Latest news with #HaitianAmerican
The Herald Scotland
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Haitians fear leaving US as Trump ends TPS
Instead, Haitians living in central Ohio are scrambling to find a safe third country like Canada or Mexico to go to, said Jean Manuel, a Haitian American businessman and advocate who helps some of the approximately 30,000 Haitians living in Columbus. But that can be difficult, too. To legally immigrate to Canada, they must have family members living there to receive them, said Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, in Springfield, home to 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants. Haitians with TPS, which protects immigrants from certain countries from deportation and allows them to work legally in the United States, will lose that protection as of Sept. 2, according to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. In February, Noem ended a Biden-era extension of TPS for Haitians that was to expire in February 2026, and, on June 27, she announced the status will officially end on August 3. That means protections will end in September. As of July 2024, more than 520,000 Haitians were eligible for TPS, according to Homeland Security. Homeland Security said it has reviewed conditions in Haiti and determined it doesn't meet the requirements for TPS designation. TPS is designated for countries involved in ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, epidemics or other extraordinary and temporary conditions, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). A DPS spokesperson said the decision to end TPS for Haitians is meant to ensure the immigration status remains temporary. The TPS system has been "exploited and abused" for decades, according to a February release from the Department of Homeland Security on ending the Biden administration's extension of TPS. But Haiti remains unstable, Columbus' Manuel said, disputing the government's claim that conditions have improved there. "Every neighborhood has a gang, every neighborhood is controlled by a gang member. They're vicious: burning buildings, killing kids, cleaning out neighborhoods," he said. "That's the kind of life they're going to (if they return to Haiti). They're going to a death sentence." Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, recently agreed. "Haiti is not safe ... It's one of the most dangerous places in the world," DeWine told the Statehouse News Bureau. "It's a horribly, horribly violent place today, and things have not gotten better. They've actually gotten worse. Those are just the facts." Ohio is home to thousands of Haitian immigrants Springfield's Haitian population gained national attention during the 2024 presidential election when, in a vice presidential debate, Vice President J.D. Vance spread the false rumor that Haitian immigrants there were eating their neighbors' pets. Community leaders have said most of the thousands of Haitian immigrants in the city are here with legal status -- likely TPS -- and have moved to the city of about 60,000 in recent years. Following the rumor, repeated by others including Trump, Springfield schools, businesses and public buildings faced bomb threats and evacuations. Springfield, Ohio: Trump pledges to deport Haitians in Ohio city, but most are in US legally DeWine also defended Haitians after Vance's comments. "They came to Springfield to work," the governor said at the time. "Ohio is on the move and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in." On June 28, DeWine reportedly said Haitians are critical to the Springfield workforce. "We talked to the management of those companies, and they basically said, look, if we didn't have these Haitians, we couldn't fill these slots, and we can't produce what we need to produce," he told Statehouse News. Manuel agreed, saying that Ohio's Haitians typically work in hotels, factories and supermarkets. "They are the people that do the hard work." Since the February announcement that TPS wouldn't remain in place for Haitians for long, employers have laid off Haitian employees, Manuel and Dorsainvil said, knowing they won't be around long. So, in addition to intense fear for their futures, some Haitians with TPS don't have money to feed their families and pay rent, Manuel said. "The people here, they're here to work and to better their life," Manuel said. They aren't criminals and just seek peaceful places to raise their families and live, he and Dorsainvil said. Why Haitians have TPS A 2010 earthquake - which killed more than 220,000 Haitian people and destroyed much of the nation's infrastructure - prompted the federal government to qualify Haitians for TPS. Since then, the country has experienced "cascading crises," according to the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for migrant rights. The Biden administration renewed and extended TPS for Haitians in July 2024, saying gang activity was causing economic, security, political and health crises. Those conditions have not changed, Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance said in a statement. The nation is also plagued by hunger, homelessness and a lack of employment for residents, according to advocates and the United Nations. Haiti has not had a president since the former one was assassinated in 2021. The country's prime minister resigned in 2024. The decision to end TPS "is not just cruel - it's state-sanctioned endangerment," Jozef said. "Sending back hundreds of thousands of people to a country overrun by gangs, where hospitals are shuttered and food is scarce, is a direct assault on Black immigrant communities," she continued. "It's not about policy. It's about dehumanization." Underserved Communities Reporter Danae King can be reached at dking@ or on X at @DanaeKing.
Los Angeles Times
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Gangs in Haiti burn beloved Gothic gingerbread hotel that rose to international fame
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti's once illustrious Grand Hôtel Oloffson, a beloved Gothic gingerbread home that inspired books, hosted parties until dawn and attracted visitors from Mick Jagger to Haitian presidents, was burned down by gangs over the weekend. Hundreds of Haitians and foreigners mourned the news as it spread across social media, with the hotel manager on Monday confirming the fire in a brief comment on X. Even though gang violence had forced the hotel in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, to close in recent years, many had hoped it would reopen. 'It birthed so much culture and expression,' said Riva Précil, a Haitian American singer who lived in the hotel from age 5 to 15. Speaking over the phone, Précil recalled how she learned to swim, dance and sing at the Oloffson. The attack on the community where the hotel was located began late Saturday, according to James Jean-Louis, who lives above the Oloffson. He told the Associated Press over the phone on Sunday that he observed the flames as he and other residents were chased out while police and gangs exchanged heavy gunfire. Journalists are currently unable to visit the site of the hotel and verify the damage because gangs control the area, which remains inaccessible. Patrick Durandis, director of the Institute for Safeguarding National Heritage, also confirmed the fire in a message to the AP. Among those lamenting the fire was Michael Deibert, author of 'Notes From the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti,' and 'Haiti Will Not Perish: A Recent History.' He landed in Miami on Sunday only to open his phone and see a flurry of messages from friends in Haiti. 'When you went to the Oloffson, you really felt you were being connected with Haiti's political and cultural history,' he said. 'You went to Haiti and were never the same. And the Oloffson really captured that.' The hotel attracted artists, intellectuals and politicians from Haiti and beyond, including former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and playwright Tennessee Williams. It also survived coups, dictatorships and the devastating 2010 earthquake. Isabelle Morse, daughter of Richard Morse, who became the hotel's manager several decades ago, said he loved having writers, photographers and other artists at the Oloffson. 'His sense of community was very important to him,' she said in a phone interview Monday, describing the hotel as 'his whole life.' 'For him, it represented freedom, where people from all walks of life could come in and share that space,' she said. Richard Morse did not return a message seeking comment. The renowned band he founded, RAM, posted on X early Monday that the hotel had 'burned to the ground.' His daughter said her parents had hoped to reopen the Oloffson. 'It's not only a business, it's our home. We were raised there,' she said. 'It was more about moving back home rather than reopening the business.' The Oloffson served as a presidential summer palace in the early 1900s and then became a U.S. Marine Corps Hospital before a Swedish sea captain converted it into a hotel in the 1930s. It also served as inspiration for the fictional Hotel Trianon in Graham Greene's 1966 novel 'The Comedians,' set in Haiti under the brutal dictatorship of Francois Duvalier, best known as 'Papa Doc.' In real life, tourism dwindled under the Duvaliers, and the hotel became a respite for aid workers and foreign correspondents. In the late 1980s, Richard Morse became the hotel's manager. His band, RAM, played Haitian roots music on Thursday nights that became legendary, as were the Day of the Dead celebrations known as Fèt Gede that drew in voodoo practitioners. 'It was a vessel for so many people to gather and freely express themselves,' Précil recalled. 'RAM really created that culture and that environment, made it a space that welcomed people from all types of denominations and sexual preferences.' The Oloffson was nestled in the upscale community of Pacot in the southeast corner of the country's capital. It was surrounded by lush gardens and often described as a mythical place, renowned for its intricate latticework, turrets and spires and creaking parquet floors that characterize Haiti's endangered gingerbread homes. A 1940s advertisement by Haiti's tourism department said that the hotel was situated 'in the coolest section of the town' and noted that English, French, German and Spanish were spoken there. The hotel closed in recent years as gangs began raiding and seizing control of once peaceful communities. 'A lot of Haiti's architectural heritage is going up in flames right now [as] so-called leaders stand by with their hands in their pockets,' Deibert said. 'The destruction of the Oloffson is symbolic of the destruction of Haiti's history and culture that we've been watching over the last several years.' Coto and Sanon write for the Associated Press. Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
USA Today
07-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
As Trump ends TPS, Haitians say returning home would be a 'death sentence'
The Trump administration says conditions in Haiti have improved enough that it is safe for migrants to return to the Caribbean nation. Haitians, Ohio governor disagree. Thousands of Haitian immigrants living in Ohio on Temporary Protected Status are making plans to leave the country after the Trump administration announced the end of the deportation protection. But they aren't going back to their home country. The Trump administration says conditions in Haiti have improved enough that it is safe for those living in America with the special temporary status to return to the Caribbean nation. But going back to Haiti is a "death sentence," say community leaders and advocates. Instead, Haitians living in central Ohio are scrambling to find a safe third country like Canada or Mexico to go to, said Jean Manuel, a Haitian American businessman and advocate who helps some of the approximately 30,000 Haitians living in Columbus. But that can be difficult, too. To legally immigrate to Canada, they must have family members living there to receive them, said Vilés Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, in Springfield, home to 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants. Haitians with TPS, which protects immigrants from certain countries from deportation and allows them to work legally in the United States, will lose that protection as of Sept. 2, according to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. In February, Noem ended a Biden-era extension of TPS for Haitians that was to expire in February 2026, and, on June 27, she announced the status will officially end on August 3. That means protections will end in September. As of July 2024, more than 520,000 Haitians were eligible for TPS, according to Homeland Security. Homeland Security said it has reviewed conditions in Haiti and determined it doesn't meet the requirements for TPS designation. TPS is designated for countries involved in ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, epidemics or other extraordinary and temporary conditions, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). A DPS spokesperson said the decision to end TPS for Haitians is meant to ensure the immigration status remains temporary. The TPS system has been "exploited and abused" for decades, according to a February release from the Department of Homeland Security on ending the Biden administration's extension of TPS. But Haiti remains unstable, Columbus' Manuel said, disputing the government's claim that conditions have improved there. "Every neighborhood has a gang, every neighborhood is controlled by a gang member. They're vicious: burning buildings, killing kids, cleaning out neighborhoods," he said. "That's the kind of life they're going to (if they return to Haiti). They're going to a death sentence." Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, recently agreed. "Haiti is not safe … It's one of the most dangerous places in the world,' DeWine told the Statehouse News Bureau. 'It's a horribly, horribly violent place today, and things have not gotten better. They've actually gotten worse. Those are just the facts.' Ohio is home to thousands of Haitian immigrants Springfield's Haitian population gained national attention during the 2024 presidential election when, in a vice presidential debate, Vice President J.D. Vance spread the false rumor that Haitian immigrants there were eating their neighbors' pets. Community leaders have said most of the thousands of Haitian immigrants in the city are here with legal status — likely TPS — and have moved to the city of about 60,000 in recent years. Following the rumor, repeated by others including Trump, Springfield schools, businesses and public buildings faced bomb threats and evacuations. Springfield, Ohio: Trump pledges to deport Haitians in Ohio city, but most are in US legally DeWine also defended Haitians after Vance's comments. "They came to Springfield to work," the governor said at the time. "Ohio is on the move and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in." On June 28, DeWine reportedly said Haitians are critical to the Springfield workforce. 'We talked to the management of those companies, and they basically said, look, if we didn't have these Haitians, we couldn't fill these slots, and we can't produce what we need to produce,' he told Statehouse News. Manuel agreed, saying that Ohio's Haitians typically work in hotels, factories and supermarkets. "They are the people that do the hard work." Since the February announcement that TPS wouldn't remain in place for Haitians for long, employers have laid off Haitian employees, Manuel and Dorsainvil said, knowing they won't be around long. So, in addition to intense fear for their futures, some Haitians with TPS don't have money to feed their families and pay rent, Manuel said. "The people here, they're here to work and to better their life," Manuel said. They aren't criminals and just seek peaceful places to raise their families and live, he and Dorsainvil said. Why Haitians have TPS A 2010 earthquake ‒ which killed more than 220,000 Haitian people and destroyed much of the nation's infrastructure ‒ prompted the federal government to qualify Haitians for TPS. Since then, the country has experienced "cascading crises," according to the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for migrant rights. The Biden administration renewed and extended TPS for Haitians in July 2024, saying gang activity was causing economic, security, political and health crises. Those conditions have not changed, Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance said in a statement. The nation is also plagued by hunger, homelessness and a lack of employment for residents, according to advocates and the United Nations. Haiti has not had a president since the former one was assassinated in 2021. The country's prime minister resigned in 2024. The decision to end TPS 'is not just cruel ‒ it's state-sanctioned endangerment,' Jozef said. 'Sending back hundreds of thousands of people to a country overrun by gangs, where hospitals are shuttered and food is scarce, is a direct assault on Black immigrant communities," she continued. "It's not about policy. It's about dehumanization.' Underserved Communities Reporter Danae King can be reached at dking@ or on X at @DanaeKing.
CNN
09-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump's new travel ban takes effect as tensions escalate over immigration enforcement
President Donald Trump's new ban on travel to the US by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising tension over the president's escalating campaign of immigration enforcement. The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the US and don't hold a valid visa. The ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all US diplomatic missions. However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday. Travelers with previously issued visas should still be able to enter the US even after the ban takes effect. During Trump's first term, a hastily written executive order ordering the denial of entry to citizens of mainly Muslim countries created chaos at numerous airports and other ports of entry, prompting successful legal challenges and major revisions to the policy. No such disruption was immediately discernible at Los Angeles International Airport in the hours after the new ban took effect. Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was at the airport earlier Sunday in Newark, New Jersey, awaiting a flight to her home state of Florida, said many Haitians wanting to come to the US are simply seeking to escape violence and unrest. 'I have family in Haiti, so it's pretty upsetting to see and hear,' Louis-Juste, 23, said of the travel ban. 'I don't think it's a good thing. I think it's very upsetting.' Many immigration experts say the new ban is more carefully crafted and appears designed to beat court challenges that hampered the first by focusing on the visa application process. Trump said this time that some countries had 'deficient' screening for passports and other public documents or have historically refused to take back their own citizens. He relied extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of people who remain in the US after their visas expired. Measuring overstay rates has challenged experts for decades, but the government has made a limited attempt annually since 2016. Trump's proclamation cites overstay rates for eight of the 12 banned countries. Trump also tied the new ban to a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas. US officials say the man charged in the attack overstayed a tourist visa. He is from Egypt, a country that is not on Trump's restricted list. The ban was quickly denounced by groups that provide aid and resettlement help to refugees. 'This policy is not about national security – it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,' said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, a nonprofit international relief organization. The inclusion of Afghanistan angered some supporters who have worked to resettle its people. The ban does make exceptions for Afghans on Special Immigrant Visas, generally people who worked most closely with the US government during the two-decade-long war there. Afghanistan had been one of the largest sources of resettled refugees, with about 14,000 arrivals in a 12-month period through September 2024. Trump suspended refugee resettlement his first day in office.
Miami Herald
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘A direct attack': South Florida leaders blast travel ban for Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba
South Florida leaders on Thursday denounced the Trump administration's travel ban targeting Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela, crisis-wracked nations that are among 19 countries hit with full or partial prohibitions against entering the United States. 'This is not only a cruel and xenophobic policy proposal – it is a blatant attempt to scapegoat an already suffering people. This unjust policy will sow chaos in our communities, separating families and disrupting lives,' said Marleine Bastien, a Haiti-born Miami-Dade County commissioner who represents one of the largest Haitian communities in the U.S. Bastien noted that the Haitian-American community is 'a cornerstone of Miami-Dade County, contributing to its culture, economy and strength. 'Targeting Haiti in this manner is not just only discriminatory, but a betrayal of the values America claims to uphold – compassion, justice, and opportunity for all,' she said, slamming the administration's recent immigration directives stripping Haitian migrants in the U.S. of immigration protections. On Thursday, there was still confusion among holders of current U.S. visas who are in Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela about whether they would be let in as of Monday when the travel ban takes effect. Still, South Florida elected officials emphasized the harm the policy would create in the communities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which of which boast sizable and thriving populations with roots in Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela. North Miami Mayor Alex Desulme said his city's Haitian population aren't just residents. They are small-business owners, healthcare workers, educators and parents raising young children. South Florida boasts one of the largest Haitian diasporas in the United States. 'The reinstatement of this ban is a direct attack on the values of equity, compassion and opportunity that our city and this nation were built upon. It causes fear, separates families, disrupts lives and unfairly targets communities that have long contributed to the country's strength and prosperity,' said Desulme. He asked federal leaders to reconsider the 'harmful policy and work toward an immigration system that reflects our shared values and honors the dignity of all individuals.' Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen described the ban as an attack 'on our collective humanity, a blatant disregard for the principles that make our nation great. 'This policy is not about safety; it's about exclusion,' said the official, who is Haitian American. President Donald Trump flipped Miami-Dade red for the first time since George H.W. Bush won the presidency in 1988, riding new support throughout the majority-Hispanic county. He received loyal backing from local Republicans who also viewed his victory as integral to their own. But as the Trump administration has rolled out immigration policies targeting Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans, GOP officials in Miami have had to draw a careful balance between supporting the White House and the many immigrants in their district affected by Trump's immigration agenda. U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Miami Republican, told the Herald in a statement that travel restrictions could serve as 'temporary tools' to ensure national security and said they were a way to fight against the governments in Cuba and Venezuela. However, she warned that those with family-based petitions should be protected. 'We must draw a clear line between hostile regimes and the families who suffer under them,' she said. 'These are people who have followed the law and waited years, even decades, to reunite with loved ones in the U.S. We can protect our country while upholding the values that make America a beacon of hope and freedom.'
