Clay Higgins criticizes Haitian immigrants and warns them to “leave our country”

Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana called Haiti “the worst country in the Western Hemisphere” in a social media post on Wednesday and demanded that migrants from the Caribbean nation, the majority of whom are in the United States legally, “get their asses out of our country.”

Higgins' rant against X — which was deleted hours later — came in response to an Associated Press article about a Haitian nonprofit that filed a citizen's complaint against former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance for their repeated baseless claims about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, including Trump's statement at the presidential debate that they would “eat the dogs” and “eat the cats.”

Higgins' post reinforced the debunked favorite claim, which was followed by dozens of bomb threats in the city.

“Lol. These Haitians are wild. They eat pets, Vudu, the worst country in the Western Hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters… but damn if they don't feel all cultured right now and bring charges against our president and vice president,” he said, referring to Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates Trump and Vance.

“All these thugs better change their minds and get their asses out of our country before January 20th,” the post concluded. That is the day Trump and Vance would be sworn in if they win the election in November.

Subodh Chandra, the attorney for the Haitian Bridge Alliance, the nonprofit that brought the lawsuit, said the post was “not a dog whistle, but the pronouncement of a clear threat.”

He said: “In a functioning House of Representatives under a responsible speaker who cares about integrity, this would be addressed quickly through an investigation by an ethics committee and a censure or expulsion. But this is a majority in the House that tolerates anti-Semitism and racism, so we will see if the Republican leadership does anything at all.”

Neither a spokesperson for Higgins nor a representative of the Trump campaign responded to a request for comment on the post.

Democratic Representative Steve Horsford of Nevada moved to censure Higgins in the House early Wednesday evening.

“They are stirring up hatred. They are stirring up fear,” Horsford said.

“It is time to put an end to hate and hate rhetoric, and no member has the right to continue to spew this kind of rhetoric on any platform, let alone in the House of Representatives,” he added.

Higgins' fellow Republican congressman from Louisiana, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, said: “The tweet has already been deleted and removed, but I object to the motion.”

The application was found inadmissible.

The vast majority of Haitians in Springfield are in the country legally, having been granted temporary protected status by the Department of Homeland Security. Trump and Vance have said they will end that protection and immediately deport the Haitians if elected.

“If Kamala Harris waves the magic wand illegally and says these people are now here legally, I will still call them 'illegal aliens,'” Vance told reporters at an event in North Carolina earlier this month.

Higgins is a staunch Trump ally who has become known for his fiery rhetoric. Last year he said of special counsel Jack Smith: “All I'm saying is his days are numbered, and American patriots will not stand by, good sir, and allow our republic to crumble.”

After a terrorist attack in London in 2017, Higgins said anyone even suspected of being an Islamist terrorist should be killed.

“Not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted even the modicum of clemency,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Their planned entry into the American homeland should be summarily denied. Every possible measure should be taken to hunt them down. Hunt them down, identify them, and kill them. Kill them all.”

Last year, he also made headlines for violently removing an activist from an outdoor press conference on Capitol Hill.

In a subsequent Twitter post, he said the activist “acted in a very disruptive and threatening manner, violating the law” and “aggressively disrupted and approached Congresswoman Lauren Boebert in a threatening manner.”