On September 26, 2024, a broad coalition of 40 religious and non-profit organizations, including members of AM SSND’s Haiti Collaboration Committee, lobbied their senators in Washington D.C. to stop firearms trafficking from the United States to Haiti and beyond. The coalition is hearing that there is finally a recognition of the severity of the problem by the Administration and there is movement toward addressing it.

You may be interested to watch a webinar with William O'Neil, a U.N. Expert on human rights in Haiti, https://youtu.be/2OVZrTAGHnI that speaks to the situation in the country.

Gang violence in Haiti is fueled in large part by trafficked firearms. Committed to the life and dignity of all people, we, School Sisters of Notre Dame, raise our voices in protest at the forces and people that enable this violence and to those who commit atrocities. Together, we advocate for legislation now and in the coming weeks and months, which will help to mitigate the flow of illegal weapons to Haiti and disempower the gangs. 

After you have used the written voter voice platform, please consider calling your U.S. Senators’ and House offices in Washington. You can click on the call button with the picture of a telephone receiver to the right of this page, and you will see a suggested script and the telephone numbers for each of your representatives. Staffers in their offices log every call, letter and email received. The more they hear from us, the better!

1. HR 6618 / S 4647: The ARMAS Act (America’s Regional Monitoring of Arms Sales) would transfer small arms authority back to the Department of State from Commerce to increase accountability and transparency as well as develop a comprehensive interagency strategy for arms sales and oversight of exports.
2. HR 7799 / S 4067: The CATCH Act (Caribbean Arms Trafficking Causes Harm) would strengthen the new Coordinator for Caribbean Firearms Prosecutions under the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in their accountability and reporting to Congress and law enforcement agencies.
3. HR 8427 / S 2926: The Stop Arming Cartels Act would ban deadly .50 caliber rifles and allow victims of gun violence to sue manufacturers and dealers who engage in prohibited firearms trafficking, as well as strengthen reporting to law enforcement of multiple sales of rifles to disrupt straw purchasing and smuggling.
4. S396: The Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act, already passed in the House, imposes accountability and sanctions on Haitian political and economic elites supporting the gangs.

We also support the letter from Senator Warren, Chair Cardin, Ranking Member Meeks, and Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick recommending steps to combat firearms trafficking to Haiti, which incorporates feedback directly from this Stop Arms to Haiti coalition and several of our co-sponsors.

God Bless you for your advocacy!