WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has prepared its naval station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a possible influx of Haitian migrants even as gang violence in the country has subsided in recent days, a top operational commander said Thursday.
Army Gen. Laura Richardson, who leads U.S. Southern Command, told senators that her staff has prepped for the worst in case the crisis in Haiti leads to mass migration. Southern Command oversees military activities in Central and South America as well as the Caribbean.
“Everything is refreshed — the equipment, everything is ready to go,” she said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “As we work through all our contingency plans, I assure you that U.S. SOUTHCOM and the Department of Defense are ready to go.”
The Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba is located about 200 miles from Haiti and has a center to process migrants that is separate from the facility that holds terrorist suspects. The White House is reportedly discussing whether to expand capacity at the migrant center.
Several lawmakers expressed concern this week that droves of Haitians will attempt to flee the country after armed gangs launched widespread attacks on government structures, businesses and homes. Most of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, is under gang control and flights are suspended.
“[Florida families] are worried about how this instability in the region — to not only include Haiti but all of [the] SOUTHCOM theater — could possibly stoke a mass migration event in my state,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.
By Svetlana Shkolnikova
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