Editorial: The crisis in Haiti demands a humanitarian response

Across Central Florida, Haitian-Americans watch their relatives and friends suffer in a.constant state of fear, anarchy and hopelessness.

Their homeland’s government is no longer functioning. Food and water are scarce.

Armed gangs, some 200 of them, control the capital. They have burned police stations and freed more than 4,000 criminals. Gang members slaughter Haitians at random and have forced thousands to abandon their homes. They have looted hospitals and shut down commerce. They demanded and got the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, leaving no one to receive the multinational policing force, led by Kenya, that he had arranged with help from the United States.

The nation has been without a president since Jovenel Moise was assassinated three years ago.

People fear being shot on sight if they venture out to search for what food there may be, says state Rep. Marie Woodson, D-Hollywood, who was born in Haiti and still has family there.

“My country is in chaos and people are dying,” Woodson told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. “I’ve never felt so helpless, and so hopeless.”

She’s urging the Biden administration to air-drop food to the people, as it did in Gaza. That’s a good idea, but much more needs to be done.

President Joe Biden needs to revive the multinational force — which involves no U.S. troops — and persuade congressional Republicans to free up a $40 million contribution they are blocking. Republicans say the details are vague and that the aid could wind up in the wrong hands, and those are valid concerns that Biden must address.

But others are taking more direct action.

In desperate straits

Every lost day will mean desperate refugees crowding into small boats to try to reach sanctuary in the U.S., where an anti-immigrant Gov. Ron DeSantis may be waiting to dash their hopes. Haitian advocates are terrified that DeSantis means to use the Florida State Guard, which the Legislature unwisely reactivated, to intercept desperate Haitian refugees and send them back to Haiti to die. DeSantis is talking about a special legislative session to pass a law like Texas enacted, allowing its officers to arrest people simply for being undocumented immigrants. Legislative leaders should reject that idea.

“Imagine the Haitian people in our community waking up every morning to see the devastation in Haiti,” said U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando, at a press conference at his Orlando office Monday. “And [then they] turn on the TV and see their bigoted governor use his power not to console the people, not to tell them he’s going to do what he can to help the island and to help Haiti, but to demonize and dehumanize them. It’s disgusting.”

We give DeSantis credit for arrangng flights that got Americans trapped in Haiti home safely. Private groups are running unauthorized rescue missions as well: U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, R-Orlando, has personally led multiple flights to Haiti. Unlike DeSantis and others who carefully specify that they are only bringing home Americans trapped in Haiti, Mills recently collaborated with the anti-human-trafficking Sentinel Foundation to get Haitians to safety, airlifting 59 children with disabilities who were taken to Jamaica. Previously, the congressman headed two missions that brought 23 others to the U.S.

These private efforts are legitimately putting DeSantis and the Biden administration’s actions to shame.

In Congress, 67 representatives and senators signed a letter calling on the federal government to stop deporting undocumented Haitian immigrants and to expand and extend the temporary protected status (TPS) of Haitians who came here to escape the ravages of the earthquake.

That’s the least the government could do. Newly arriving Haitians should be given TPS as well. To make Haiti safe for their return demands the swift fulfillment of that promised multinational force. Six Florida representatives, including Frost and Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, signed the letter.

American-made guns

Our nation’s responsibility toward Haiti isn’t merely that of a good neighbor. It’s complicated by what a bad one we are in facilitating the arming of the Haitian gangs. As with the drug cartels in Mexico and Central America, the U.S. arms industry is effectively their silent partner.

Last year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime cited a Haitian agency’s estimate that there could be up to 500,000 small arms in the country. Most were smuggled illegally in conjunction with illegal narcotics, for which Haiti is a busy transit point.

According to the U.N. report, “The principal source of firearms and munitions in Haiti is in the U.S., and in particular, Florida. Popular handguns selling for $400-$500 at federally licensed firearms outlets or private gun shows in the U.S. can be resold for as much as $10,000 in Haiti,” with assault weapons fetching even higher prices.

“A network of criminal actors, including members of the Haitian diaspora, often source firearms from across the U.S. … Weapons are frequently procured through straw man purchases in U.S. states with looser gun laws and fewer purchasing restrictions. Once acquired, firearms and ammunition are then transported to Florida, where they are concealed and shipped to Haiti,” according to the report.

DeSantis should use his influence, and state resources, to stop the flow of guns and ammunition from Florida to Haiti.

U.S. arms traffickers are pouring gasoline on Haiti’s flames. It’s time to quench the fire, put them out of business, and restore order where anarchy now rules. But anxiety is growing daily that it may be too late.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Anderson. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.