Sep 21, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Schumer: Deportation of Haitian asylum-seekers "defies common sense"

Erin Doherty

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. arrives for a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol titled Take Action for Puerto Rico September 20, 2021. — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrives for a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol, Sept.20. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday condemned the Biden administration's deportation of Haitian immigrants, saying the move "defies common sense."

The big picture: The U.S. is deporting the immigrants under the Trump-era Title 42 policy that Schumer called "hateful and xenophobic." The government has used Title 42 to accelerate deportations during the pandemic.

The U.S. on Sunday began deportation flights for more than 10,000 immigrants seeking shelter in the Texas border town of Del Rio.
The thousands of immigrants and asylum-seekers have been temporarily staying in a crowded camp under the bridge that connects Texas and Mexico after crossing the southern border.

Driving the news: "I urge President Biden and [Homeland Security] Secretary Mayorkas to immediately put a stop to these expulsions and to end this Title 42 policy at our southern border," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

"I'm told there are four flights scheduled to deport these asylum-seekers back to a country that cannot receive them. Such a decision defies common sense. It also defies common decency and what America is all about," Schumer said.

Go deeper: Photos show Border Patrol whipping at migrants from horseback

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Schumer: Deportation of Haitian asylum-seekers "defies common sense"

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