Mayorkas announces Cuba sanctions, but no Haiti TPS extension during Miami visit
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Thursday another round of sanctions on three Cuban officials involved in the anti-government protests as part of his day trip to Miami to talk to local activists and lawmakers about ongoing crises in Cuba and Haiti.
The sanctions involve freezing assets and a U.S. travel ban under the Global Magnitsky Act, which targets those who commit serious human rights abuses around the world. It’s part of the Biden administration’s efforts to hold the Cuban regime accountable amid a government crackdown on dissenters.
But Mayorkas paired the announcement on Cuban sanctions with a statement that the Biden administration would not be extending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians on the basis of Saturday’s devastating earthquake, drawing swift criticism from some activists who said his visit did little to quell their frustrations.
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, who was in the meeting with Mayorkas on Thursday afternoon, said the message from the Biden administration to the Haitian community was that there would be follow-up regarding their demands. But no concrete plans were made.
“They said, ‘We’re going to take everything back, Congresswoman Wilson, and to everyone else in the room, and we’ll be working with you to come up with answers,’ but that is the bottom line. These people are suffering. I mean, this is something we have to get a hold of,” said Wilson after the meeting.
Asked about her reaction to Mayorkas’ comments on TPS, Wilson asked, “Did he say that?”
“We will fight, we will fight to extend TPS after this earthquake,” said Wilson. “Trust me, and we will follow up also. When I say we, the Congress of the United States, especially the Congressional Black Caucus. We will follow up.”
Cuban officials sanctioned
Mayorkas’ visit to Miami included a Thursday afternoon meeting with members of the Cuban and Haitian diasporas to discuss the protests in Cuba, political instability in Haiti on the heels of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last month, and the U.S. response to the earthquake on Aug. 14.
The Cubans sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act are: Gen. Roberto Legra Sotolongo, director of operations of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the second in command of the general staff; Gen. Andres Laureano Gonzalez Brito, chief of the central army; and Abelardo Jimenez Gonzalez, head of the Directorate of Penitentiary Establishments, which belongs to the Ministry of the Interior.
Mayorkas said the three were “responsible for the repression and the brutality in response to the Cuban people’s cry for liberty on July 11.”
“This administration stands with the Cuban people,” he said, adding assurances that the administration will not develop a policy towards Cuba without the input of Cuban Americans.
More practical solutions
After island-wide anti-government protests erupted in Cuba on July 11, President Joe Biden sanctioned several Cuban officials, the national police, and elite units deployed to quash the demonstrations. He also ordered his administration to seek ways to provide internet access on the island after the Cuban government shut down the service to prevent the uprising from spreading further.
Biden also ordered plans to resume remittances and increase embassy staffing. The closure of the USCIS office in Havana in 2018 and the suspension of consular services a year earlier created a massive backlog of more than 100,000 immigration visas. The administration has also authorized humanitarian chartered flights to take medicine and food to several Cuban cities but few details have emerged on this effort.
Mayorkas said the administration was “very focused” on finding ways to reduce the visa backlog but offered no further details.
The Miami gathering included a more diverse guest list than previous White House meetings, which faced criticism for mainly having Cuban Americans close to the Democratic Party. Among the participants were Omar Lopez Montenegro of the Cuban American National Foundation and activist Rosa Maria Payá, who were not invited to meet Biden at the White House. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who, after the July 11 demonstrations, said the administration should explore air strikes against Cuba, was also among the attendees.
Others present were Felice Gorordo, CEO of eMerge Americas and co-founder of Roots of Hope; Manny Diaz, former Miami mayor and chair of the Florida Democratic Party; and Madrid-based Yotuel Romero, lead singer of Cuban hip-hop group Orishas and principal author of “Patria y Vida,” a song that has become an anthem for the protesters. The three met Biden at the White House last month.
Some of the activists attending wanted to hear more concrete actions from the administration, they told the Herald.
Romero said it was a “relief” to be able to speak out and be heard. “But, have they given us direct, practical solutions right now? No,” he said.
Payá, who leads a referendum initiative called Cuba Decide, said that they discussed solutions to provide internet access to Cubans during the meeting. “But the Cuban people needed those yesterday,” Payá said.
“Our proposals have been on the table for weeks,” she said. She met last month with Juan Gonzalez, National Security Council director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, who also traveled with Mayorkas to Miami.
Missing from the Thursday meeting were Cuban-American Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar, who criticized Biden’s response to the protests. Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz attended. Salazar’s office said she was not invited.
Diaz-Balart said Thursday that the three House members from Miami have not met with the Biden administration since the July 11 protests.
“More than five weeks have passed since the beginning of peaceful protests in Cuba, and the Biden administration has yet to grant a meeting to the Cuban-American congressmen from South Florida,” Diaz-Balart tweeted in reaction to Mayorkas’ meeting in Miami with Cuban-American and Haitian-American leaders.
Meeting with the Haitian diaspora
Mayorkas met with the chair of the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network, Councilman Alix Desulme, Dr. Jean-Philippe Austin of Haitian-Americans for Progress, Family Action Network Movement Executive Director Marleine Bastien, and former South Africa Ambassador Patrick Gaspard.
Wilson said she asked officials about the deployment of hospital ships to Haiti. The U.S. government, primarily through USAID, is providing on-the-ground disaster assistance in Haiti but the response efforts so far are not enough to meet urgent needs for food, housing, medicine and shelter.
The U.S. Southern Command said the two largest hospital ships, the USNS Mercy and Comfort, are not currently scheduled for deployment in Haiti. Instead, the USS Arlington, an amphibious transport dock that can launch and land helicopters and landing craft, is now underway, a White House official said, and is expected to arrive later this week to provide additional lift and medical capabilities in Haiti.
Haitian activists were hoping DHS would further extend Haiti’s TPS designation in response to the earthquake. Mayorkas expanded it Aug. 3 in response to Moïse’s death, which keeps the relief in place until Feb. 3, 2023, and applies to Haitians who were residing in the U.S. as of July 29.
But Mayorkas said there were no plans for further extensions.
“No, we are not,” he said at a press conference at La Ermita de la Caridad, in response to a question. “We looked at the tragedy of the assassination that occurred a while ago, and we did extend our originally designated date, but we are not looking at extending that date again.”
Mayorkas has also faced calls to end deportations of Haitians, which continue under the Biden administration despite a campaign promise to end them.
Melissa Taveras, Florida Immigrant Coalition director of government relations, said two deportation flights took place last week just days before the earthquake, with about 100 Haitians on board.
Wilson said deportations to Haiti “need to stop today. Immediately.”
“They have not stopped the deportations, they do not want to extend TPS,” she said. “So how are they helping the Haitian community?”
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Mayorkas announces Cuba sanctions, but no Haiti TPS extension during Miami visit."
