Toward addressing the ongoing violence in Haiti, U.S. Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) on May 21 proposed bipartisan legislation that would mandate sanctions against Haitian gangs and political and economic elites.
“Haiti’s deteriorating security situation threatens America’s national interests in the region,” Sen. Curtis said. “By mandating targeted, strategic sanctions on Haitian political and economic elites who are colluding with criminal gangs, our bipartisan legislation will help address a growing humanitarian, economic, and national security crisis.”
Sen. Curtis cosponsored the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act, S. 1854, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) to also require extensive interagency cooperation, identification, and reporting of criminal collusion and threats to U.S. national interests, including through an annual report submitted to Congress by the U.S. Secretary of State.
The bill would require interagency reporting on the scale and nature of criminal collusion in Haiti, including identification of the most prominent gangs in Haiti and political and economic elites with direct and significant ties to criminal gangs; and require an assessment of threats to U.S. national interests, democratic governance in the country, and the provision of assistance to the Haitian government caused by criminal collusion between gangs and elites, according to the bill’s text.
“This bipartisan bill is a meaningful and logical next step towards addressing and preventing criminal collusion and violence in Haiti,” said Sen. Shaheen. “The ongoing gang violence has displaced more than a million Haitians — including women and children — creating a dire humanitarian catastrophe mere hundreds of miles from U.S. shores.
“The measures laid out in the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act will ensure the U.S. is properly equipped to protect our national security interests and ensure stability and security in the region,” the senator added.