Tell Congress to continue progress around exporting weapons and accountability

We must encourage everyone to leave weapons behind, and to leave behind the money-making that is behind every war. Many times, with the arms trade, people become just tools without any value. We must constantly insist on the dignity of every human being—Christian, Muslim, people of every religion—because we are all God’s children, created in God’s image.

—Pope Leo XIV, speaking to reporters, 22 July 2025

Tell Congress to continue progress around exporting weapons and accountability

At the end of last year, Congress passed the bi-partisan Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act, which requires the U.S. government to investigate and impose sanctions on political and economic elites in Haiti who have collaborated with the violent gangs. Mercy contributed to a tremendous amount of faith-based advocacy over the last two years on this bill as part of the Haiti Arms Trafficking Coalition with Quixote Center, American Jewish World Service, and several other congregations.

Additionally, our same coalition sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security in August concerning weapons trafficking to Haiti and received an official response just last week that you can read here. We plan to meet with DHS in the coming weeks to continue this advocacy.

We can continue this good progress towards accountability for the violence in Haiti and around the region by passing another of our priority bills, the ARMAS Act. This bill would disrupt firearm trafficking from the U.S. to Abya Yala (i.e., Latin America and the Caribbean) by implementing stronger transparency, accountability, and oversight on U.S. arms exports.

Currently, Haitians living in the United States are at risk of losing their Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which would allow them to be deported back to deplorable conditions. Legislation such as the ARMAS Act helps address the root cause of violence in Haiti and other parts of the region which forces people to migrate in the first place.

Background

The conditions in Haiti continue to be devastating, with widespread killings, kidnappings, unreliable access to food, and extreme poverty. The armed groups controlling the country’s infrastructure and perpetuating the chaos maintain control with weapons and ammunition originating in the United States, specifically from five states with particularly lax gun laws.

The Americas Regional Monitoring of Arms Sales (ARMAS) Act of 2025 was re-introduced last month by Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20) in the House and Sen. Chris Murphy (CT) in the Senate. This bill would develop strategy in the State and Commerce departments to stop the trafficking of these small arms, reinstating safeguards that were lifted during the first Trump administration. It would also increase transparency around the challenges of regulating legal exports, as well as decreasing bloodshed by addressing illegal gun smuggling and subsequent arming of violent groups in Abya Yala (i.e., Latin America and the Caribbean). According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, South Florida alone was the origin for 90% of illicit firearms in the Caribbean. You can read more on the flow of weapons from the U.S. to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean in this report by Stop U.S. Arms to Mexico.