Utilizing the cover of darkness, a rotary wing aircraft, and a small team of staffers, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) successfully rescued 10 Americans trapped in Haiti this week, marking his third rescue operation in the face of global crises.
The United States Army veteran said the need for the latest operation was brought to his attention by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), who was contacted by constituents about a group of Americans working in Haiti with the “Have Faith” orphanage, who had no way to get out.
“[These citizens] essentially were abandoned and left behind by the U.S. State Department and they had been reaching out to the State Department for assistance and help,” Mills told the Washington Examiner in a phone interview Friday. “The State Department at one point told the leader, Mitch Albom, that they were arranging something, only to find out that what they were arranging was their own evacuation, not support for the Americans that were there. As we just heard from the spokesperson of the State Department, they have no plan to evacuate or support any Americans over there.”
Mills said it was partly this abandonment, and the desire to serve a “greater purpose than myself” that motivated him to continue running into dangerous situations and rescuing Americans trapped overseas.
The congressman has previously helped rescue 255 Americans in Israel in 2023 and helped rescue an American family stuck in Afghanistan after the country was taken over by the Taliban in 2021.
Each of the operations came with its own set of challenges, Mills said, including Haiti, where powerful gangs have taken over the government, released prisoners from the jails, and forced Haitians to live in unimaginable conditions.
“We did what they call a hot load, which allows the helicopter to be running the entire time. You don’t shut the engine down,” Mills said. “We flew in utilizing the cover of darkness, knowing when the curfews would be enforced and at what times, and even with the individuals that we were gonna rescue, we gave them very minimal time to be able to potentially text or notify local contacts to give any awareness of the mission or what we’re trying to achieve. In total, it was about a minute to a minute and seven seconds that we were on the ground.”
Former NFL player and philanthropist Jack Brewer, who has been witnessing the situation in Haiti over the past year, praised Mills for his rescue operations, claiming the congressman went above and beyond the call.
“I think he should be celebrated because he’s actually in office doing what a politician is supposed to do,” Brewer told the Washington Examiner. “To do this, this is not a part of the job description … He’s doing it because he has the power to do it. Because God blessed him with this position.”
Brewer claimed Mills’ bravery highlighted the “ineffectiveness” of President Joe Biden’s administration, which has had a hands-off approach to the chaos unfolding in Haiti.
“I think this really puts a huge spotlight on the ineffectiveness of the executive branch of our government right now,” Brewer said. “To have folks that are in the House of Representatives that go in and have missions to bring out Americans, but [people] within his executive branch talk about sending money in and letting Kenya handle it. To me, it’s so telling that [Mills] can do this much, while Biden, a president, can do nothing.”
Mills also slammed the Biden administration’s inaction when it comes to global crises, stating that some of the biggest obstacles he faces in the rescue operations is stonewalling from the United States government.
“You have to almost shame them into doing their job, or to at least shame them into the point where they actually will just support efforts by American citizens who are willing to go over and conduct these rescues, and help with the consulate processing once they come out,” the congressman said.
The Port-au-Prince U.S. Embassy is still open, according to deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh. On Thursday, Singh reiterated that they are focused on strengthening security around the embassy, and said they were “able to remove some nonessential personnel,” but that’s not the priority at this time.
The State Department announced on Saturday that it would charter a flight of American civilians out of the Caribbean country via the Cap-Haitien airport, but that ground transportation to the airport would not be provided. Those who qualify for the flight need to fill out an online form.
Cap-Haitian is located roughly 130 miles north of Port-au-Prince.
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Mills added that despite the obstacles, he was not planning on stopping his rescue operations any time soon, and that support from the American community has been a big motivator when faced with opposition.
“I’m trying to rebuild confidence with the American people, that not all people with government and not all elected officials are the same,” Mills said. “There are some of us who truly do care about every single American. We don’t care what your political affiliation is, who you support in the Oval Office, what your sexual orientation is, or what your faith is. We care about the fact that you’re a blue passport-holding American who deserves the rights of safety, and freedom.”
