US government chartering flights for citizens out of Haiti

Gang violence is causing people to flee from Haiti
U.S. government is chartering flights out of country for citizens
Officials say there could be influx of Haitian migrants because of violence

Updated: Mar 17, 2024 / 09:51 AM CDT

(NewsNation) — The United States government on Saturday announced it is chartering flights to get American citizens in Haiti to safety.

This comes as American officials prepare to see more Haitian migrants coming into the U.S. as the situation in their own country becomes more dire amid a surge in gang violence.

“When you have something that dangerous, it becomes precarious for the airport, because that’s one of the first things the gangs take over,” Hagar Chemali, a writer and former communications director and spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said on “Morning in America” Sunday. “Having control over anything that’s infrastructure is critical in the state.”

However, Chemali notes, that this is not a new situation for the United States.

“The U.S. government has dealt with similar crises before, where what they end up doing, especially when you have a situation where you have water access, which is lucky at least, is that if they want to get U.S. citizens out, they do evacuation by boat.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.