Last week, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz decried what he called the “invasion” of Florida by illegal immigrants from Haiti and urged President Joe Biden, “Don’t Haiti my Florida.” The surge of illegal immigrants is not a Haitian problem. It’s a Biden problem. It’s a rule of law problem. And it’s a problem created by Democrats’ cynical approach to enforcing this nation’s immigration laws. This problem started on the day Biden was elected president, when he repudiated the lawful and orderly approach to immigration championed by President Donald Trump and signaled a return to the arbitrary catch-and-release policies of the Obama era.
Gaetz’s claim that “every Haitian that gets to land functionally gets to stay in Florida forever” has some validity. But this is also the case for other illegal immigrants. Whereas Trump repatriated illegal immigrants to their countries of origin, Biden has been summarily releasing illegal immigrants from the Northern Triangle into the interior of the United States. With entry to the United States practically guaranteed, it should come as no surprise that illegal entries have reached historic levels.
Gaetz claims that Haiti is not sending its best. But what nation illegally ships their “best” abroad? The “best” are more likely to stay due to privileges enjoyed because of their status. And if they do want to leave, they are more likely to do so through legal processes.
The Haitians who arrive illegally on our shores have far stronger claims to asylum than their Latin American counterparts. Haiti is a collapsed state with no clear government following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. It is rife with corruption, political killings, torture and arbitrary detention. The majority of Haitian migrants are fleeing a country rife with human rights abuses, but the majority of Latin American migrants are seeking better economic opportunities in America. Our asylum laws do not provide blanket refuge to migrants from poverty. They provide refuge from persecution — refuge from precisely the sort of conditions that are to be found in Haiti.
As the proud son of Haitian Americans, I cannot help but imagine what would have happened if my parents had not emigrated to the United States during the 1980s; if my parents had not picked vegetables in Florida until they earned enough money to open a small business; if they had not made enormous sacrifices to raise their family in faith, freedom and security. I would never have had the honor of serving my country in the United States Navy. I would never have had the honor of serving my country in the Trump administration.
Yes, we need to be honest about the impact of unfettered illegal immigration from Haiti. But we also need to be honest about the impact of unfettered illegal immigration, period. Instead, Democrats kick the can down the road on illegal immigration by ignoring, or worse, denying the gravity of the issue. Their failure to enforce our laws and protect our borders signals to would-be migrants that our laws and our borders are mere niceties that don’t actually mean anything.
Instead of enforcing our immigration laws consistently, neutrally and as written, the Biden administration has applied them selectively whenever it is politically expedient. This approach to illegal immigration is unsustainable for our nation and inconsistent with America’s founding principle of equality under the law.
Our immigration laws, faithfully enforced, make the American dream possible for people around the world who are yearning for freedom. It is because I believe in our nation’s fundamental commitment to the rule of law that I became an attorney. But you don’t have to go to law school to know that presidents can’t cherry-pick which laws they want to enforce and to whom they shall apply. Our laws provide a clear solution to the immigration and humanitarian crisis we now face. All that Biden must do is enforce them.
Don’t Biden my Florida.
Rod Dorilás is a Navy veteran, first-generation American, Palm Beach international business attorney and former Republican congressional candidate who served as counsel to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, 2020-2021.
