09/24/21 09/24/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> what the hell are we doing here? what we witnessed takes us back hundreds of years. what we witnessed was worse than what we witnessed in slavery. cowboys with their rains again with being black people, haitians, into the water where

they are scrambling and falling down when all they are trying to do is escape from violence in their country. amy: your special envoy to haiti resides in protest over the biden administration's mass portation of asylum-seekers days after u.s. court of desperate patrol agents on horseback were filmed chasing, grabbing, and whipping refugees at the border. we will speak with covers member maxine waters, longtime advocate for the people of haiti. it is the delta variant continues to search across the united states, so, too, has a housing and eviction crisis with more than 11 million households now behind on rent, most of those evicted, black and latinx -- the majority, single women with children. >> i have been forced to choose between food, rent too many times. many of us have to make the choice of the choices between our health or our homes.

amy: we will speak with a single mother and with a high school student who faced eviction and went to washington, d.c. come to help congressmember cori bush and senator elizabeth warren introduced the keeping renters safe act to reinstate the federal pandemic eviction moratorium. then the taliban are already restricting women's rights, just a month since they took over afghanistan. we will speak with v, founder of one billion rising, that has organized mass actions for saturday to roar and rage for the women in afghanistan. and we will get from a recent member of afghan parliament who is now in an undisclosed location. >> in -- will begin and grow

against it. the resistance initiated by women, fortunately, this time women took the lead. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. special envoy to haiti has resigned in protest over the biden administration's policies. in a letter, the longtime diplomat daniel foote wrote -- "i will not be associated with the united states' inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of haitian refugees." foote also criticized the biden administration for meddling in haiti's political affairs, including its support for ariel henry as prime minister, following the assassination of haitian president jovenel moïse in july. foote wrote -- "this cycle of international political interventions in haiti has consistently produced catastrophic results." foote's resignation came just days after u.s. border patrol

agents on horseback were filmed chasing, grabbing, and whipping haitian asylum seekers who had gathered in a makeshift camp in del rio, texas. on thursday, the department of homeland security banned the use of horses in the area but deportations are continuing despite growing criticism from human rights advocates. "the new york times" reports the biden administration has now deported nearly 2000 haitians since last week. about 3000 haitians remain in the makeshift camps in del rio. thousands of others have been allowed to stay in the united states. immigrant justice activists held demonstrations across the united states yesterday to demand the closure of all immigration and customs enforcement jails, an end to deportations, and the release of all imprisoned asylum seekers and immigrants. the "communities not cages" day of action came as reports show that the number of people detained by ice has gone up 70% since biden took office.

in atlanta, activists rallied in front of the stewart county detention center. this is lgbtq+ activist li ann sánchez of the group community estrella, who was held in three different immigration jails, including irwin county detention center, which was forced to shut down due to whistleblower complaints of medical abuses. like forced hysterectomies. >> i have unpleasant memories of all of the unhealthy and inhumane conditions these places of torture, medical negligence, unsanitary food. at the worst was having to stay in solitary confinement for a whole year just because i am trans, because they don't have a dedicated place to hold lgbt people. amy: centers for disease control director rochelle walensky has decided to allow workers in high

risk settings receive booster vaccine shots despite opposition from a cdc panel. on thursday, the panel recommended making pfizer-biontech booster shots avlable to people 65 and older, nursing home residents, and people with underlying health conditions. but the panel did not recommend booster shots for younger health care workers, teachers, and others in high-risk settings. wilensky then overruled the panel. many global health experts have criticized the biden administration for promoting booster shots while much of the world remains unvaccinated. at the united nations general assembly, south african president cyril ramaphosa repeated his call for waiving intellectual property rights on vaccines. he also criticized wealthy nations for hording vaccines >> it is been indictment on humanity that more than 82% of the world's vaccine doses of been acquired by wealthy countries while less than 1% has

gone to low income countries. unless we address this as a matter of urgency, the pandemic will last much longer and new mutations of the virus will emerge and spread. south africa reaffirms its call for fair and equitable distribution of vaccines. amy: meanwhile, bolivian president luis arce said access to vaccines should be considered a human right in his address to the u.n. general assembly. >> capitalism has commodified all aspects to social life and health is not the exception. medical science should be at the service of humanity without any sort of geographical,olitical, social, or nationality discrimination. the access to the vaccine must be considered as a human right. amy: the u.n. general assembly is occurring as covid cases

continue to surge in parts of the world. earlier today, south korea reported over 2400 new covid cases, its highest daily tally since the start of the pandemic. in yemen, oxfam is warning covid deaths have increased fivefold in the past month. fewer than 1% of yemen's population is vaccinated. at the united nations, leaders from low-lying and island nations have also called on wealthy countries to do far more to combat the climate emergency. this is guyanese president irfaan ali. >> small island states and countries with low-lying coastlines will be the first to feel the full brunt of the -- yet there are countries among the lowest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing the least to the harmful and destructive effects of climate change. this is not only unfair, it is unjust.

amy: the environment protection agency has issued a new rule to cut the use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly put greenhouse gases commonly used in air-conditioning and refrigeration. meanwhile, use -- youth climate activists are staging a global climate strike today with actions planned in over 1500 locations. on capitol hill, the house has approved increasing the pentagon's budget even though the u.s. recently pulled combat troops out of afghanistan, ending the longest war in u.s. history. on thursday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers voted in support of a $768 billion pentagon budget as part of the national defense authorization act. this was $25 billion more than president biden had sought. the house rejected two amendments to trim the pentagon's budget and an amendment to prohibit the military from transferring firearms, military vehicles, and aircraft to local police departments. house lawmakers, however, did

approve an amendment to end all u.s. support for the saudi-led bombing of yemen. california congressmember ro khanna had introduced the amendment. >> it would end all u.s. logistical support and transfer of spare parts for saudi warplanes that are bombing yemen, that are bombing schools, that are killing children, that are bombing civilians in the largest humanitarian crisis around the world. amy: house lawmakers have also voted to approve $1 billion in new military funds for israel despite accusations from human rights groups that israel committed war crimes during its recent assau on gaza. the congressional funding is being given to help israel replenish its iron dome missile defense system, which is built in part by the u.s. military contractor raytheon. eight democrats voted against the measure, including michigan's rashida tlaib, the first palestinian-american congresswoman. >> i rise in opposition to the

supplemental. i will not support war crimes, human rights abuses, and violence. we cannot be talking only about israelis need for safety at a time when palestinians are living under a violent apartheid system and are dying from what human rights watch has set are war crimes. we should also be talking about palestinian needs for early attacks. we must be consistent in our commitment to human life, period. everyone deserves to be safe. amy: catalan separatist leader carles puigdemont has been detained in italy on an arrest warrant from spain where he is wanted on sedition charges for his role in organizing an independence referendum for catalonia in 2017. he has been living in exile for four years. back in the united states come abortion providers in texas have asked the supreme court to urgently review the state's new near-total ban on abortions. in their petition, whole woman's health and other groups write, "texans are in crisis."

the new law bars abortions around six weeks into a pregnancy, with no exception for rape or incest, and allows anyone to sue patients, medical workers, or even a patient's family or friends who aid and abet an abortion. like driving a person to a health clinic. in related news, republicans in florida have introduced a similar bill to ban most abortions around six weeks. the house select committee investigating the january 6 insurrection has subpoenaed four close aides and allies to former president trump -- former white house chief-of-staff mark meadows and his deputy dan scavino, as well as former advisor steve bannon and kash patel, who at the time, was chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense. meanwhile, the results from a controversial recount of the presidential vote in maricopa county, arizona, has finally ended and the results are not what trump supporters were hoping for. the republican-financed recount found an additional 99 votes for

joe biden and 261 fewer votes for trump. but trump's effort to overturn the election has not ended. on thursday, the office of texas' secretary of state announced a new audit of election results in the state's four largest counties. this came just hours after a request by trump to republican governor greg abbot. former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin is moving to appeal his 22.5-year sentence and conviction for murdering george floyd. in court documents filed thursday, chauvin said he intends to appeal on 14 grounds, including the judge's decision not to move the trial out of hennepin county. in tennessee, one person died and 14 were injured in a mass shooting under kroger supermarket. the shooter was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted wound. and facebook's global head of

saty is set to testify before a sete panel nt week ami mounting concerns the soal media platform can seriously damage yng people's mental health. last week, "the wall street journal" published a report based on internal facebook documents revealing its instagram app makes many adolescent users, particularly teenage girls, feel bad about themselves and can lead them towards harmful content. the report also shows facebook was aware of the negative impacts of the app but did not take any action to address the issue. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as the delta variant continues to surge across the united states, so, too, has the housing and eviction crisis. more 11 million u.s. households are now behind on rent, and studies show about 80% of those being evicted are black or

latinx and the majority are single women with children. despite data linking evictions to a rise in covid-19 cases and deaths, the supreme court struck down the biden administration's temporary extension of eviction bans last month. this week, congressmember cori bush and senator elizabeth warren introduced the keeping renters safe act to reinstate the federal pandemic eviction moratorium and give the health and human services department permanent authority tonact an eviction ban during public health crises. the bill was unveiled at an antiviction rally tuesday outside congress, led by a delegation of 11 tenants from across the united states who have been evicted or are facing eviction and mounting rental debt. this is vivian smith with the miami workers center. >> i have been forced to choose between food, rent too many

times. many of us he had to me the choice of the choices between our health or our homes. amy: vivian smith and the tenant justice delegation met with congress members and biden administration in d.c. this week. vivian smith joins us now from miami, where she is a single mother who has faced eviction with her children and a leader with the miami workers center. and another member of the delegation joins us in morehead, kentucky. faith plank is 17 years old, a high school student who faced eviction in march, along with her mother and younger sister. welcome you both to democracy now! let's begin with vivian. we just watched you at the rally. can you talk about what has happened to you and the significance of congress passing a bill to reinstate the eviction moratorium? >> good morning. what happened

to me was i got evicted trying to pay my rent and see abo my kids, eating, health. i was invited on a trip with another tenants all across the world. we came with one purpose and to make it clear and known that we need the eviion moratorium and the national tenant bill of rights action put in place so that tenants like me and my tenants that was from all over the walks of different states came together so that congress, bush can join us in forcing that we need this eviction moratorium. for real tenants like me d my colleagues to join me on the

d.c. trip to be in effect. we are the people that lived in it and we are the people that are going through it. amy: vivian, at the start of the pandemic, you said you had to quit your job at amazon warehouse to avoid getting covid. how has the pandemic worsened the eviction crisis, especially where you are in florida and in miami, which you call a city of renters? talk about your decision to leave amazon. >> my decision was to better for my health. at the time, the warehouse was getting very infested with the virus. i choose t just stay home because i do not want to endanger my kids healt so from staying home, i fell behind in my rent.

i knew, ok, i have to go back even iit means risking my health, risk my kids' health. so i did go back to work to come up with the money. and once i came up with the money to go to th rigged ofce, to the landlord to present the money and found out i was put in eviction. that rlly took me to hold other space and a whole other living a nightmarep not wanting to go back to my car. amy:o that what happened? >> when i went to pay the writ they said, well, we can't take it. it was over $2000. they say they can't take $2000. i immediately just went to a space of, ok, can you give me my money order back and i will try to move or find somewhere to

move? following the next day she was like, ms. smith, are so upset that we wanted to talk with you, and that is a part where i had to pay them to stop the eviction . and also pay over $2000 for rent. that is when i became in contact as a tenant with the miami workers center. and from there, i have been a member and fighting not only for me, but for all the other ones that came to d.c., all my fellow members that came to d.c. to join the movement of the eviction moratorium and the national tenant bill of rights, to make it clear that is what we are fighting for. that is what we need and that is what we want. amy: faith plank, or part of this allegation that went to washington working with congressmembers and the biden administration to read take the

moratorium. you are 17 years old. we are glad we could get you on before you go to high school today. you are from kentucky. can you talk aut what happened to you and your faly? >> thank you so much f having me on. i am actually at high school right now. i was able to find a room to make this call. in march, my entire neighborhood was evicted to make room for shopping center. i feel the pain of that eviction to this day. just yesterday morning, i was driving my sister to school and we sat and cried in my car for 10 minutes because she looked over at me and said, "i miss it." we both instantly started sobbing and holding each other's shaking bodies. even after six months of being evicted, it is still with us. we still feel the pain of that.

i guess that is why it is so important to me is that this eviction moratorium is passed to congress because me, along with all of those tenants, have faced an eviction or a pil of old debt during this pandemic. with that eviction moratorium being passed, he could have saved home, save 75 other families homes in my community. amy: you lived in a mobile part for six years, $125 a month for rent. it is not that you stopped paying rent, it is that they destroyed the mobile home park for this center. so what happened nexto you, your sister, and your mom? >> so we re used to pay $125 in lot rent because we owned our trailer. you're only given 45 days to leave the park along with 75

other uts to affordable housing. with that comes a sourcof panic because in a town that has no affordable housing and a single mom, it is extremely difficult. we were able to find an apartment that we now pay $950 a month for our rent. that is over $800 more than what we were used to paying. it is honest impossible to make that work. -- it is almost impossible to make that work. amy: your mom works full-time and takes care of you guys? >> yes, my mom works full-time and now she's working anywhere from 60 hours a week as well as i work. normally i was working 30 hos a week to try to help support my family because of this. because of school, i can no longer work 30 hours a week,

which should never be an issue that a 17-year-old has to face, choosing between work and school because of an eviction that was not her fault. amy: how did this affect you emotionally, as a teenager, where you're going to say the next night when you're in school, when yo're wh your friends? >> i am still affected emotionally. every morning as i drive to school, i drive my little sister along with me and to get from the new apartment to school, we have to drive past what was my home. when you look up on the hill, it is almost unimaginable that used to be my home because all you see is dirt and bulldozers. it is now a construction site. i had to hold back tears every single day becau i have to be strong for my little sister. but once i get to school, i

cannot hold it in anymore. i spent a good hour of my first day of school crying because i cannot focus on school when i'm worried about how i'm going to go to bed tonight. amy: here you are in kentucky, talking to us from your high school in morehead, but last week you were advising white house advisors. what was that like to be part of this delegation to change the law in the united states around evictions? >> we have gone through similar -- i chaired a meeting with dean sperling, megan rescue plan coordinator for the white house. at that meeting, i told him that we know the path to getting a full eviction moratorium passed through congress is very narrow. in the last time they did not have the votes to do it. but we also know when the white house want something done, they get it done and we know we jean

sperling was something done, he gets it done. so my ask to him was to have the american people's back. we need the white house leadership, his leadership to get this eviction moratorium passed in congress and we need it to make sure the white house has everything they can to make sure that is done. amy: final words to vivian smith in miami. cori bush, the congressmember and senator elizabeth warren introduced this bill for federal eviction moratorium. what do you say to the american people? >> that we went on a mission to make it clear and make it known that the eviction moratorium and the national bill tenants rights need to be put in effect like now, like today.

and no we have senator cori bush behind us, someone that is gone through what i have gone through as a tenant, as a single mother, also what 19 that came to d.c. have gone through and are going through and for people lik faith that is a 17-year-old trying to get her education and i take my hat off to her because i really care about her, meeting her that her mom and me have a lot in common because i looked at my daughter every time i dropped her off and i wanted to know how a 12 greater guilt was sleeping in a car -- 12 greater guilt sleeping in a car. and when she gets out of school, just to work with her mom because -- i would say to

congress, we need -- they ed to have our back. we need to know they have our back in this eviction moratorium and the national bill of tenants rights. we need it. amy: we want to thank you, vivian smith, for being here, speaking to us from miami with the miami workers center and faith plank with kentucky tenants, both tenant justice advocates who faced eviction, which washington, d.c., in a historic delegation. faith, thank you for joining us from your highchool. next up, the taliban are already restricting women's rights just after taking over afghanistan. we will speak with v, founder of one billion rising, who is organized mass action saturday to roar and rage for the women of afghanistan. and we will hear from a member of the afghan parliament.

she is in hiding. this is an exclusive. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to afghanistan, where the new taliban government has closed the ministry of women's affairs that was established soon after the taliban were toppled in 2001 and replaced it with the "ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice." the taliban are already restricting women's rights, just a month since they overran the capital of kabul by blocking female students from returning to schools and universities, and telling many women workers to stay home. videos have shown taliban enforcers flogging women on the streets. here in the united states, the one billn rising campaign to enviolence against wom has called for mass action on

saturday to roar and rage for the women in afghanistan, with activists planning to take to the streets from new york to los angeles. for more, we are joined new york by v, playwright and founder of v-day and one billion rising. and in los angeles, we are joined by madina wardak, a mental health social worker of afghan descent and the founder of burqas and beer. we welcome you both to democracy now! v, start out by describing the plans for this weekend. >> good morning. our plans are basically is a global rising for and with the women of afghanistan. it was really called for by the women on the ground. we met with them a month ago by zoom. on activists around the world had a long, long three hour discussion with them. we just asked, what can women and men around the world do to discuss what is going on in support this inside the country?

what they said it is the most powerful thing we could do is express and show solidarity, rise with the women who are powerful, who need the backing of the world not through bombs and interventions but through solidarity. they gave us a list of demands, which are the demands that we are rising for with them. what is thrilling to see this has taken off and there will be risings all over the world from bangladesh to the philippines, all over africa, guatemala, madrid, italy. i really do believe that one of the powers we have right now is to express our global solidarity with the women and with the people of afghanistan who have a right to self-determination. and they have had that right for many years and have never been given. am i want to turn to an exclusive interview you did with the afghan parliament. can you tell us about her before

we hear a bit of this interview? >> for me, she is a model of a powerful grassroots woman leader. she is brave, outspoken. she was a member of parliament until recently in afghanistan. she i think was the only representative who stood up to say no to the u.s. occupation. she stood up to say no to corruption. she has had no to releasing the taliban prisoners. she opened and worked in a mental health center working with the poor and lifting up women. i have to say she's been a very powerful figure to me. i remember the first time i saw her. she was speaking out in parliament where she was literally beaten up in parliament and she did not stop

talking stop the same thing was she went on television. she was beaten up there. she is a pierced offender of democracy come of women's rights, of -- she's an anti-imperialist. she said from the beginning the u.s. occupation would lead where it has led. i feel very honored and privileged that she spoke to me and did this interview. amy: can you tell us where you spoke to her? clubs i cannot. at this point her whereabouts are unknown because security is very high. >> the current conditions in afghanistan as the world is witnsing have once again proven o statements were right . the people of afghanistan have been drowned and yet more misery by the west, led by the u.s. and nato. i have brought our country to another dark age.

our youth and especially our women who make up half of our polation, they are not even considered to be human. they are bng eliminated from sociy by the taliban. apparently, it is true the sound of war and bullets and suicide explosions -- they have enslaved the ople in hunger and poverty in a cage named afghanistan. all of the people are living in wretchedness. all of these are consequences of the invasion and operations of the united states with a mask of democracy full of slogans and promises for the people and the won of afghanistan. they have practically proved to the whole world that they have done nothing except create misery. they have fulfilled your own imperialistic and capitalistic demands by making afghanistan a war zone, to reach his own purposes and to get closer to its competitive games with russia and china.

>> we are rising on september 25 for and with women of afghanistan. what do women and men inside afghanistan needed the most from those of us outside? >> our proposition is these demonstrations and gatherings must not be just for some things but be constant to force the governments to never recognize the taliban and especially not to facilitate the growth of terrorm in afgnistan more than this. and from those who have sacrificed in any way, our proposition is to not forget the children. women and the oppressed aected people of afghanistan. afghanistan has been victimized during these0 years and now we have been released to the razor blades of the taliban. we would not say the foreigners were supposed to protect afghanistan. it makes me wish they had never

come. and if they left, they had not brought back the savage taliban to rule on us. >> what are your deepest fears? >> for me or any afghanistan probably the possibility of civil war and the possibility that afghanistan disintegrate and become the official center for nourishment of terrorism while the taliban are in absolute power. >> do you believe there is resistance growing inside the country? >> i need spew to be, we believe race resistance that will begin and grow against it. the resistance has been initiated by women. fortunately, this time women took the lead and we are hopeful that afghan women will resist and present until the end for achieving the rights of all.

but especially our half of the afghan population. as we saw, they killed two people during protest even when 20, 30, 50 people protest and demonstrate, this is not tolerated by the taliban. of course for the people of afghanistan, as we stated during the 20 years, there is no other alternative but to rise against the various enemies of the afghanistan themselves. no other country ever brings freedom and prosperity and peace to another country, but there is distinction in every resistance. the resistance that has begun with the huge number of warlords on top is purely for personal and sectarian gains and interests. >> how can we build world solidarity?

>> international solidarity we can't initiate just like this right now, by creating harmony and unity and working together -- not with gornments, but the people, especially the victims of 9/11. we request their families to cooperate with us from the soldiers and all of the people of the country whose troops were present in afghanistan, we request them to collaborate with us. not to forget the women, work with them and be their voice. protest ainst their own state and especially speak against the lie. biden or trump or bushes to be blamed. no, it is the system that is to blame. it is the system which is erroneous.

the imperialist system that requires the masses be kept in poverty, mistry, and war so they can become bigger capitalists and reach their bigger objectives. as we know, the arms industry was active during this period. more than $2 trillion was spent on the afghan war. at least $2 trillion which of these corporations. therefore we need to establish a foundation movement of the victims of this 20 year war inclusive of both sides of the countries whose peoples were victims of this war shall learn from their soldiers and others that they could prevent future attacks that uses planning with its allies and nato. -- that the u.s. is planning with its allies and nato. otherwise, believe they will attack another country and make their people miserable just as we witnessed and experienced in

afghanistan, erect syria, yemen, libya, and dozens of other countries that their intervening in different ways and igniting wars and death, not allowing them to remain in peace. amy: she served in the afghan parliament, speaking v to v in an undisclosed location. v said the questions and she then answered them madina wardak . this also with us. speaking to us from los angeles. if you can wrap up here by talking about what is happening to the women in afghanistan and also those who have made it into the united states because you are helping to resettle people who get to the united states. >> what happens in afghanistan

reverberates across the world. as a mental health social worker , what i have found, especially among the afghan diaspora, were will come and find you wherever you are. i was talking about this yesterday. my parents watching television and seeing everything happening, the mental health impact of the past not just 20 years of u.s. occupation, but 40 years of intervention in afghanistan come have created not just a human rights crisis where you see refugees fleeing their country, but also spiritual and mental crisis. what you're saying is the impact of war, the pervasive impact of how it impacts your daily life. it is just really, really unsettling to see how this could happen and just as a social worker of afghan descent, the resources that we have are some limited.

the ability we have two really serve these people and help these folks live a life that is full and happy and joyful, it is just devastating. amy: i want to ask about the criticism of western feminists, their argument for protecting afghan women was used as a justification for the war and occupation. >> i think there were many of us who were outspoken against the war. i know that because they were gathered in my living room. madina, you have a good answer that you tell me yesterday. i want to give this to you. madina wardakmadina wardak amy:, the question of western feminists demand for the protection of afghan women was

used as a justification for the war and occupation. >> absolutely. i was having a conversation yesterday about my mom's generation. my mom and afghanistan was a successful woman who fought really, really hard to be one of the first female accountants afghanistan, to be multilingual, to travel the world. and she did that before any foreign intervention. the stories of afghan women that i grew up with come about afghan women who don't need anyone, don't need 70, who never asked for it. growing up in a place -- post 9/11 world, weak, docile people that need saving, i did not identify with that because that was not my family. that is not a lot of afghan women that i know. amy: thank you for being with us

social worker of afghan descent , mental health social worker of afghan descent and founder of burqas and beer. and v, playwright and founder of v-day and one billion rising. there event is taking place tomorrow. next up, your special envoy to haiti has resigned in protest over the biden administration administrations days after border patrol agents were seen whipping refugees. we will speak with congressmember maxine waters, longtime advocate for the people of haiti. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "haiti, my country" by toto bissainthe. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. special envoy to haiti has resigned in protest over the biden administrati's mass deportation of haitian asylum seekers. in a letter, longtime diplomat daniel foote wrote -- "i will not be associated with the united states' inhumane,

counterproductive decision to deport thousands of haitian refugees." foote also criticized the biden administration's meddling in haiti's political affairs, including its support for ariel henry as prime minister following the assassination of the haitian president jovenel moïse in july. foote wrote -- "this cycle of international political interventions in haiti has consistently produced catastrophic results." foote's resignation came just days after u.s. border patrol agents on horseback were filmed chasing, grabbing, and whipping haitian asylum seekers who had gathered in a makeshift camp in del rio, texas. "the new york times" reports the biden administration has now deported nearly 2000 haitians in recent days. about 3000 haitian asylum seekers remain in the makeshift camps under the international bridge in del rio, well thousands of others have been allowed to stay in the united states. this is california congresswoman

maxine waters, chair of the house financial services committee, longtime advocate for the people of haiti, speaking outside the capital. >> what the hell are we doing here? what we witnessed has taken a spec hundreds of years. what we witnessed was worse than what we witnessed since slavery. cowboys with their reins whipping black people, haitians, to the water where they are scrambling and falling down when all they're trying to do is escape from violence in their country. amy: that is maxine waters. washington, d.c., where we're for more, we go towashington, d.c., where we're joined by democratic california congresswoman maxine waters, chair of the house financial services committee. can you respond to what we have watched this week, the whipping of haitian asylum seekers on the west side of the border by border patrol? what are you demanding.

>> thank you. i am outraged and i'm demanding first of all they take the cowboys out. take the horses out and stop using them against the people. secondly, we have got to come up with real immigration reform. meanwhile, we have got to treat patients the with the constitution allows us to have people petition for amnesty, to be able to get -- asylum, i'm sorry. asylum in our country. we are not allowing them to go to the constitutional process. we are not protecting them in any way. we are not doing what we can to help those who are under that bridge. i mean, this is inhumane. the united states can do better than this. these deportations, this not allowing them any opportunity to

gain entrance into our country is just an toward and i am outraged. this administration can do better than this. i am telling them so. amy: in the last months, the biden administration granted a new temporary protected status or tps designation to haitians already living in the u.s. to protect them from deportation for at least 18 months. at the time, secretary of homeland security mayorkas cited haiti's political and economic crises on human rights abuses, and other security concerns. the pandemic, shortages of food, clean water and health care come as reasons for extending the tpa tape -- tps protections. he said "after careful consideration, we determined we must do what we can to support haitian nationals in the united states until conditions in haiti improve so they may safely return home."

now the biden administration is preventing them from coming in to the u.s. and instead mass deporting them. >> that is a weak response and i have not heard from the president post this country has not heard from the president. i think he needs to speak up and he needs to articulate what the real policy is, what the humane policy is going to be. you mentioned in your opening that the special envoy quit after having only been appointed just

a few months ago. and he said he was in disagreement with this administration's policy. and i don't think he would have done that unless he understood, had a talk with those in the state department and others that they have no intentions of doing the right thing by haiti. we are in an awful situation, a situation that we find ourselves in which and stu the undermining, the disrespect, the basically hatred of haitians not only by the united states in the way we have treated them historically, also by candidate and france. they have just been the victims of all of these countries for years and taken advantage of and splendid. they do not intend to have the -- well, they have not been able to get the united states to

support credible governance most of we will go along with whomever and whatever happens in haiti. so we have got to do better than this. i don't know where this administration is going with this but i'm going to do everything i can. i think it is a humane policy that he demonstrated but it doesn't seem to be what they are about. amy: i went to ask you about nbc news reporting the biden administration's advertising for new contract to operate on migrant detention facity at the u.s. naval base at guantánamo bay, cuba, with the requirement some of the guards speak spanish and haitian creole. capacity of 120 people. the contract would allow it to hold up to "400 migrants in surge." event."

as many as 12,000 were sent there from 1991-19 93 when they sought to flee haiti to seek asylum in florida. are we really going to see a reprise of this, congressmember waters? >> you have more information than i have. if that is what is happening, we know what guantánamo has been used for in the past. i don't know where this administration is going, talking about continuing to deport and send some to guantánamo, allow some to come into united states. i don't know what the policy is. amy: let me ask you about what the white house is saying. this is the press secretary jen psaki russian on the biden administration's ongoing mass deportations of haitian asylum seekers. >> first of all, they are not deportations. people are not coming into the country through legal methods. our policy process has continued

to be the same with haiti as it is for anybody coming through for regular migration across our border. amy: if you can respond to this. i saw some haitians deported back to haiti, the reason why ambassador foote has quit, talking about their hands been shackled to their waist and their feet shackled as well. you couple this with the clippings of haitians, kids, teenagers into the rio grande by these men on horseback. when we saw you in that clip of you outside the capital, you are with the congressional black caucus. had you been to the white house? what is biden saying? do you have access to the president at this point? >> i am told, there is rumor that somebody in the white house was inquiring about what to do with me.

so i was not invited to the white house. no, i have not had contact with the white house. i don't know whether anybody at the white house wants to talk with me or whether or not i have been blocked from going to the white house. they know my history. they know i have fought for haiti. they know i was supportive of president aristide. they know i helped rescue him along with you and others. they know all of this. they know my history. nobody seems to be talking to me. amy: congressmember waters, thank you for being with us. we will continue to cover this extensively. talking about the 2004 trip. i covered her flying in a small plane with randall robinson of trans africa in a jamaican parliamentarian. we flew to the central african republic where president aristide was flown a military plane in a coup against aristide in haiti by the u.s. military

post write him back to the western hemisphere. you can go to our website to see the story of that journey and my interview with president aristide at that time. maxine waters, thank you for being with us.