On Thursday, Republican Rep. Mia Love of Utah, the first Haitian-American to be elected to Congress, demanded an apology from President Donald Trump for his comments about Haiti and African countries being “shithole countries.”
“The (President’s) comments are unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation’s values,” Love said in a statement Thursday night. “The President must apologize to both the American people and the nations he so wantonly maligned.”
Love’s parents immigrated to the United States in the 1970s, and she cited her family’s story in her statement.
“My parents came from one of those countries but proudly took an oath of allegiance to the United States and took on the responsibilities of everything that being a citizen comes with. They never took a thing from our federal government,” Love said. “They worked hard, paid taxes, and rose from nothing to take care of and provide opportunities for their children. They taught their children to do the same. That’s the American Dream.”
Here is my statement on the President’s comments today: pic.twitter.com/EdtsFjc2zL
— Rep. Mia Love (@RepMiaLove) January 11, 2018
‘Why do we want all these people from shithole countries?’
In a meeting on immigration on Thursday, President Donald Trump used damning language in reference to immigrants from Africa, Haiti and other “shithole countries.”
“Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?” Trump told a bipartisan group of senators in the Oval Office, according to the Washington Post and CNN.
The president’s comment was made during a meeting with six senators hoping to come to a compromise on immigration.
After Sen. Dick Durbin proposed to end the visa lottery in exchange for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for countries like El Salvador, Trump reportedly interrupted him when Durbin got to Haiti.
Trump went on to ask why the US would want more people from Haiti and African countries, rather than countries like Norway. The president also asked if Haiti could be left out of the plan, reports the New York Times, “Why do we want people from Haiti here?”
Trump has since denied making the comments.