SAMUEL DEWITT PROCTOR CONFERENCE STATEMENT
HAITIANS DESERVE BETTER!
The Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III and Bishop Leah Daughtry, Co-chairs of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC), along with Trustee Rev. Michael McBride visited the US border this week to witness the inhumane treatment of Haitians in the US encampment sites.
Rev. Haynes reported on Thursday that the conditions in the encampment were deplorable and that border officials were reluctant to answer questions about what was going on. But on Friday when Bishop Daughtry and Rev. McBride arrived, there were no migrants on the site. They had all been dispersed in the dead of night.
The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference is asking the question, along with other organizations and faith leaders, “Where are they? Where have you taken them?” “Who is accountable for their past and current situation in the US?”
What the trustees saw and heard was immoral and unacceptable, violations of human dignity and rights under United Nations protocols, and the rapid and sudden disappearance of the migrants brings up even more questions.
The treatment of these human beings has been deplorable. The pictures of a border patrol agent attacking a Haitian with a whip were disgusting but not surprising. Studies from various agencies, including the ACLU, report that border patrol agents in general are among the most violent of all law enforcement officers in this country, but the violence against people of color, especially Black people, is far worse. Their brutal violence against people of color is a part of the legacy of this country.
“This is unconscionable, and we demand that the U.S. government and FEMA immediately address this situation.,” said Rev. Haynes on Thursday. “We are appalled, not only at the condition and treatment of the Haitian people, but also at the current policy in place to deport these Haitians back to the country where they have little opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. Devastated by natural disasters and political chaos, they fled their country headed to other Caribbean countries to find work, but for a number of reasons, have been forced to flee yet again. They flocked to America believing they would find shelter, kindness, and work but instead have been hit by this horrific treatment,” he said, adding “and now they are gone.”
Haynes continued, “We are faith leaders. As such, we believe that we are the keepers of our brothers and sisters. The history of United States’ treatment of immigrants is not a good one, and yet, the treatment being meted out by US Border Patrol agents to the Haitians is some of the worst we have ever seen, especially because of the images of the rank and brutal violence that is being given to these desperate people.”
Rev. Dr. Iva Carruthers, General Secretary of the SDPC, agreed. “It is unholy that a nation as prosperous as is the US whose historical legacy with Haiti is one of exploitation would turn its back on a people who have escaped political, economic and health turmoil, a 7.2. magnitude earthquake, and a presidential assassination. The U.S. is bound by international asylum protocols, and this is not being evidenced,” she said.
In the book of Hosea in the Hebrew scriptures, the prophet writes as he considers the state of Israel and God’s disappointment with how they have ignored God and goodness, “There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land.” As God’s people are treated so poorly, the SDPC believes that no one can claim the presence of God in this situation.
Haynes and the Board of Trustees of the SDPC join in solidarity with other faith leaders to demand that the Biden administration “explain to us and to the American people where these individuals and families have been taken. We need to know they are safe, being treated humanely and are being afforded the legal help that they need,” said Carruthers.
There is a song, said Carruthers, that says “we who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.” The SDPC network of clergy and lay leaders are tracking and awaiting answers and accountability that demonstrate the US government’s adherence to basic, ethical and equitable standards of behavior towards all at the border. We joined forces to protest LatinX children in cages at the border and we will certainly be vigilante to protect the rights of people of African descent at the border.
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