U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, a fellow Republican, urged the Trump administration to reverse its decision. Lawler's 17th District includes Spring Valley, home to the second-largest Haitian diaspora, per capita, in the U.S.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the federal government will bar the entry of Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans into the United States.

When Trump included Haiti in a list of countries on which he was imposing a near-total travel ban, some saw a culmination of a long campaign against the population.