MIAMI (WSVN) - Republican and Democratic lawmakers are fired up about the crisis at the border.
“I am pissed from what I saw,” said Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, D.-Fla.
The backlash from Wilson comes after video captured border patrol agents on horses rounding up migrants using reins as whips.
Democrats are also unhappy with the president’s decision to deport thousands of people back to Haiti.
The disturbing images coming from the border resonated with people in South Florida.
The Archdiocese of Miami is now getting involved, sending out two of its priests to meet with migrants at the border.
One of the priests is from Little Haiti’s Notre Dame d’Haiti Catholic Church.
Dump trucks and heavy machinery were spotted clearing out empty parts of the Haitian migrant camp at the southern border on Thursday.
The cleanup efforts come as harsh criticism over the handling of the crisis by the U.S. continues.
“They put chains on our feet, around our stomachs, on our hands,” said Eddy Teverme, who was deported from the U.S.
Teverme, along with others, arrived back in his home country. He described how he was brought home to Port-au-Prince after trying to enter the United States.
“They put us in cars and took us to the airport,” said Teverme. “There were Haitians working on the plane who told us not to resist because there were soldiers on the plane.”
Plenty remain under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, as the U.S. tries to figure out what to do.
Some, like Teverme, have been flown home while others are being released into the United States.
The U.S. is even looking to utilize a migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay for others.
One person fed up with the handling was the U.S. special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote.
He submitted his resignation Thursday.
He wrote in his resignation letter, “I will not be associated with the United States’ inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti.”
“Special envoy Foote had ample opportunity to raise concerns about migration during his tenure. He never once did so,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
The United States has already made the decision to end the controversial use of border patrol agents on horseback after the images surfaced earlier in the week.
“It’s horrific, it’s barbaric that people are being treated like this,” said Father Reginald Jean-Mary with Notre Dame d’Haiti Catholic Church.
Father Jean-Mary will be flying to the border with another priest on Friday to meet with migrants on behalf of the Archdiocese of Miami.
“People tend to lose hope, they tend to feel that they have been abandoned, not only by human beings but by God,” Father Jean-Mary said. “The presence of the church will be a force of revitalization for them.”
Community leaders also gathered at Little Haiti’s Cultural Center, Thursday.
Wilson had a message for Washington.
“Haiti is not prepared to accept anyone being repatriated,” she said. “They barely can take care of people who are in Haiti.”
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