Congressman Cory Mills rescues 23 Americans, including Mitch Albom, from chaos in Haiti

U.S. Rep. Cory Mills says he has helped 23 Americans exit Port-au-Prince Haiti, which has fallen into chaos as criminal gangs have overpowered government forces.

"Our team has now successfully rescued and evacuated more Americans than (President Joe) Biden and his entire administration," he claimed in a tweet on X. "Americans deserve support from their government. Not the pattern of abandonment this administration has shown."

Mills, a Florida Republican, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He told the Washington Examiner he first got involved last week after a request for assistance by U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, on behalf of the Have Faith orphanage, started by author Mitch Albom.

"Thanks to the efforts of Representatives Cory Mills and Lisa McClain and a brave team of pilots, 10 volunteers were able to evacuate Haiti safely via helicopter in the dark and early hours of Tuesday morning," a Have Faith Instagram post from last week reads.

Albom, the author of "Tuesdays With Morrie," wrote in his Detroit Free Press column that Mills arranged an escape from a secret location in the dead of night.

"Go! Go! Go!" Mills ordered the evacuees, as they piled into a helicopter and prayed they wouldn't be fired at by the gangs in control.

"Foreigners and volunteers are forced to find their own way out, with no help from their embassies," Albom wrote. "And trapped in the middle are innocent civilians, millions of them, including 60 precious children at the orphanage I have operated for the last 14 years."

A second Mills mission over the weekend returned 13 others.

His message about rescuing more Americans than the Biden administration comes after a U.S. government-chartered flight out of Haiti that brought more than 30 Americans with U.S. passports from Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, to Miami on Sunday.

U.S. Department of State deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said nearly 1,000 Americans have completed a crisis intake form in Haiti, which has been listed as a Level 4 Do Not Travel state since 2020.

"U.S. citizens should not travel to Haiti and those in Haiti should depart immediately, using commercial or other private transportation options when available and safe to do so," Patel said in a news conference Monday.

He called it a "fluid and quickly evolving situation." He did not offer any promises on plans to charter more flights, but added the government has "no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens."

Mills said he rescued 255 Americans out of Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, as well as another evacuation of U.S. citizens from Afghanistan when the military pulled out in 2021.

Mills is in his second year in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected in 2022 to Florida's 7th District, which straddles northern Seminole and southern Volusia counties.

While in the Army, Mills served tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, among other locations. After military service, he co-founded Pacem Solution International LLC and Pacem Defense LLC, which provide intelligence and security in faraway places.

The gangs have been able to control key parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, including the airport, leaving treacherous conditions for Americans wanting to leave.

Note: This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that Mills helped 10 Americans exit Haiti last week and another 13 over the weekend.

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