BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Louisiana Democrats and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana are speaking out against U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins after he insulted Haitian immigrants in a post he made on social media. "Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters ... but damned if they don't feel all sophisticated now, filling charges against our President and VP. All these thugs better get their mind right and their a-- out of the country before January 20th," Higgins said Wednesday afternoon in a now-deleted post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Higgins was responding to a nonprofit representing the Haitian community that invoked a private-citizen right to file charges against former President Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee JD Vance, according to the Associated Press. Louisiana lawmakers look back at COVID-19 pandemic response across the state He later deleted the post. According to a news release, House Democrats called on the House Committee on Ethics to investigate what Higgins posted and pushed the House to censure him. The ACLU of Louisiana also calls for the House of Representatives to censure Higgins following his comments. Louisiana leaders react to Higgins' social post Louisiana leaders made the following statements regarding Higgins' comments. “Rep. Clay Higgins’ tweet endangers the thousands of Haitian Louisianans who contribute to the fabric of our state. We’ve seen the consequences of this kind of rhetoric. After Donald Trump repeated similar racist lies about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, a wave of bomb threats shut down public buildings, including schools. We must act now to prevent the same from happening in Louisiana. The U.S. House of Representatives must censure Rep. Higgins immediately for the harm he continues to inflict. “The Louisiana we cherish would not exist without the influence and resilience of Haitians. In 1804, self-liberated enslaved Haitians fought for their freedom in the Haitian Revolution, leading to a mass migration to New Orleans that helped shape the city’s culture — its food, architecture, religion, and music. Today, hundreds of Haitian Louisianan small-business owners and workers continue to enrich our communities. Yet, white supremacist attacks on Haitians persist. Rep. Higgins’ remarks are just another example of this ongoing hatred.” Alanah Odoms, ACLU of Louisiana executive director "I am appalled by the racist and reprehensible remarks made by Rep. Clay Higgins about the Haitian people. We all owe each other better than this, but as elected officials we should hold ourselves to an even higher standard. We have a solemn responsibility to represent and respect all races of people. Hate-filled rhetoric like this is not just offensive—it is dangerous. It incites division, perpetuates harmful stereotypes, and undermines the core values of our democracy." U.S. Congressman Troy A. Carter via X "Unfortunately, no one is shocked that Clay Higgins is the one who needs to get his mind right. As we constantly see with Donald Trump, and as we just saw last week with Senator John Kennedy -- this kind of unhinged behavior and vile language is completely in line with the character of the current Republican Party. Despite consistent attempts by Trump and these extremists, we can never allow racial hate, dishonest public statements, and ignorance to be normalized They must be held accountable. "It seems that these days, Louisiana only makes the news when a Republican acts disgraceful, unethical, or tyrannical. It's enough, and our state deserves so much better. That's why the Louisiana Democratic Party is working tirelessly to fight back and elect leaders who will actually work to represent the people of Louisiana with honor, integrity, and goodwill." Randal Gaines, Louisiana Democratic Party Chair "I'm not going to repeat his ugly words, but everything he's said is disgusting. Every word of that tweet was filled with hate and racism. Hate has no place in our government, and that's why I'm running against Clay Higgins. Now is the time to make sure you're registered to vote and know where to vote -- it's time for us to show up and make our voices heard." Sadi Summerlin, Democratic candidate for Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District Latest News How does Baton Rouge road rage, highway shooting crime data compare with Louisiana, US? Baton Rouge General launches new mobile healthcare unit for North Baton Rouge Retired Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Marcus Clark dead at 68 USPS wants to raise stamp prices 5 times over the next 3 years DOC: Elayn Hunt Correctional Center head warden, correctional officer placed on suspension