Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has issued a direct appeal to President Donald Trump to halt mass deportations of Haitian immigrants from the United States. His letter, dated Tuesday, September 8, warns that continuing to send Haitians back in large numbers at a moment of extreme insecurity in their home country poses a grave threat to human life and deepens an existing humanitarian crisis.
In the letter, Coakley writes that he is acting out of “deep pastoral concern in relation to the growing number of Haitians being forcibly repatriated to Haiti from the United States.” He implores Trump “to avoid further endangering innocent human life by ceasing the deportation of large numbers of people to Haiti at this time, particularly while there is not an adequate system in place to provide for their safe and orderly reception and reintegration.” The archbishop stresses that his request focuses on “Haitians peacefully residing in the United States” and specifies that individual Haitians could still be excluded “on a case-by-case basis,” a caveat that he says preserves the administration’s ability to “advance justice and public safety.”
Coakley’s appeal is framed by worsening violence in Haiti, including recent attacks in rural communities outside Port-au-Prince that have targeted civilians seeking refuge in churches and other local institutions. United Nations figures released at the end of August report that nearly 200,000 people have been forcibly returned to Haiti so far this year from various countries, with the first U.S. deportation flight since the end of protections for Haitians arriving just days before one such attack. Ongoing gang violence now affects an estimated majority of the capital region, contributing to the suspension of most commercial flights into Port-au-Prince and forcing U.S. removal flights to land instead in Cap-Haïtien in northern Haiti.
The archbishop’s letter comes in the wake of a series of U.S. policy decisions that have stripped legal protections from Haitian migrants. In late July, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians was formally terminated after the Trump administration prevailed in court challenges, clearing the way for the government to move ahead with deportations of hundreds of thousands of people who had previously been shielded from removal. A federal ruling finalized in early August allowed the administration to end temporary deportation protections for Haitians, and subsequent reporting has documented a first flight carrying 161 Haitians to Cap-Haïtien and additional removal flights in the weeks that followed.
Leaders of the U.S. bishops’ conference have been signaling concern about the fate of Haitian TPS holders and other vulnerable migrants for months. On January 29, Bishop Brendan Cahill, who chairs the USCCB Committee on Migration, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, who chairs the Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued a joint statement saying there was “no realistic opportunity for the safe and orderly return of people to Haiti at this time” and urging the administration to extend protections. In June, Cahill followed up with a message titled “We Cannot Turn a Blind Eye to Injustice,” describing the revocation of legal status for hundreds of thousands of long-term residents as a “moral crisis” and calling on the president to use deferred enforced departure to continue shielding them. The Catholic Conference of Ohio, representing the state’s bishops, similarly warned in a June 22 statement that ending TPS for Haitians without an alternative status amounted to a “moral and social failure unfolding before our eyes.”
Coakley’s intervention as conference president marks a sharpening of this broader episcopal concern, both in tone and in the directness of its audience. While previous national statements addressed “the administration” or lawmakers in general, the Oklahoma City archbishop has now appealed personally to Trump, arguing that the United States has been entrusted with “tremendous moral responsibility” and questioning the value of the nation’s wealth and influence if not used “in service of our humanity,” according to accounts of the letter. At the same time, he echoes earlier USCCB language in affirming the government’s right to regulate immigration and remove individuals who pose a threat, even as he contends that sending large groups of Haitians into an environment of pervasive violence is incompatible with respect for human dignity.
The bishops’ renewed focus on Haiti comes amid mounting criticism from Haitian civil society organizations and migrant advocates, who say deportees are arriving to a country that lacks a comprehensive plan for their reception and reintegration. Reports from advocacy groups and international agencies highlight shortages of housing, limited access to basic services, and widespread displacement, all of which make it difficult for returnees to rebuild their lives. In his letter, Coakley indicates that the U.S. bishops will continue pressing for legislative immigration reform and for executive measures that would temporarily halt large-scale deportations of Haitians, even as removal flights and enforcement operations proceed under the current policy framework.
Image Credits:
• Market, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti via Wikimedia Commons by User:Doron with usage type - GNU Free
Featured Image Credit:
• Market, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti via Wikimedia Commons by User:Doron with usage type - GNU Free