In response to the Biden administration’s decision to resume deportation and expulsion flights to Haiti and photos of U.S. Border Patrol agents using whips to round up Haitian asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, the following statement is attributable to Cynthia Pompa, asylum program officer at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR):
“It is appalling. Border Patrol agents on horseback are cruelly whipping and rounding up Haitian asylum seekers to push them back to Mexico or fly them back to Haiti. This is not the humane immigration system we were promised by the Biden administration. What we are seeing today is a visual representation of the long-term systemic abuse and cruelty of U.S. border enforcement agencies. For years, Physicians for Human Rights has documented how U.S. border agents harm the health and lives of migrants seeking protection. The U.S. government must rescind the Title 42 expulsion order, stop deportation flights to Haiti, and take significant steps to ensure the right to seek asylum at the U.S. border.”
PHR has long documented the human rights violations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. “Zero Protection: How U.S. Border Enforcement Harms Migrant Safety and Health” details harmful practices arising from border enforcement activities and how clinicians can take action.
A PHR investigation published in July, “Neither Safety nor Health: How Title 42 Expulsions Harm Health and Violate Rights,” documented how Title 42 border expulsions fuel family separations at the border and a mental health crisis.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here.