Even closer to Dominican Republic. Compare.
Their neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has a critical mass of white/mixed people
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Dominican_Republic
“45% of Dominicans consider themselves to have some significant Indigenous/Endemic ancestry, 18% are white, 7.8% are fully or predominantly black and 74% are mixed”
Yes, there are fewer miles between Haiti and the Dominican Republic and nearby islands and Cuba and then there is Central America, etc. They could choose any independent country or France or the English Commonwealths but noooooo, this is just another hit piece to make the US accept illegals, uh, hmm, asylum seekers even though they will have passed through more than one country.