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With Haiti on the brink of collapse, eight Americans, one Canadian, and one French volunteer have been evacuated. The prime minister announced his resignation on Monday, and flights to the capital have been suspended following an attack on the international airport by armed groups.
McClain told The Washington Post that she learned about the stranded group from a voter who called her on Saturday. She immediately asked Mills for help.
She said the original plan was to evacuate the group early Monday morning as soon as Mills obtained a helicopter and found a pilot to fly it. But maintenance issues with that helicopter delayed the evacuation by a day, forcing Mills to find a second helicopter, McClain said.
The gangs set fire to a police station near the airport on March 4 and then looted Port-au-Prince’s main shipping port, shutting down both ports and making it difficult to reach the Haitian capital.
That complicated the helicopter’s landing, McClain said. She said she was in frequent contact with Mr. Albom, who helped her find the best landing spot through local connections. She did not want to endanger those still in Haiti, including additional Americans who needed to be rescued, she said, and she did not elaborate.
It was not immediately clear how Mills, who is believed to have participated in the rescue effort, found the two helicopters and flight team at such short notice.
“He runs with a different crowd than you and me,” McClain said, referring to the congressman’s nearly 10 years of military service, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mills declined to answer questions about how he planned the helicopter trip. In his previous rescue efforts, he said he worked with two nonprofit organizations to facilitate the mission: Mercury One and the Tsedek Association. Neither organization responded to requests for comment.
In a Fox News interview Wednesday, Mills offered no further explanation, instead criticizing the Biden administration for not bailing out the group itself.
Albom said in a statement posted on social media that he and his wife have been holed up indoors since a state of emergency was declared earlier this month after a gang led a mass jailbreak and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Stated. After Prime Minister Henry announced his resignation on Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a meeting in Jamaica that the United States would commit $33 million in humanitarian assistance, as well as personnel, equipment, financial and logistical resources to multinational security services. announced that it would contribute $300 million to support missions. From various countries to Haiti.
Albom, who lives in McClain’s district, said Tuesday that he had returned to the U.S. mainland, but other volunteers remained trapped in Haiti.
“We were luckier than a lot of people,” Albom said. the statement said. “Don’t forget about them.”
McClain described his mission, including how he carried it out, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday. After learning of Albom’s situation, he asked Mills to help rescue several Americans in Port-au-Prince.
Mills, who works with humanitarian organizations, provided footage of what he said was a helicopter rescue to Fox News. The Army veteran told Florida Politics in 2021 that he rescued four Americans from Afghanistan after Kabul fell to the Taliban, his office said in October, and Mills on October 7. announced that it helped rescue 255 Americans from Israel after a Hamas attack on Sunday.
“If there are Americans in trouble overseas, I will continue to be there to help them,” Mills wrote in a social media post Wednesday, accompanied by a video of the Fox interview.
At the public hearing, Before criticizing the Biden administration, McClain questioned defense leaders about what was being done to help Americans trapped in Haiti.
“Nothing takes precedence over the safety and security of American citizens overseas,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to the Post.
“We are always relieved to know that the American people are safe,” the statement said. “However, the security situation in Haiti is highly uncertain and such efforts are risky and could put people at risk.”
In an interview with the Post, McClain said his office has received about a dozen calls since Tuesday’s evacuation requesting similar rescue efforts for more Americans trapped in Haiti.
Albom, the author of “Tuesdays with Molly” and “Five People You Meet in Heaven,” has been running the orphanage “Hub Face Haiti” since 2010. He wrote that it was “so hard” to leave his children behind, adding that he plans to return. This is the moment when that becomes possible. ”
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