03/19/24 03/19/24 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> palestinians in gaza are enduring horrifying levels of anger and dutch hunger and suffering. this is the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded. the mako a new report finds

famine is imminent in northern gaza and israeli troops launched a fourth major raid on shifa hospital, were tens of thousands have been seeking shelter. we will go to rob a lot to speak with palestinian position and politician dr. mustafa barghouti . at least 12 are killed in haiti as violence and turmoil continue. we will talk to the former u.s. special envoy for haiti, ambassador dan foote. he resigned from his post in 2021 citing the biden administration's "inhumane treatment was quote of haitian asylum seekers and u.s. meddling in haitian politics. then as republican presidential front-runner donald trump calls immigrants animals again, a new film called "unseen" hopes to reframe the narrative entirely. it profiles a blind,

undocumented social work student named pedro. >> you placed a lot of stress and anxiety and do you. i decided to study social work. i wanted to help people, an opportunity for those that did not have an opportunity. amy: we'll speak with the film's director set hernandez. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. famine is imminent in northern gaza according to a u.n.-backed report published monday. michael fakri, the u.n. special rapporteur on the right to food said the u.s. is "complicit in this starvation of the palestinian people in gaza" and urged the biden administration to call for a ceasefire and stop

sending weapons and money to israel. u.n. secretary general antónio guterres and unrwa chief philippe lazzarini also blasted what they called the man-made hunger crisis monday. this is the eu's top diplomat josep borrell. close this is not a natural disaster. it is not a flood, an earthquake. it is entirely man-made. i am coming from washington and i dare to say, well, yes, israel is provoking. amy: borrell added, "before the war, gaza was the greatest open air prison. today it is the greatest open air graveyard." the european union monday approved sanctions against violent israeli settlers in the occupied west bank and against hamas. the white house says president biden told benjamin netanyahu israel should not invade rafah

during a monday phone call as the israeli prime minister reportedly agreed to send a team of israeli officials to washington to discuss an alternative approach. but the palestinian foreign ministry says israel has already begun its large-scale attack on rafah without announcing it as he's really escalate their bombardment -- israeli forces escalate its bombardment of the once so-called safe zone, where some 1.5 million palestinians have taken shelter. earlier today, israeli strikes killed at least 14 people in rafah, and injured dozens of others. >> we are in ramadan. we are having food over body remains. there is u.s. support, european support, support of the whole world to israel. they support them with weapons and planes. they mock as and send four or five airdrops just to save face.

amy: close to 32,000 palestinians have been killed by israel since october 7 according to the latest official numbers. 74,000 others have been injured. the police general tasked with coordinating the entry of aid trucks into northern gaza was killed by israeli forces during their raid on the al-shifa hospital in gaza city. faiq mabhouh helped secure the arrival of food aid for two nights in a row after weeks of israeli blockade. meanwhile, al jazeera journalist ismail al-ghoul was released after 12 hours of detention. while in israeli custody, he said he and other journalists were forced to strip and lie on their stomachs in the cold while blindfolded with their hands tied. in the occupied west bank, israeli forces arrested journalist rula hassanein and

rated -- raided her home overnight. she has a nine-month old baby she was forced to leave behind despite still breastfeeding. in related news, a 26-year-old palestinian bedouin detainee died in an israeli prison over the weekend amid reports of rampant abuse and medical neglect in israeli jails. juma abu ghanima is at least the 13th person to die from mistreatment in an israeli prison since october 7. in haiti, at least a dozen people were killed as armed groups attacked two upscale neighborhoods in the capital port-au-prince monday. the communities of laboule and thomassin had remained untouched by worsening violence and turmoil in haiti. residents described the chaotic scene early monday. >> last night around 11:00 p.m., we were sitting here and two young boys suddenly appeared and opened fire on several of our brothers. they did not address anyone,

they just started shooting. i was there when the shooting happened. i saw them get out of the car and start shooting stop i was trying to understand the situation. amy: last week, un-elected haitian prime minister ariel henry announced he will resign after a coalition of armed groups opposing the leader declared an uprising. meanwhile, haitian stakeholders and leaders of caribbean community, caricom, are still in negotiations to establish a transitional presidential council in haiti. in nigeria, an armed group has kidnapped at least 87 people, including children, in kaduna state. the mass abduction is the latest attack following the separate kidnapping of nearly 300 students and staff from a school in the northwestern town of kuriga earlier this month. abductions in nigeria have become more frequent in recent years as armed groups target local residents for large ransoms. in gambia, the national assembly voted to repeal a landmark 2015 ban on female genital cutting,

also known as female genital mutilation. if approved, it would be the first reversal of protections against the practice, which causes long-term health effects, including increased risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. less than 10% of the national assembly's members are women. this is amnesty international researcher michele eken. >> it will be disastrous for women's rights not only in gambia, but the region. it would tell young girls, your rights can easily be taken away. if this is passed, then what is next? we have to be strong about this and make sure we don't take away something that took so long to fight for. amy: schools in south sudan have temporarily shuttered in preparation of a scorching heat wave that's expected to last for the next two weeks. officials have advised children to stay indoors as temperatures are likely to reach 113 degrees fahrenheit. extreme heat waves have become more common in south sudan due

to the worsening climate change -- crisis and has compounded an already dire humanitarian crisis due to conflict in the region. u.n. secretary-general antónio guterres has expressed concern at reports the burmese military is continuing to bomb civilian areas. dozens of people were reportedly killed, including children, early monday in burmese military air strikes on a predominantly rohingya village in rakhine state. clashes in the region have soared after the end of a sea in november between the air can army and burmese forces. guterres said, "the expansion of conflict is driving displacement and exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities and discrimination." in syria, some 30,000 children and women who had connections to islamic state militants are still being detained in camps and prisons across the north syria under severely abusive conditions. that's according to a u.n.-backed commission which says most of the children were

brought to the region a decade ago when the islamic state controlled portions of land in the region. it's been five years since the militant group lost its presence in syria, but their children have yet to be repatriated to their home countries, remaining in indefinite captivity. tens of thousands of people, many of them children under the age of 12 and women who were married to islamic state militants, are being held at al-hol camp, which has been described by the u.n. as a "blight on the conscience of humanity." dozens of babies are reportedly born each month at al-hol, which is located in a region of northwestern syria still patrolled by hundreds of u.s. troops. meanwhile, teenage boys are kept in jails that are run by u.s.-backed kurdish-led syrian democratic forces. in argentina, protesters in buenos aires were met with rio police and tear gas monday as they marched in a union-led rally to protest mounting food insecurity and far-right president javier milei's massive cuts to social spending. this is union leader hugo godoy. >> today we came back to marsh

together to demand the come -- government respond to this worsening situation of the food crisis that over 6 million argentinian suffer from. the government doesn't even have an inch of humanity to guarantee the provisions to soup kitchens. it is as if they enjoy that people's pain. amy: the protest took place days after senators dealt a major blow to president javier milei's so-called economic shock therapy agenda, voting to block his sweeping decree. since taking office, milei has imposed over 300 austerity and deregulation measures. he also cracked down on the right to protest. argentina has the highest inflation rate in the world, even as it slowed down to 13% last month, down from 20% in january. unicef has warned that children are suffering some of the worst effects of the current economic crisis and milei's cost-cutting measures, with a child poverty rate that could soon hit 70%. back in the united states, donald trump failed to secure the $454 million bond in his new york civil fraud case, increasing the likelihood new

york attorney general letitia james will seize his real estate assets. trump's lawyers said their client was turned down by around 30 bond underwriting companies. the lawyers are requesting an -- the former president be allowed to delay posting bond while he appeals the case. if their request is denied, james could start seizing trump's properties on monday. in other trump news, former white house aide peter navarro is expected to turn himself in to a federal prison in miami today to serve his four-month sentence for contempt of congress. navarro will become the first ever ex-white house official to serve time for a contempt of congress conviction after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the house select committee investigating the january 6 capitol insurrection. the u.s. supreme court monday heard arguments in two first amendment cases. the national rifle association is accusing a new york state official of threatening insurance companies to get them to cut ties with the gun rights group.

in the other case, conservative states and social media users allege the federal government overstepped when it put pressure on social media companies to moderate misinformation around covid and the 2020 election. the justices appeared skeptical of efforts to limit the biden administration's contact with social media companies. this is justice ketanji brown jackson. >> so i guess some might say the government actually has a duty to take steps to protect the citizens of this country and you seem to be suggesting that duty cannot manage the past itself and -- manifest itself in the government encouraging or pressuring plat from's to take down harmful information. so can you help me? i am really worried about that because you have got the first amendment operating in an environment of threatening circumstances of the government's perspective and you

are saying the government cannot interact with the source of those problems. amy: and the environmental protection agency announced a full ban on asbestos. the carcinogen had been largely prohibited in previous environmental orders but chrysotile asbestos had been permitted until this latest ban and is used in a range of products, including brake linings, gaskets, and in chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide production. it's been found to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and other cancers, and is linked to over 40,000 u.s. deaths each year. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. famine is imminent in northern gaza according to a u.n.-backed report published on monday. the latest findings say virtually everyone in gaza is struggling to get enough food and that nearly a third of the population of 2.3 million are experiencing the highest levels of catastrophic hunger.

at least 27 people, mostly children, have died from malnutrition and dehydration in the north. according to the new report, the death rate is expected to accelerate and reach famine levels soon. the world health organizations said in a statement -- "the ipc report confirms what we, our u.n. partners and ngo's have been witnessing and reporting for months. when our missions reach hospitals, we meet exhausted and hungry health workers who ask us for food and water. we see patients trying to recover from life-saving surgeries and losses of limbs, or sick with cancer or diabetes, mothers who have just given birth, or newborn babies, all suffering from hunger and the diseases that stalk it." this comes as the israeli military launched another major raid on al-shifa hospital in gaza city on monday, with israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery surrounding the

complex and troops storming into a number of buildings. the health ministry said about 30,000 people have been sheltering at the hospital, which is the largest hospital in gaza, and that everyone who tries to move is targeted by sniper bullets and quadcopters. among those killed in the raid was faiq mabhouh, a senior officer in the gaza police whom -- who was in charge of coordinating a distribution in the north. meanwhile, president biden warned israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in a telephone call on monday that an invasion of rafah would be a mistake and called on netanyahu to send a team of officials to washington to discuss an alternative approach. israel has continued to bomb rafah almost daily, prompting the palestinian foreign ministry say israel has already begun its large-scale attack on the area.

the death toll in gaza is close to 32,000, over one third of them children, while nearly 74,000 have been injured. for more, we are joined by dr. mustafa barghouti, palestinian physician, activist, and politician. he serves as general secretary of the palestinian national initiative. he is joining us from ramallah in the occupied west bank. welcome to democracy now! let's talk about this issue of famine. doctors describing the wasting you see, for example, at the temples, people dying of starvation, particularly children. can you talk about what this means and when these officials in the u.n. and other bodies talk about this man-made disaster? >> the reality is the whole of gaza population, 2.3 million people, are suffering

from malnutrition already. that includes children, men, women, pregnant women, breast-feeding women, everybody. that is because of the israeli -imposed siege on gaza. the continuous bombardment taken why the lives of people. it is also combined with the fact israel has destroyed more than 70% of people's homes. they don't have normal place to be in. they don't have normal clothes. they don't have clean water to drink. and they don't have food supplies. this is all happening in front of the world. we are talking about famine. we are talking about hunger. we are talking about 700,000 people starting now in the north of gaza, that includes also gaza city. 350,000 our children. that is why i think almost 30 children have died because of starvation already.

this is all happening because of the israeli siege, because nobody in the world -- not the united states, not europe, not the international community as a whole -- is capable of forcing israel to stop this terrible crime of collective punishment against a whole population. israel will not change its policy and its approach without sanctions. the world should impose sanctions on israel to force it to open the rows of supplies of humanitarian aid to the people of gaza and to accept a ceasefire. because even if supplies are there and the bombardment continues, people will survive to die. that is the reality of the situation. today, 5% of the population of gaza have been killed or injured. we are talking about almost 120 thousand people. if that had happened in the united states of america, you would be talking about almost 12 million people killed or injured in five months of this terrible

war. that is the reality of the situation. but add to that, malnutrition causes lack of immunity. there's an outbreak of certain diseases like infectious hepatitis. we have 32 medical teams from our organization working in gaza. they report horrible reports about -- reports. about one leave people in gaza are sick with infections, diarrhea, hepatitis. and our biggest worry is the outbreak of certain infections among children because these children in gaza have not had vaccinations for more than 165 days. amy: can you talk about, i think it is the fourth rate now on al-shifa, and they say tens of thousands of people have taken refuge there? the israeli military and

spokespeople say they are very careful, they have highly trained forces they separate the civilians from the militants. and then talking about a high level hamas official faiq mabhouh, killing him, along with other fighters. mabhouh, apparently the person in charge of distribution in the north? >> first of all, the israeli army is lying when they say they differentiate between civilians and non-civilians. how can this explain the fact that more than 80% of the people killed our civilians, women and children? how can they explain that 70% of everybody killed our children and women? they live. they lie around the clock. each time they quote with a crime like shooting people who

are starving in the north trying to get some food from humanitarian aid -- we are talking about 400 people shot while they were trying to get some flour. these people are totally civilians. they are not armed. they are not a threat to anybody but they kill them. adding to injury, more than 3000 other people. they keep lying. i don't believe their lies. mr. mabhouh that was killed was a policeman. he was simply organizing some supplies to get to the north. and for the first time, two days ago, 13 trucks with some flour got to the north of gaza. clearly, and this was well organized, people received their portions. there were no gangs to steal the supplies. obviously, this is something

israel did not like. they did not like people were organized and getting some supplies after so many days of hunger. and that is why they killed a policeman. they want chaos in gaza. they are going from attacking al-shifa -- actually, to push people from al-shifa hospital and gaza city to the south again because the ultimate goal of israel is ethnic cleansing. the reality is, the whole operation, military operation, to attack rafah is ready to be implemented and may be part of it has already started to be implemented come as you mentioned. why they're attacking rafah with 1.4 million people in an area that is very small, that does not exceed 24 square miles? they will cause a terrible massacre. but the real war is to push people to the borders of egypt. netanyahu did not change his original plan of ethnic

cleansing. the united states government, mr. biden and his administration, instead of saying to mr. netanyahu you cannot have it operation in rafah and you have to stop this fight and accept -- instead, they're deciding to become part of his war cabinet discussing the plans of how to attack rafah rather than saying this attack should not take place. amy: national secured advisor jake sullivan reach reporters on this last call between biden and netanyahu. he laid out the concerns biden expressed about a possible ground invasion of rafah. >> first, more than one million people have taken refuge in rafah. they went from gaza city to khan younis and then to rafah. they have nowhere else to go. gaza's other major cities have largely been destroyed. israel is not presented us or the world with a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians, let alone feed and house them and ensure access

to basic things like sanitation. a major ground operation would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire crisis, and further isolate israel internationally. amy: if you can talk about what this team from the israeli government is that is going to washington, d.c., to, with the so-called alternative plan -- although israel keeps insisting they don't kill palestinian civilians, they have very targeted trips that know exactly the difference between them. and what it means to say if they attack rafah, which every day they are doing but a full-scale ground invasion, they will establish humanitarian -- what are they describing it as? humanitarian islands for people to go to? >> that is not true because there is no safe place anymore in gaza. if there are places which will

not be bombarded as they claim, they are places without any infrastructure, without water, without electricity, without food, without medical services, without medicine, without anything. where will people go? to talk about the possibly of such an attack that it would cause more harm is not an option. it will cause a huge massacre. the largest massacre in human history, probably, at least in modern history. we will be talking about tens of thousands of people who would be slaughtered. that is the reality. they have no place to escape to. israel kept saying to people, move from this place to that place, will be safe. and then they would bombard the safe place. the united states should not say, i repeat, should not say there isn't a good plan. they should say the whole attack should not happen and that this war must stop and when the

israelis say different they are lying. the 14,000 palestinian children who were killed, military activist or militants? these are children, for god sake. they are not 19 or 18 years old. these are 10 years old, two years old, when year old, even months old. that is the reality of what is happening in gaza. it is a massacre. it is a huge genocide that israel is engaging and and united states of america does not have the guts to go to the united nations security council resolution and allow the passage of a resolution demanding immediate ceasefire. that is what we need, immediate ceasefire. no attack on rafah. and supplies immediately to the civilian population of gaza, which is starving. amy: can you talk about the negotiations that are going on

in qatar right now? talk about what hamas has put forward. >> hamas tried, as the record shows that we have received -- reports show hamas tried to be flexible. they made some concessions to make it possible to reach an agreement because they are really worried about the humanitarian situation of the people and so many people who are being killed. unfortunately, netanyahu restricted the team that went to qatar. restricted the team and authorization. in my frank opinion, i think netanyahu made these restrictions with his team to prevent reaching an agreement. use that failure to attack rafah . netanyahu knows if he goes into a deal with hamas about freeing some prisoners and exchanger

prisoners, his coalition partners will bring his government down. all he thinks about is how to save himself, how to save his position. he doesn't care about israeli prisoners. he knows very well if he attacks rafah, so many israeli prisoners will be killed. he knows that but he doesn't care. he is stuck with these fascists in his government and driving his whole government into -- actually, the israeli government at large. what is happening in palestine could not be made except for by people who have no respect not only to international law but to human life in general. amy: you're in the occupied west bank, dr. mustafa barghouti. you're in ramallah. can you talk about the arrest of journalists? you have ismail with al jazeera

stripped naked for hours, detained, interrogated with others when they raided al-shifa hospital. al jazeera reported satellite trucks were attacked outside, tv satellite trucks, to restrict further images. you have in the occupied west bank, rula who was a palestinian journalist. it is unclear if she was taken from her home in ramallah or was at bethlehem. she has a nine-month-old baby and is breast-feeding. this just happened. the attack on journalists and what you think is the message israel is sending? >> the message is they are re-occupying was gaza, subjecting all palestinian people without exception to terrible conditions. as you know, since the beginning of this war, israel did not allow any -- into gaza -- four

journalist into gaza except for one that was allowed from cnn for three hours. then they started executing the local journalist. up to now, 146 palestinian journalist in gaza were killed by israeli snipers or israeli bombardment including two from al jazeera and now they have arrested a third one and practically tortured him before releasing him. you remember the story of the family who lost his wife and children because he was reporting for al jazeera. in my opinion, the attacks or journalists are also taking place in the west bank. more than 50 were arrested so far. it goes on. and the west bank, by the way come israel has arrested more than 7500 new people. the total number of people in israeli jails in the west bank has risen from 5300 to almost

9000. one thing the world does not talk about is the terrible torture the people in israeli prisons are subjected to. they are fighting them, torturing them with hunger. they brought down the russians with food rations by 70%. they beat them regularly. most recently, they attacked either one of the political prisoners and many of his colleagues as well, beating them badly. it goes on. we have lost already 13 people in israeli jails because of torture and because of beatings and starvation. the situation in israeli prisons is horrifying. in gaza, we don't know exactly the number of people imprisoned or kidnapped. we're talking about thousands. people have told us horrible stories about how they were tortured in israeli prison camps

with electric shocks, drowning them in water, terrible beatings. the director of al-shifa hospital is still in prison. they broke both of his hands. they tried to force him to admit -- that is the reality of the situation on the ground. it is horrifying. amy: dr. mustafa barghouti, thank you for being with us palestinian physician, activist, , and politician who serves as general secretary of the palestinian national initiative. speaking to us from his office in the occupied west bank in ramallah. next up, we talk about haiti as violence continues. we speak with the former u.s. special envoy for haiti ambassador dan foote who resigned in 2021 citing the biden administration's what he called inhumane treatment of haitian asylum seekers and u.s. meddling in haitian politics. back in 20 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: "mtaktak" by shabjdeed and al nather. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in haiti, at least 12 people a been killed as armed groups attacked an upscale area in the capital port-au-prince monday. amid the worst violence, haiti's

power company announced four substations have been destroyed, leaving swaths of the capital without electricity. last week unelected haitian for prime minister henry announced he will resign after a coalition of armed groups opposing the defect a leader declared an uprising. haitian stakeholders and leaders of the caribbean community are still in negotiations to establish a transitional presidential council in haiti. this comes as the u.s. government chartered flight carrying over 30 u.s. citizens, haitian americans, latest sunday in miami. meanwhile, a boat carrying 25 migrants from haiti was intercepted by florida officials and turned over to the coast guard for deportation. ron desantis has deployed soldiers from the national guard to block haitians from reaching florida. the biden administration is reportedly considering housing any influx of haitians to guantanamo bay. for more we're joined by

ambassador dan foote. he is the former u.s. special envoy for haiti. he resigned from his post in september 2021 citing the biden administration's inhumane treatment of haitian asylum seekers and u.s. meddling in haitian politics. he is joining us from buffalo, new york. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what is happening right now in haiti? >> it is complete anarchy and chaos. haiti has been broken since the assassination of the president 32 months ago. but by anointing ariel henry, the united states and the international community put a hated party back in power in haiti, the party the haitians consider responsible for where they are right now. and as a result, 32 months has gone by. haiti has eroded by an magnitude

of five or 10 times in that period. it is chaos on the street. currently, we are holding haiti hostage through this caricom political process. we wasted going on three weeks now since this current crisis started. i think that is a signal the haitian people probably don't what the caricom solution. amy: i want to turn to a clip of former u.s. ambassador to haiti pamela white speaking to fox news over the weekend. >> i know he sort of this put as one of the bad boys but in my opinion he is someone who can help with the situation. i believe we should be dealing with him. we can certainly deal with -- she is care maddock, bright, articulate. he has many people that are following him. i think he can be part of the solution. i think barbecue can be part of

the solution. i don't think 1000 canyon -- kenyan troops are going to to the situation around in haiti. my last important point is this new seven person counsel countries issuing counsel -- transition to what? it is a failed state in haiti. in any case, if one of the people appointed on a seven person counsel of the elite come the names we have heard, political elite, private sector elite, people that have mansions in the hills of port-au-prince, the people who have mansions in florida and send their kids to ivy league schools, those people -- amy: that is former u.s. haiti pamela white, from 2012-2015, speaking to fox news. this is quite amazing she's

talking about philippe who is one of the leaders of the coup that overthrew the democratically elected president aristide, supported by the george w. bush -- supported by the bush administration. and then you had the fact he served years in jail u.s. jail for drug trafficking, just released in november. it reminds us of juan orlando hernandez who is just convicted of drug trafficking. she is saying he should be considered as she did come out of prison and say he wants to be the president of haiti. is this possible u.s. is pushing for him to be part of the solution? >> there is certainly some ironic timing going on. i don't think the u.s. is that foolish, but they may -- they have had poor judgment in the

past three years. they just released d philippe a matter of months ago. after he completed a seven year state in federal prison for money laundering. they could not get him on drug trafficking or he would have done 30 years. they sent him back. now, he has a little bit of a constituency inh. he is not an unknown. but the haitians are not looking to be governed by criminals. the haitian people have to make these decisions. this is a great example of americans, foreigners, nonblack haitians -- everybody has an answer for haiti. unfortunately, historically, none of those answers have worked. throwing gang bangers into the middle of this is not going to work. there is a voice, to a certain extent, that the gangs have gained in the past 30 months.

they're going to have to cooperate in a haitian dialogue. i think they will, but the haitian people have no room for criminals in their leadership in the future. they have had criminal leaders with impunity because of their backing from the international community for the past many years. amy: ambassador foote, what about people who are fully-- f leeing haiti? explain why you quit in 2021. >> the main reason was the anointment and support of ariel henry. it was clear to me that was not going to work. at the time the u.s. was propping him up, there was a parallel deception -- discussion going on in haiti. looking to come together with

the consensus political agreement. and that was, in my opinion, and still is, the way forward for haiti. then you had the terrible situation in del rio, texas, where you had cbp guys whipping haitians, refugee guys up there. and that was the straw that broke the camels back for my resignation. amy: you talked about the inhumane treatment the biden administration in returning deported haitians into a very dangerous situation. >> i did. for years we have told all americans, don't travel to haiti, it is too dangerous. if the balloon goes up, we might not be able to help you. we're seeing right now that is going on. you have over 1000 americans trying to get out of haiti right now and the u.s. government is not assisting them at all stop

-- that at all. everyone is looking to leave that island, as you and i would if we were there. it is not livable. famine and violence and a complete breakdown of society is something that any human being would try to flee. the idea we can use one taught him as a staging area -- one time as a staging area is -- haiti is a failed state. it cannot support the people that live there right now. we have taken all of our people and got out. what kind of humanity exists when we are then picking up desperate haitians and forcing them back into this catastrophe? amy: the idea of haiti, the history of the u.s. being repeated in haiti. the u.s. put patients with hiv at guantánamo until the outcry

was so great and lawsuits they were dealing with was too much and that ended but the idea of putting them back into this prison camp? if you can talk about what it means that this is an election year for president biden? and haitians fleeing the violence of haiti, going to florida is also a repeat of history. u.s. involvement leading to haitian refugees they land in florida and democrats are afraid of florida flipping. what do you think should happen? you have the senator of massachusetts, the congress member from massachusetts as well ayanna pressley, demanding haitians not be deported as late as last week and yet we see returns, for example, forcing the return of haitian migrants

at sea. >> first of all, let me touch on this. haitians right now are kind of the sites themselves. -- kind of besides themselves. the u.s. used to be our friend and partner. why are they doing this to us? the fact we are trying to impose another flood government on the haitian people and ask them all to stay there and not go anywhere is unfathomable to these poor people. they have asked me, what is next? are you going to build a cage around haiti? let's turn to immigration. the biden administration in 2021 after the assassination treated haiti not as hemispheric and global leaders but as somebody just trying to sweep something under the rug for domestic politics and hoping it would not blow up. and now their worst nightmare has occurred here a few months

before the elections. and as haitians and i have been predicting the whole time, it has now completely, spooled -- come unspoole the biden administrationd. is flailing. the idea you can slam haiti on these and see where the boats is a dangerous concept. i am concerned for our own coast guard folks boarding and seizing and taking migrants into custody is a very dangerous thing, particularly in the seas between haiti and florida which are quite rough. you're taking a lot of risk on their own security officials in doing this. but at the end of the day, what are we accomplishing in doing this other than telling haitians not to come here? our economy was on the verge of terrible session a year ago.

that never occurred and nobody has asked why. if you look and ask economists, it is because of the huge migrant influx. we need that labor. the fact we can just keep out desperate people from haiti is a concept but not a reality. you can close the border come as the biden administration has talked about doing, but i live right across from the border with canada and there is no way we can stop people from coming across our enormous borders. amy: ambassador dan foote, thank you for being with us former , u.s. special envoy for haiti. he resigned from his post in september 2021 citing the biden administration's inhumane treatment of haitian asylum seekers. as donald trump escalates attacks on migrants talking about them as animals, we will see a film that to say the least

changes the narrative. it is called "unseen" profiling a blind document in social work student named pedro. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "round and around," a new song by julie yeeun kim that is featured in "unseen," a new film we will talk about next. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on the campaign trail this weekend, republican presidential frontrunner donald trump

escalating his attacks on migrants. pres. trump: people. i don't know if you call them people. in some cases, they're not people but i'm not allowed to say that because the radical left because it is a terrible thing to say. they say, have to vote against him because did you hear what he said about humanity? i have seen the humanity. these are bad -- these are animals, ok? amy: trump has also touted fake news about crime rates by undocumented immigrants even though studies show u.s.-born residents are much more likely to commit crimes than undocumented immigrants, including violent crimes. meanwhile, president biden has said he regrets using the word "illegal" during his state of the union address to describe a venezuelan immigrant accused of killing a georgia nursing student laken riley. biden will campaign in arizona and nevada today. welcome a new film hopes to reframe the narrative entirely. it premiered monday night on the pbs documentary series pov.

it is called "unseen" and it profiles a blind undocumented social work student named pedro. this is the trailer.

amy: the trailer for "unseen." we are joined by its director set hernandez. congratulations on this amazing film. if you can talk about your journey making it with your friend pedro. i mean, just the title "unseen," a invoking documents and immigrants as well as pedro's sight challenges. even the framing, the way you make it out of focus for us all to try to see what pedro sees. >> thank you so much for having me. i've been a big fan of the show. truly grateful for journalism you all do at democracy now! "unseen" started with me meeting pedro at a program for

undocumented young adults. your point about the title, while the film depicts the disability through pedro, i think at the end of the day the film is also about vulnerability. often discourse about immigration as you play the clip with donald trump, it is often coming from this place of the political, the election. for me as an undocumented immigrant myself, i am interested in how we can amplify and uplift the internal and inherent humidity of undocumented folks. at the end of the date when people watch the film, connect with the vulnerability that pedro portrays. it is really what is at the heart of this project. amy: you begin with pedro and his dog. as a dog lover. but how touching it is, this

team that makes their way, navigates life. what pedro is doing as a social work student working with those who are challenged, particularly blind, also dealing with one of the worst massacres in u.s. history in las vegas, particularly focusing on latino victims? >> i think so much of the film uplifts the intersectionalities. when we think about immigration, i feel like discourse in this country only focuses on immigrants as immigrants. through pedro, we are uplifting how the different intersectionality's of our experience in pedro's case being an undocumented immigrant who also has a disability, and mental health and how so much of the conversations of fear mongering, to be honest, even our community's experience, and pack the way we think about our future and uncertainty.

i think with the film, we are uplifting the experience of interdependence and how we as a community can continue to lean on each other which pedro and his community through tyler come his guide dog come his family, mentors, teachers are showcasing. it is so difficult to rely on the state for so many of us and really claiming ownership over our lives in this way. amy: talk about the challenges. i what to go to another clip from "unseen" when you set, you are the director, you reunite with pedro.

>> that made me wonder what i was doing with my life. simply trying to survive.

many times i thought about just going to sleep and never wake up again. i was worried if i did something like that -- amy: talk about how this is also a film about healing. in some ways, it is about you as well. part of this seven year journey you go on making this film. you cofounded out of necessity the undocumented film makers collective, which promotes equity for a document it immigrants in the film industry. >> yes. i want to lift up a quote "hard times are coming we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now."

i felt in the discourse about immigration, so often it is the politicians whose voices and perspectives are uplifted. with "unseen," what i'm proud of is our filmmaking team is reflective of pedro's life stuff it was led by a team of filmmakers who happen to be undocumented immigrants, blind, and disabled artists have also been integral parts of our filmmaking practice. i feel like how can we reclaim the narrative for ourselves instead of further uplifting the perspectives politicians have about our community come how can we lean on each other and amplify the voices and the ways we understand our lives in the world? i feel like because of the way the film industry works, a document of people -- people with disabilities are excluded from receiving resources to be able to make films even for me to be able to make the film, i

was excluded from 70 grant opportunities because of citizenship and residency requirements that so many of these opportunities require. amy: i want to thank you for being with us and congratulate you on "unseen" which pov.