Senator Marco Rubio of Florida cautioned President Biden against taking in large numbers of refugees from Haiti, stating that “elected authorities’ duty is to defend their citizens first, not anyone else’s.”
Rubio wants to assist the people of Haiti. Congress approved the Haitian Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act in 2010 in response to the catastrophic earthquake that struck the country. However, the act expires in 2025 and does not help rebuild Haiti’s local economy. “It is in our national interest to support Haiti, as it endures unprecedented suffering as a result of political corruption, natural disasters, and pervasive criminality,” Rubio said when he proposed the Act last year. The HELP Act is an essential bipartisan bill that will expand trade benefits and strengthen the nation’s largest industry.
“Floridians and the rest of the American people will not tolerate your White House again opening the floodgates for many countless, unvetted foreign nationals to come into our country, endanger our national security and creating untold public safety threats for our communities,” Rubio and fellow Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott wrote to President Biden in mid-March. Numerous reports of gangs breaking into jails in Haiti and freeing thousands of dangerous prisoners force us to take this threat seriously.
In his piece on Haitians’ overwhelming exodus, Rubio mentioned that the Biden administration is pressuring the Dominican Republic to take in three million of their country’s displaced citizens.
“This is unfair to the D.R., which is a developing country with limited resources and is currently carrying heavy loads for Haiti,” Rubio wrote. “The fact that almost one-third of all births in the D.R. are currently to Haitian residents should dispel any reservations that may exist.”
He continued, saying, “But encouraging unlawful mass migration is equally unfair to our country,” in reference to the potential for large-scale migration from Haiti to the United States. The Biden Administration does not seem to understand that a well-established smuggling network already exists to make it easier for many Haitians to travel to Puerto Rico. Illegal immigrants who enter American territory are likely to travel to the mainland United States because their fellow Americans in Puerto Rico face their own financial hardships.
Rubio went on, “Like most Americans, I realize that what is happening in Haiti is sad and tragic.” “There are many reasons for concern, including the collapse of law and order, the eviction of over 300,000 individuals, and the requirement for aid on the part of around five million people. This is the reason I agree with Kenya’s proposal to head an international peacekeeping force after Haiti has installed a temporary government. Furthermore, I have proposed legislation to protect Haitian manufacturers’ access to U.S. trade benefits, which may provide a lifeline to legitimate Haitian enterprises during this difficult time.
But like the majority of Americans, I also understand that neither the United States nor the Democratic Republic of the Congo should see widespread illegal immigration. Mass illegal migration is detrimental to the country from which the migrants are leaving, he said. “No one remains to protect their country from tyrants and criminals—nor to care for the weak who stay there—when all physically fit, law-abiding citizens depart.” Fundamentally speaking, though, I am unable to support widespread illegal immigration because elected leaders have a duty to defend their constituents first and foremost, not those of others.
