The Biden administration is considering transporting Haitian migrants seeking to enter the United States illegally to migrant detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay or a third country ahead of an anticipated rush, according to a report.
The White House National Security Council and federal departments are bracing for a potential rush of people to the U.S. by boat or on foot amid worsening violence and gang control of the Caribbean island, NBC News reported Sunday.
A White House statement shared with the Washington Examiner Monday afternoon downplayed the consideration as “contingency planning” that “existed long before the Biden-Harris Administration.”
“We have not seen an increase in Haitian maritime migration, and no decisions have been made,” said the White House National Security Council spokesman.
The Haitian government’s instability over the past year has made it difficult for the Biden administration to return migrants who illegally enter the country by land, leading border officials to release many into the interior of the U.S.
Haitians who sail to Florida are intercepted by the Coast Guard by sea or Border Patrol if they make it to land.
“Haiti is descending absolutely into chaos. Their president was murdered,” said Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) in an interview on Fox News Monday. “Gangs have taken over. Another earthquake, another tropical storm. And I was just with the vice admiral of the Coast Guard. And they’ve had a 300% increase in interceptions of people trying to flee by boat.”
Over the past year, illegal migration from Haiti has risen tenfold, from 5,300 in fiscal 2020 to 52,000 in the year that ended in September.
However, the NSC official maintained that the number of Haitians interdicted at sea “has significantly decreased in recent months.”
The government has not indicated just how many Haitians could head to the U.S.
Guantanamo contains a 200-bed Migrant Operations Center that can house migrants picked up by boat in the Caribbean.
The Biden administration is looking into doubling the bed capacity at the Gitmo migrant center, but it may not be enough.
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The DHS is looking into what number of Haitian migrants would have to be taken into federal custody to warrant the use of a “lily pad.” The term “lily pad” refers to a third country that is willing to allow the U.S. to hold people as the U.S. government decides what to do.
