The only Haitian American female member of Congress is stepping up to call for the implementation of a multinational force to control Haitian gangs and support the creation of a transitional government using government funding.
On Tuesday, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) urged Haiti’s current prime minister, Ariel Henry, to resign, adding that if and when he does, a transitional presidential council would be created.
The lawmaker’s plea comes after a heavy stream of violence has plagued the country in recent years. “The situation in Haiti has escalated to a critical point…. The gangs are taking over,” Cherfilus-McCormick told the Sun Sentinel, adding that in the country, there was “heavy gang violence, shooting, killing — the people are living in terror right now.”
The turmoil in the Caribbean country has forced many to illegally migrate to other countries, including the Dominican Republic and the United States, she continued.
“The only option you have is going to be either try to get to the border or try to get to the water,” the 45-year-old Congresswoman said. “If you choose to stay in Haiti, then you’re literally looking at whether it is going to be your day. That’s the thought process for every Haitian who’s living in Haiti. If you’re living in Haiti, you’re really wondering: Do I die here or do I risk it all to protect my family?”
Cherfilus-McCormick currently represents Florida’s 20th congressional district, where many Haitian Americans live and have expressed their concerns about the violence happening in their country of origin.
The congresswoman currently serves as co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus and is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Cherfilus-McCormick, like many of her constituents, says she lives in fear about what life has become back in Haiti.
“It’s heartbreaking for me. You know, I have family still in Haiti, and it breaks my heart every day because you’re just waiting for that phone call. You hear from family members: ‘There’s heavy shooting.’ ‘I have guns under my pillow.’ ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen to us.’ ‘We can’t leave or we don’t want to leave,’” she said.
“Every minute, every day” when a solution is not made is a day “that we are actively losing lives.”
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a prominent member of the Foreign Relations Committee who also represents Florida, recently expressed on X, formerly Twitter, that a severe humanitarian and migratory crisis looms only 700 miles away from Florida, as violent street gangs edge closer to seizing control of Haiti.
Meanwhile, Cherfilus-McCormick has this message to give to the Haitian people: “Hold on.” She further added “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.”
