Lawmakers urge U.S. action on Haiti during Secretary Rubio’s Caribbean trip

A  group of U.S. lawmakers is urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prioritize the spiraling crisis in Port-au-Prince during his diplomatic tour of the Caribbean this week, saying the U.S. “cannot afford to sit on the sidelines” as violence and instability deepen in the hemisphere.

In a letter sent Wednesday, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Representative Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) called on Rubio to use his trip to Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname to build support for a Haitian-led response to the worsening security and humanitarian conditions.

“Haiti is facing an unprecedented political, security, and humanitarian crisis,” the lawmakers wrote. “Cuts in U.S. foreign assistance to Haiti have made the situation worse.”

The plea follows a string of urgent calls from Haitian civil society leaders, diaspora advocates, and international observers for meaningful intervention, as gangs have seized nearly 85% of the capital Port-au-Prince, overwhelming local authorities and Kenyan police part of the  Kenya-led multinational force (MSS).

A recent Haitian Times report noted that the Haitian National Police (PNH) are warning of evolving gank attacks while struggling with inadequate resources and increasingly complex gang warfare strategies.

“We have seen criminals adopt new strategies every day. These are situations that were not part of our daily reality before. The police need to take new measures to counter these threats,” said PNH spokesperson Michel-Ange Louis Jeune.

“If we had combat helicopters, the situation would be different.”

Threats to regional stability

Lawmakers warned that the crisis threatens regional stability and U.S. national security, as neighboring countries such as the Dominican Republic face pressure from the influx of Haitian migrants and rising political tensions. 

During a 2023 visit to Santo Domingo, Dominican President Luis Abinader told Rubio that “the leadership of the U.S. is fundamental and there is no substitute.”

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In their letter, the lawmakers called for Rubio to engage with CARICOM leaders to secure commitments for humanitarian aid, political dialogue, and coordinated regional response to halt the gangs’ grip on Haiti. They stressed that without decisive U.S. leadership, the crisis could devolve further into a mass migration event.

“The United States cannot sit on the sidelines of a crisis of this magnitude in our own region,” they wrote. “Failure to act risks furthering the humanitarian crisis to the point where gangs control the entire capital, and the United States, along with its partners in the region, are responding to a mass migration event.”