During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week, Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the instability in Haiti.
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NewsTranscript
00:00ally everything they need to finally de-radicalize Gaza, including in Rafah.
00:05I yield.
00:06The gentleman yields.
00:07I now recognize Mr. Allred from Texas for five minutes of questioning.
00:11Hello, Mr. Secretary.
00:12Thank you for joining us this afternoon.
00:13I want to take the conversation back to Haiti, the first post-colonial black republic, and
00:21what was once a beacon of abolition and self-determination, racial equality, has unfortunately fallen
00:28into tragic times.
00:29What was once a proud country that had the strength and determination to break free from
00:33French colonial rule over two centuries ago now remains in a limbo of political and economic
00:40turmoil compounded by natural disasters.
00:43I bring this up because for my constituents in Texas and the folks that I represent, we
00:48are seeing this also show up in our backyard.
00:53Since 2023, our law enforcement authorities have encountered Haitian migrants nearly 146,000
00:59times on the southwest border seeking asylum.
01:03Homeland Security has actually had to revise the CBP-1 app to include Haitian Creole since
01:09its launch to deal with the volume.
01:10I've seen this myself in my visits to our border.
01:14And with the arrival of President Ruto and the Kenyan command staff arriving in Haiti
01:20ahead of their multinational security support force effort, can you share how you see that
01:27Kenyan-led effort going?
01:28What's their mission?
01:30How are we supporting them?
01:31And can we support them as we continue to keep our other commitments around the globe?
01:35Thank you.
01:36I think this is a vital mission precisely because Haiti is really on a precipice, on
01:40a precipice of becoming a failed state.
01:42But we've seen positive developments in the last weeks that we need to build on.
01:46One, we have a transitional presidential council, which is starting to enable Haiti to get back
01:51on the democratic track and to get to elections in which it will have a properly mandated
01:56government.
01:57Second, we've actually seen the Haitian National Police, which is outmanned and outgunned by
02:01these gangs, stand up in more effective ways, including regaining control of the airport.
02:07Commercial flights have resumed.
02:08We expect American carriers to start moving very soon, as well as other critical infrastructure.
02:13Now, this is critical, to get back security control, to take it away from the gangs.
02:18The police are trying.
02:19They need more help.
02:20The purpose of this mission, which Kenya and a number of other countries have stood up
02:23and volunteered to do, is basically to provide operational as well as static support to the
02:29Haitian National Police to counter the gangs, to reestablish security, to create the conditions
02:33for elections, to create the conditions for aid and development assistance to actually
02:37get into Haiti.
02:38It's time-bound.
02:40It's focused on police.
02:41And it's really focused on strengthening and bolstering the capacity of the Haitian National
02:45Police to take this on for themselves and to get that hand off.
02:48But they need some near-term support.
02:51That's what the mission would do.
02:52For us, this is not us policing the world, because there are no Americans involved in
02:57this.
02:58Yes, the financing, the funding, it's critical that we play a lead role in that.
03:01But we have a number of other countries that have contributed significant sums to this.
03:06And now, we really need to make the decision to be able to go forward with that funding.
03:09And it's your belief that we can support this multinational effort while also keeping our
03:14commitments to Ukraine and Taiwan and our other allies?
03:16Yes.
03:17Given the sums involved, absolutely.
03:21And DOD is providing some in-kind support, but we also need some direct assistance that
03:25we're prepared to move forward with.
03:27Yeah.
03:28Well, I also wanted to ask you about recent reports of Russia's Wagner forces working
03:33to expand their operations in Haiti.
03:36Can you discuss that in this setting?
03:38In Haiti, did you say?
03:39Yes, sir.
03:40So let me come back to you on that.
03:41Okay.
03:42I haven't seen myself reports of Wagner.
03:45Unfortunately, we've seen reports of Wagner or its successors in too many parts of Africa
03:51making terrible trouble for people in those countries.
03:54But I'll come back to you on Haiti.
03:56Okay.
03:57Well, I'm sure they're looking to take advantage of every spot where they can.
04:00And we've seen reports of international crime syndicates like the Colombian cartel that
04:04are providing automatic weapons to the gangs, which are now becoming more malicious in Haiti.
04:12How can we counteract that, and what are we doing to address that?
04:17So I think that's critical.
04:18It's critical not only in Haiti, but it's critical in other parts of our hemisphere,
04:21including in Mexico.
04:22And we want to make sure that these gangs do not get guns, including guns coming from
04:27the United States.
04:28It's one reason why it was important that Congress federalized the crime of gun trafficking
04:35so that we have better authorities to get guns that are being illegally trafficked in
04:38our own hemisphere, including to Haiti.
04:40And the point you made I want to come back to earlier is that the challenging – more
04:44than challenging situation in Haiti is a driver of a regular migration, and it's clearly
04:48in our interest to make sure that we're doing what we can to give Haiti a better way
04:52forward so that we don't have that driver of a regular migration.
04:55Yeah.
04:56Well, thank you, Mr. Secretary.
04:57I wanted to make sure that my constituents and folks in Texas and here in the country
05:00understand that we have a stake in what happens in Haiti as well, and that our efforts to
05:04stabilize Haiti benefit us, and that this Kenyan-led effort deserves our support and
05:10that we can do it consistent with our other commitments.
05:12So thank you for your testimony.
05:13Thank you.
05:14The gentleman yields.
05:15The chair recognizes Ms. Kim from California for five minutes of questioning.
05:21Thank you, Secretary.