Rep. Cory Mills has returned to Washington after staging an independent rescue mission in Haiti to evacuate 10 Americans stuck in the unstable and violent situation unfolding in the Caribbean nation.

The 10 Americans had worked at an orphanage in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The rescue was coordinated with Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), and among those rescued was author Mitch Albom. The orphanage, Have Faith Haiti, is operated by A Hole in the Roof Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Albom.

“I have to extend my deepest gratitude to him and his team for getting our Michiganders home safely,” McClain posted about Mills’ (R-Fla.) operation.

Mills blames the Biden administration for what he called “a clear pattern of abandonment” of Americans abroad in crisis zones.

The White House did not immediately comment in response to Mills’ criticism.

Mills has now gained a reputation for staging these missions after bringing more than 90 Americans back from Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and an overland rescue of an American family from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control in 2021.

Mills served in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division before winning his House seat in 2023.

“I have conducted rescue/ evacs of Americans multiple times when Joe Biden has deserted them,” he posted on social media.

On Wednesday the U.S. dispatched an elite unit of Marines to help secure the U.S. Embassy in Haiti as the country faces a turbulent political transition and widespread gang violence in the absence of a new leader. Marines, who routinely provide security at diplomatic sites, helped airlift nonessential embassy staff out of Haiti over the weekend.

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