JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Members of the Jacksonville Haitian community are reacting to the crisis unfolding in the Caribbean and to what Governor Ron DeSantis said he’s doing to keep the state’s borders safe.
The local community said they wish Florida and the whole country were doing more to help the innocent people affected in the country.
″We don’t know what to call this other than chaos,” Dr. Ernst B. Michel, a primary care physician in Jacksonville, said.
Michel is also one of the creators of the Haitian-American Professional Association of Northeast Florida. His family is from Haiti.
According to the Associated Press, in late February, Haitian gangs carried out attacks across the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
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Gangs attacked prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates, and tried to seize control of the main international airport which shut down flights.
This led to the government declaring a state of emergency.
“I don’t see Haiti as a country right now,” Michel said.
Following this unrest, last week, Governor Ron DeSantis ordered 250 officers, soldiers and over a dozen air and sea crafts to the southern coast of Florida to protect the state.
The governor also said a boat carrying 25 Haitians was stopped off Florida’s coast.
He also signed three bills he said would combat illegal immigration.
“We are no different than every other class. We are no different. But the thing is, you have people who want to score political points,” Dr. JC Belizaire, owner of Belizaire Psychological Services and Consulting said.
Belizaire is one of the thousands of members of Jacksonville’s Haitian community.
He partly blamed what’s going on in Haiti on the current prime minister who said he would resign and countries who supported him.
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Belizaire and Michel, who are involved in Caribbean Power radio, also said they don’t like how the U.S. hasn’t stepped in to help more, like they have for other countries going through difficult times.
“When we see Russia invade Ukraine. I see people suffering, families suffering, and it hurts you know to see and I agree the US standing up and still standing with the Ukrainians. But how can they be blindsided Haiti is just right there. Why can’t they see the children? The women, the pregnant women people dying,” Michel said.
Michel said he would like the government to see that point of view and help people who might flee the unrest come to a safe country.
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