FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A South Florida congresswoman held a news conference about the ongoing crisis in Haiti Monday morning, ahead of a roundtable with leaders from the Haitian diaspora.
Speaking in Fort Lauderdale, Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, herself a Haitian-American, warned of violence spilling over to the U.S. if gang members continue unabated in their attempts to take over the country.
So far, they’ve taken over two government ministries and the main airport in Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital.
“We’ve seen that the three largest gang members have all come together,” Cherfilus-McCormick said. “Their goal is to make sure they take over the country.”
Cherfilus-McCormick, speaking to news outlets Monday, discussed plans to send American troops in to help get U.S. embassy personnel out of the country.
“The U.S. has pledged $50 million; $10 million of that money has been released,” she said. “We’re still waiting on $40 million to be released to fight the gangs.”
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. intends to provide $200 million to the multinational security support mission in Haiti. It’s funding, Cherfilus-McCormick said, that is critical in preventing the violence from spilling into the U.S.
“The more we allow the gang members to take over the country and be successful in their plans, the bigger security risk that we have to our country,” she said.
Cherfilus-McCormick said Haiti’s current prime minister, Ariel Henry, should heed the growing calls to resign and facilitate a democratic transfer of power.
She demanded that “not one gang member” be included in a transitional government.
Cherfilus-McCormick said Congress hopes to come to a resolution this week regarding the release of the remaining funding for Haiti.
Blinken has called the situation in Haiti “one of the most urgent challenges we face as an international community.”