After the 2010 earthquake Haiti was granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) allowing many Haitians to live and work in the U.S. without being deported. The TPS status expires on July 22, 2017.
However, on Sept. 21 Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, said that agents would resume rapid deportations of Haitians caught at the border.
Read more on this story at The Washington Times.
