Members of Montreal’s Haitian community have spoken out against the “inhumane” treatment of migrants from the impoverished Caribbean island at a makeshift camp on the US-Mexico border. Thousands of Haitians, including some from as far away as Brazil, Chile, and Argentina, have recently crossed the border in Del Rio, Texas. Images that have gone viral show American border patrol agents on horseback using aggressive tactics, such as hitting migrants with leather reins, to prevent them from entering the United States. Human rights advocates have criticised the border officials’ behaviour, as has Daniel Foote, the United States’ special ambassador to Haiti, who resigned in protest.

Thousands of migrants seeked refuge near the Del Rio International Bridge on September 18 after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. Solidarité Québec – Haïti is also urging the Canadian government to speak out about what is going on in Texas and to withdraw from the Core Group, which includes ambassadors to Haiti from Germany, Brazil, Spain, the United States, France, and the European Union. Many members of the Haitian community and diaspora accuse the Core Group of interfering in the affairs of their homeland and contributing to its instability. Members of Solidarité Québec – Haïti have asked the Canadian government to state unequivocally that they oppose what is happening in the United States near the border between Mexico and Texas. Another member has spent days communicating with a woman who was at the camp and hoped to eventually make it to Montreal. Following the assassination of President Jovenel Mose in July, and a massive earthquake that struck the country’s southwestern region last month, Haiti’s instability has worsened.