Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick urged the creation of a mulitnational force to wrest control of Haiti from gangs and the creation of transitional government, using funding but not troops from the U.S.
The only Haitian American member of Congress, Cherfilus-McCormick also called on the embattled prime minister, Ariel Henry, to step down.
“The situation in Haiti has escalated to a critical point…. The gangs are taking over,” Cherfilus-McCormick said Monday, describing “heavy gang violence shooting, killing — the people are living in terror right now.”
It has forced many in Haiti to consider awful choices: attempting a perilous and uncertain exit from the country, via land to the Dominican Republic or via sea to the U.S. or elsewhere.
“The only option you have is going to be either try to get to the border or try to get to the water,” she said. “If you choose to stay in Haiti, then you’re literally looking at whether it is going to be your day. That’s the thought process for every Haitian who’s living in Haiti.
“If you’re living in Haiti, you’re really wondering: Do I die here or do I risk it all to protect my family?”
The congresswoman has a unique, and personal, perspective. The Broward-Palm Beach County Democrat represents many of the communities where Haitian Americans live in the two counties, and hears from her constituents about what is happening to their family members.
Besides serving as a co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Cherfilus-McCormick also has family members in the country — living in constant fear, she said.
“It’s heartbreaking for me. You know, I have family still in Haiti, and it breaks my heart every day because you’re just waiting for that phone call. You hear from family members: ‘There’s heavy shooting.’ ‘I have guns under my pillow.’ ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen to us.’ ‘We can’t leave or we don’t want to leave,’” Cherfilus-McCormick said.
“Every minute, every day” of delay at a solution is a day “that we are actively losing lives.”
Her message to the Haitian people. “Hold on.” She said several efforts currently underway could provide some help, but there is no assurance of immediate action.
Cherfilus-McCormick outlined her policy prescriptions at a Fort Lauderdale news conference before convening a conference on Haiti. The roundtable discussion featured leaders in the Haitian diaspora and groups with stakes in the situation there. The discussion was not open for media coverage.
Attacks by powerful gangs on key government targets began Feb. 29 across Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince. Gunmen have burned police stations, closed the main international airports and raided the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
In the past week, she said, the gang violence escalated after the three largest gangs joined forces. In recent days, two government ministries have been taken over, she said, the airports have been closed and non-essential personnel are being evacuated from the U.S. embassy and those of other nations.
The issue has implications beyond the humanitarian crisis and the horror it presents for Haitian Americans in South Florida, Cherfilus-McCormick said. “It’s really of importance to everyone in the United States.”
“This is a large security risk for the United States,” Cherfilus-McCormick said, pointing to a Haitian gang leader “who has visited Russia and stays in constant communication with Russia.”
“The more we allow the gang members to take over the country and be successful in their plans, the bigger security risk that we have to our country,” she said.
It’s also affecting deportations of Haitians who are not legally in the U.S.
Cherfilus-McCormick said the State Department “confirmed to us and told us that there will not be any deportations,” something that is at least a temporary relief to those who don’t want to see people sent back to such conditions and may be troublesome to those who want to see deportations of people not legally in the U.S.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote last week on the social media platform X that, “A catastrophic humanitarian & migratory crisis with no easy answers is brewing just 700 miles from Florida as violent street gangs are on the verge of a complete take over of Haiti.”
Multinational mission
Cherfilus-McCormick wants a swift conclusion to the negotiations about an international mission to restore order, and fast action.
Part of that means accelerating the release of $40 million in U.S. funds to help pay for the proposed mission. She said that first requires approval of U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Cherfilus-McCormick said an international force authorized by the United Nations cannot, by itself, “put Haiti on the right path.” But she said, stabilizing the country, removing gang members’ influence, and transitioning to a new government “will allow democracy to stand.”
The international effort was the subject of talks Monday, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveling to Jamaica for a high-level meeting of Caribbean leaders convened by the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, known as CARICOM.
The parameters of the proposed multinational security support system have been extensively negotiated, Cherfilus-McCormick said. Troops would be provided by Benin, Chad, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados and France, Cherfilus-McCormick said.
“One of the pivotal tools that make it really different is how we’re really including African nations, looking for people who have the cultural competence, the language,” she said, citing the inclusion of forces from the West African nation of Benin. “When you look at most Haitian people, when they trace back their ancestry, it is to Benin,” she said.
The U.S. military, which said Sunday it flew in forces to beef up security at the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince and allow nonessential personnel to leave, would not be part of an international mission and not involved in the effort to combat gangs.
Prime minister
As part of the effort to restore order, Cherfilus-McCormick’s view said Henry, appointed prime minister after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, should step down. A transitional government “cannot move forward” with Henry in place.
When the attacks began, Henry was out of the country, and he hasn’t been able to return. “The gangs have said if he does return to Haiti that there would be a civil war,” Cherfilus-McCormick said.
The Miami Herald reported last week that the U.S. government had asked Henry to step down. The State Department didn’t publicly acknowledge that call. U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. has asked Henry to “move forward on a political process that will lead to establishment of a presidential transitional council that will lead to elections,” CNN reported.
The gangs have also called on Henry to resign. The gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as “Barbecue,” told ABC News that if Henry did so, the gangs would call a truce, at least temporarily.
Gang members
Dealing with the gang members and their violence requires strong measures, Cherfilus-McCormick said.
“We’re asking that no criminals, no gang members be included” in the efforts to move to a transitional government, she said. “We are demanding that not one gang member and not one gang leader is included in the transitional government.”
And, she said, gang members’ demands for amnesty should not be granted. “We have to make sure that not one gang member is given amnesty,” she said.
Haiti needs a working justice system and a tribunal to prosecute gang members.
“Without justice, these gangs would just lay dormant and come right back when they have an actual election and start terrorizing the people. We’ve seen this happen over and over again,” she said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Post.news.