Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEEKS. 2643.

This legislation would require the State Department to develop a report detailing the ties between the political and economic elite in Haiti and the criminal gangs that have run roughshod over the majority of the capital.

Each day, the situation in Haiti gets worse. Approximately 1.3 million Haitians, including more than 700,000 children, have now been forced out of their homes by gang violence. Just since last October, gangs have killed more than 5,600 innocent Haitians.

Gang activity is no longer confined to the outskirts of Port-au- Prince, expanding into cities once free from violence. Gangs, able to outgun the Haitian National Police, continue to launch heavily armed attacks on ports, highways, critical infrastructure, police stations, courthouses, prisons, hospitals, businesses, and neighborhoods. They have committed gruesome massacres against senior citizens and, for more than a year now, have dictated Haiti's security and political tempo.

Not everyone in Haiti has suffered at the hands of gangs. Members of the political and economic elite who have enabled, armed, and benefited from the unrest in Haiti are also to blame for the ongoing crises.

Should the State Department find criminal collusion between members of Haiti's political and economic elite and the gangs, the legislation requires that the administration place sanctions on those individuals. It would deny entry to the United States to those who are found to support gang activity, who use kidnappings and rape to control and silence communities, and who use coercion to bring youth in and around Port-au-Prince into the service of criminal activity.

Mr. Speaker, we ignore the ongoing crisis in Haiti at our own peril. We have a duty to make sure that we identify and hold accountable those who perpetuate chaos.

I thank my colleagues for working in a bipartisan manner because this is the right thing to do, and I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan measure.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow the criminal gangs in Haiti and those powerful political and economic elites who have enabled and empowered them to inflict violence and chaos on Haiti with impunity. Impunity must stop.

The people of Haiti must believe that they have the opportunity to chart a path to a secure, stable, and democratic future and that gangs will not be allowed to rule and dictate the reality on the ground.

The people of Haiti are waiting. They want to hear our voices and to know that those who are committing the crimes or have enabled them to be committed cannot just continue to go back and forth from Haiti to the United States and move around with impunity. This will send a message to them that they will be held accountable for what and how they are destroying the lives, livelihoods, and opportunities for the hardworking people of Haiti.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this bill and encourage my colleagues to support it, as well.

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