Haitian Americans rally for their homeland. © Seth Harrison/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Port-au-Prince, Haiti) — Nearly a thousand Americans have reached out to the State Department for help in Haiti, where gang violence has plunged the nation into chaos. A State Department spokesperson says people have been filling out crisis intake forms online, as the U.S. tries to get people out on chartered flights. More than 30 Americans were evacuated aboard a plane Sunday to Miami. Some American missionaries are trapped in Haiti, and they’re worried no one is coming to rescue them. One missionary, who helps run an orphanage in the capital Port-au-Prince says the U.S. Embassy hasn’t been able to provide much help.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is telling Haitians not to try to sail to the U.S. The Republican has deployed state resources to intercept vessels at sea, and he says anyone who tries to make it to Florida will be intercepted and sent home. He says state agencies have intercepted more than 13-thousand people trying to enter the U.S. illegally.
