Mitch Albom among Michiganians rescued from Haiti, GOP lawmakers say

Washington — A group from Michigan trapped in Haiti in recent days that included Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom was rescued by helicopter overnight Tuesday in an operation organized by Florida U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, lawmakers said.

Albom was in Port-au-Prince for a monthly visit to the orphanage operated by his charity, Michigan U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain told The Detroit News. Eight of the 10 people extracted in the rescue were from Michigan, according to McClain’s office.

McClain, who represents northern Macomb County and the Thumb in Congress, said she learned about Albom’s situation Saturday from a constituent and immediately started making calls to help.

“I mean, the work he does is really good work,” McClain said of the longtime Detroit newspaper columnist, author and radio host. “But he took 10 individuals down there, and they were stuck.”

McClain, a Republican from Bruce Township, disclosed the overnight helicopter rescue mission Tuesday morning during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. She said she asked Mills to get involved because there was apparently “no plan” from the U.S. government to get out those who were stranded amid major civil unrest in Haiti.

The operation played out amid a state of emergency in Haiti after armed gangs waged violence, managed a mass prison break last week and attacked police stations, leading to the suspension of flights from the airport.

The gangs have demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who announced Monday he would step down after a transitional council is set up.

Albom, in a Tuesday night statement, confirmed the evacuation of the group from the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage, which included him and his wife, saying they were “pretty grimy and exhausted” after two days of coordinated efforts and being rescued in the middle of the night from a site that was “not our orphanage.”

“Since I was the one who asked these wonderful eight other volunteers to come help at our orphanage, I felt it my obligation to get them out safely,” Albom said in a statement Tuesday.

“But my wife’s and my heart aches for the kids still there. Saying goodbye to them this time was horribly difficult. We pray for help in making their country safe for them again, and we will be back with them the moment it is possible. Our deepest thanks to everyone who sent messages and prayers for us. We were luckier than a lot of others. Please don’t forget about them.”

The State Department said it was aware of the departure of several U.S. citizens from Haiti and that it “welcomes the news whenever any U.S. citizens are reported to be brought to safety.”

“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance where possible,” the department said in a statement to The Detroit News. “We understand this was a private effort led by the Representative and for further information, we refer you to his office.”

Florida congressman’s role

Mills, who arranged and led the mission to get Albom and the others out to safety in the neighboring Dominican Republic, weighed in Tuesday evening on X, formerly Twitter.

“I am proud to report that my team and I were successful in evacuating and rescuing a trapped, and at risk group of Americans from ‘Have Faith Orphanage’ in Haiti last night,” Mills wrote.

Mills, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, has previously carried out missions to rescue Americans stuck in Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal and from Israel after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, including a son of U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Holland.

Over the weekend, Albom told the Michigan congresswoman that the U.S. State Department wasn’t helping him and his group get out of Haiti, and that all of the country’s ports and airports were closed, McClain said.

“He had no way out, and it’s literally a war zone over there,” McClain told The News.

McClain said she also got no immediate help from the State Department and so she phoned Mills, who had helped her when she was trying help people flee Afghanistan amid the U.S. military withdrawal in August 2021, she said.

“I said, ‘I need your help. My constituents need your help,’” McClain recalled telling Mills. “I mean, it weighed heavy on your heart.”

Mills agreed and put a crew together, securing a helicopter and pilot who flew in from the Dominican Republic and landed nearby the orphanage and got the group of adults to safely, landing back in the Dominican Republic, according to McClain. The operation was delayed when the first helicopter had mechanical problems and they had to find another, she added.

The operation was conducted overnight when most people would be sleeping in order to attract the least attention from the gangs controlling the area, McClain said. They arrived back in the Dominican Republic around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, she said.

McClain presses officials at hearing

At Tuesday’s hearing, McClain pressed officials from the Department of Defense, asking why they or the State Department hadn’t acted to help Americans stranded in Haiti.

“So I ask you all: What exactly is the plan to get Americans trapped in Haiti out?” McClain said to the panel, which included U.S. Army Gen. Laura J. Richardson, commander of the Southern Command.

“We don’t have one. Mr. Chairman, this administration doesn’t seem to have a problem with abandoning Americans overseas. This is now the third instance where President Biden and Secretary Blinken have decided that American lives are irrelevant. The first time was Afghanistan, Israel and now Haiti.”

Under questioning by McClain, Richardson said Tuesday that she’d not been contacted or consulted by the White House or the State Department about Americans trapped in Haiti. She said she had received no “request for support” to get them out but that the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) would carry out such an operation if called upon.

“There possibly were discussions above my level regarding that,” Richardson said of rescuing trapped Americans. “I know that the political negotiations continue in Jamaica, with our Secretary of State and CARICOM (regional trade bloc) leaders to try and get to a political solution on Haiti.”

Richardson described the security situation in Haiti as “dire,” saying they’re tracking about 7,200 gang members from about 300 gangs who have “taken over” this past week to create violence, demanding the prime minister’s resignation, for elections to be held within 90 days and for amnesty for their crimes.

“That was not expected,” she added. ” We had not seen the gangs really work together or coordinate together before.”

The U.S. military said Sunday it had flown in personnel to bolster security at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and allow nonessential personnel to leave, the Associated Press reported. The embassy remains open.

Rebecca Zimmerman, the acting assistant secretary of defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, told McClain at the hearing that the Defense Department maintains “prudent planning” for evacuations wherever the U.S. maintains diplomatic personnel. She noted the embassy remains open for now.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday that the agency is in contact with “a number of American citizens” in Haiti.

Miller said if U.S. citizens are unable to leave Haiti due to damage at the airport or because commercial carriers have suspended flights, they should register through the State Department’s crisis intake form on the embassy’s website.

“We will communicate with them the best information we have when we have it,” Miller said.

What Albom’s said about Haiti

Miller reiterated that the U.S. has had a Level 4 “do not travel” alert for Haiti for more than four years, “making very clear to American citizens that … they should not travel to Haiti, that it is not safe to travel to Haiti.”

Albom, in an interview with WJBK-TV (Channel 2) last summer, said the travel advisory for Haiti wouldn’t stop his trips to the orphanage he operates there, where he said 65 kids “depend on me.”

“So I can’t let this report or this little warning, change in my mind, what’s more important in my life,” he told the TV station.

Albom, at the time, said the situation in Haiti would improve if outside forces provided support.

“America could stop this very quickly if we just decided to send in a small force with other countries,” he said. “And create an international force like the one that had been there for the first seven years that I was there, and we wouldn’t have this problem.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, had talked to Albom several times in recent days but declined to discuss their private remarks. She said, despite the Level 4 warning, it’s “impossible” to ignore the needs of the orphans in Port-au-Price who still need food and other necessities.

“Mitch Albom is a hero. He founded this orphanage, and he has a responsibility to make sure these children are taken care of. … He doesn’t have a choice. He takes taking care of these children very seriously,” Dingell told The Detroit News.

“I’m glad he’s out safely, but that doesn’t alleviate any of the worries we have about the children in this orphanage, who, because of Mitch, have become children of the Michigan community and beyond.”

mburke@detroitnews.com

Staff Writer Jakkar Aimery contributed.