US prohibits airlines from flying to Haiti and UN suspends flights after planes were shot by gangs

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration prohibited U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot three planes and the United Nations also Tuesday temporarily suspended flights to Port-au-Prince, limiting humanitarian aid coming into the country.

Bullets hit a Spirit Airlines plane when it was about to land in the capital Monday, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down. Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting the interior of a plane.

On Tuesday, JetBlue and American Airlines announced that postflight inspections found their planes also had been shot Monday while departing Port-au-Prince. American suspended flights to the capital until Feb. 12.

The shootings were part of a wave of violence that erupted as the country plagued by gang violence swore in its new prime minister after a politically tumultuous process.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and more roadblocks affecting humanitarian operation during the violence Monday. The Port-au-Prince airport will remain closed until Nov. 18, and Dujarric said the U.N. will divert flights to the country's second airport in the northern, more peaceful, city of Cap Haïtien.

Slashed access to the epicenter of the violence, Port-au-Prince, is likely to be devastating as gangs choking the life out of the capital have pushed Haiti to the brink of famine. Dujarric warned that cutting off flights would mean "limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the country.”

Already, a convoy of 20 trucks filled with food and medical supplies in the south had been postponed and an operation providing cash assistance to a thousand people in the Carrefour area where violence broke out had to be canceled.

“We are doing all we can to ensure the continuation of operations amidst this challenging environment,” he said. “We call for an end to the escalating violence, to allow for safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access.”

On Tuesday, life in much of Haiti’s capital was frozen after the wave of violence. Heavily armed police in armored cars outside the airport checked trucks used for public transportation passing by.

Schools were closed, as were banks and government offices. Streets, where just a day before gangs and police were locked in a fierce firefight, were eerily empty, with few driving by other than a motorcycle with a man who had been shot clinging to the back.

The sounds of heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets in the afternoon — a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haiti's elites and a strong push by the international community to restore peace, the country's toxic slate of gangs kept its firm hold on much of the Caribbean nation.

The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence struggles with a lack of funding and personnel, prompting calls for a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

President Luis Abinader in the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti, was the first leader on the island to condemn the violence, describing the shooting a “terrorist act”.

On Tuesday, a transitional council established in April to restore democratic order to Haiti also condemned the violence.

“This cowardly crime, which threatens Haiti’s sovereignty and security, aims to isolate our country on the international stage. The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be hunted down and brought to justice,” the council wrote in a statement.

The council has taken sharp criticism from many in Haiti who contend that its political fights and corruption allegations against three members created the political instability, allowing gangs to make violent power grabs like the one seen Monday.

That came to a head over the weekend, when it fired former interim Prime Minister Garry Conille — long at odds with the council. They replaced him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who was inaugurated Monday surrounded by suit-clad officials and diplomats while gangs terrorized the capital around them.

Neither Fils-Aimé or Conille have commented on the wave of violence.

Conille originally called the council's move illegal, but on Tuesday acknowledged Fils-Aimé's appointment in a post on the social media platform X.

“(I) wish him success in fulfilling this mission. At this crucial moment, unity and solidarity are essential for our country. Long live Haiti!" he wrote. Fils-Aimé promised to work with international partners to restore peace and hold long awaited elections, a vow also made by his predecessor.

But many Haitians, like 43-year-old Martha Jean-Pierre, have little taste for the political fighting, which experts say only gives gangs more freedom to continue expanding their control.

Jean-Pierre was among those to brave the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to sell the plantains, carrots, cabbage and potatoes she carried in a basket on her head. She had no choice, she said — selling was the only way she could feed her children.

“What good is a new prime minister if there's no security, if I can't move freely and sell my goods?” she said, nodding to her basket of vegetables. “This is my bank account. This is what my family depend on."

It was a frustration that concerned international players like the U.N. and the U.S. that have pushed for a peaceful resolution in Haiti.

On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department lamented that Conille and the council “were unable to move forward in a constructive manner" and called on Fils-Aimé and the council to provide a clear action plan outlining a joint vision on how to decrease violence and pave the path for elections to be held to “prevent further gridlock.”

“The acute and immediate needs of the Haitian people mandate that the transitional government prioritize governance over the competing personal interests of political actors,” it wrote in a statement.

Associated Press journalist David Koenig contributed to this report from Dallas and Edith Lederer contributed from the United Nations.

Police officers patrol an area near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A view of the Toussaint Louverture international airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A view of the Toussaint Louverture international airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

The body of a man who was shot dead by a stray bullet, is secured to the floor of a tap-tap, in the Solino neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police officer patrols the entrance of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

FILE - Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille speaks during a joint press conference with Kenya's President William Ruto at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

Journalists take cover from the exchange of gunfire between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers patrol the area during an exchange of gunfire between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers patrol a street during an exchange of gunfire between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police officer looks on during an exchange of gunfire between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to push through long-sought changes that include voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements.

They say the measures are needed to restore public confidence in elections, an erosion of trust that Democrats note has been fueled by false claims from President-elect Donald Trump and his allies of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. In the new year, Republicans will be under pressure to address Trump’s desires to change how elections are run in the U.S., something he continues to promote despite his win in November.

The main legislation that Republicans expect to push will be versions of the American Confidence in Elections Act and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, said GOP Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, chair of the Committee on House Administration, which handles election-related legislation. The proposals are known as the ACE and SAVE acts, respectively.

“As we look to the new year with unified Republican government, we have a real opportunity to move these pieces of legislation not only out of committee, but across the House floor and into law,” Steil said in an interview. “We need to improve Americans’ confidence in elections.”

Republicans are likely to face opposition from Democrats and have little wiggle room with their narrow majorities in both the House and Senate. Steil said he expects there will be “some reforms and tweaks” to the original proposals and hopes Democrats will work with Republicans to refine and ultimately support them.

New York Rep. Joe Morelle, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said there was an opportunity for bipartisan agreement on some issues but said the two previous GOP bills go too far.

“Our view and the Republicans’ view is very different on this point,” Morelle said. “They have spent most of the time in the last two years and beyond really restricting the rights of people to get to ballots – and that’s at the state level and the federal level. And the SAVE Act and the ACE Act both do that – make it harder for people to vote.”

Morelle said he wants to see both parties support dedicated federal funding for election offices. He sees other bipartisan opportunities around limiting foreign money in U.S. elections and possibly imposing a voter ID requirement if certain safeguards are in place to protect voters.

Democrats say some state laws are too restrictive in limiting the types of IDs that are acceptable for voting, making it harder for college students or those who lack a permanent address.

Morelle said he was disappointed by the GOP’s claims in this year's campaigns about widespread voting by noncitizens, which is extremely rare, and noted how those claims all but evaporated once Trump won. Voting by noncitizens is already illegal and and can result in felony charges and deportation.

“You haven’t heard a word about this since Election Day,” Morelle said. “It’s an Election Day miracle that suddenly the thing that they had spent an inordinate amount of time describing as a rampant problem, epidemic problem, didn’t exist at all.”

Before the November election, House Republicans pushed the SAVE Act, which passed the House in July but stalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate. It requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote and includes potential penalties for election officials who fail to confirm eligibility.

Republicans say the current process relies on an what they call an honor system with loopholes that have allowed noncitizens to register and vote in past elections. While voting by noncitizens has occurred, research and reviews of state cases have shown it to be rare and typically a mistake rather than an intentional effort to sway an election.

Under the current system, those seeking to register are asked to provide either a state driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. A few states require a full Social Security number.

Republicans say the voter registration process is not tight enough because in many states people can be added to voter rolls even if they do not provide this information and that some noncitizens can receive Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses. They believe the current requirement that anyone completing a voter registration form sign under oath that they are a U.S. citizen is not enough.

They want to force states to reject any voter registration application for which proof of citizenship is not provided. Republicans say that could include a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, a passport or a birth certificate.

In Georgia, a perennial presidential battleground state, election officials said they have not encountered any hiccups verifying the citizenship status of its nearly 7.3 million registered voters. They conducted an audit in 2022 that identified 1,634 people who had attempted to register but were not able to be verified as U.S. citizens by a federal database.

A second audit this year used local court records to identify people who said they could not serve as a juror because they were not a U.S. citizen. Of the 20 people identified, six were investigated for illegal voting, though one of those cases was closed because the person had since died.

“What we’ve done by doing those audits is give voters confidence that we do not have noncitizens voting here in Georgia,” said Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state. “And when society is highly polarized, you have to look at building trust. Trust is the gold standard.”

Raffensperger, a Republican who supports both voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements, credits the state’s early adoption of REAL ID and use of automatic voter registration for ensuring voter lists are accurate. The latter is something he hopes more Republicans will consider, as he argued it has allowed Georgia election officials to use the motor vehicle agency’s process to verify citizenship and track people moving in and around the state.

“You have to get it right because you’re talking about people’s priceless franchise to vote,” Raffensperger said.

If Congress does pass any changes, it would fall to election officials across the country to implement them.

Raffensperger and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, said it would be a mistake to move the country to a single day of voting, something Trump has said he would like to see happen, because it would eliminate early voting and limit access to mail ballots. Both methods are extremely popular among voters. In Georgia, 71% of voters in November cast their ballots in person before Election Day.

Both said they hoped lawmakers would look to what is working in their states and build off those successes.

“We’ve proven time and time again in our states that our elections are secure and are accurate,” Benson said.

FILE - Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., questions a witness during a Committee on House Administration hearing about noncitizen voting in U.S. elections on Capitol Hill, May 16, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)

FILE - Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chairman of the Committee on House Administration, points to a election brochure for Washington, during a hearing he conducted about noncitizen voting on Capitol Hill, May 16, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)

FILE - Poll workers help guide voters at a busy polling site in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - Voters fill out ballots in the municipal offices in Cabot, Vt., on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke, File)