Haitian Migrants File Lawsuit Against Biden Administration For Rights Violation

A group of illegal migrants from Haiti has filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President Joe Biden over what they say was discrimination and violation of their rights, Innovation Law Lab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to upholding the rights of immigrants, reported on Monday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st December, 2021) A group of illegal migrants from Haiti has filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President Joe Biden over what they say was discrimination and violation of their rights, Innovation Law Lab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to upholding the rights of immigrants, reported on Monday.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday. The charges are brought against the US president, several departments, heads of border services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The migrants are being represented by a group of lawyers from Justice Action Center, Haitian Bridge Alliance and Innovation Law Lab.

"Plaintiffs - eleven Haitian asylum seekers who were victims of US officials' abusive treatment in the CBP Encampment and expelled without an opportunity to access the US asylum system, and Haitian Bridge Alliance, a community-based organization that has led the legal and humanitarian response to that conduct - bring this lawsuit to ensure accountability and an end to the Biden Administration's harmful, discriminatory, and unlawful policies," the text of the complaint published by the organization says.

The document contains charges such as physical and mental violence, inhuman treatment and violation of the current legislation as part of the deportation procedure.

According to the prosecution, the administration was aware of the oncoming influx of migrants and did not specifically conduct any training. According to the plaintiffs, it was a strategic decision designed to prevent Haitians from entering the US.

One of the plaintiffs, Mirard Joseph, said that a horse-mounted border guard hit him with reins and dragged him to the Rio Grande separating the US from Mexico.

"It was the most humiliating thing in my life," Joseph said in the complaint.

Among other things, the plaintiffs also seek to appeal against the tighter migration policies stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September, about 15,000 migrants, mainly from Haiti, gathered at the US-Mexican border near the US city of Del Rio. Poor treatment by border guards and disorganized processing at the border caused a public outcry. Biden said that riders using their reins against migrants and pushing them back towards the Rio Grande send the wrong message about what the US is like. The president promised that those responsible would pay for it. At the end of the month, the US authorities dismantled the camp in Texas and expelled about 4,000 migrants from the country.