Latest news with #KonbitNegLakay
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NY lawmakers to Trump: Stop harassing immigrants with threatening letters. What was said
SPRING VALLEY ‒ State legislators and leaders of local immigration groups on Friday, April 18, demanded the Trump administration respect federal court decisions and stop threatening immigrants with letters telling them to "self deport." Advocates reported that dozens of East Ramapo students, here via various immigration programs, were among those targeted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "You should depart the United States now," the notice on Homeland Security letterhead states. "As of the termination of your parole, you may be subject to expedited removal." "The due process violations are abysmal," said state Assemblymember Pat Carroll, whose 96th District covers Clarkstown, including a section of Spring Valley, and parts of Haverstraw and Orangetown in Rockland. He spoke at an April 18 press conference called by local Democratic members of the New York Assembly, Konbit Neg Lakay and Proyecto Faro, organizations that support newcomers in Rockland. Everyone should demand action, Carroll said, adding: "If it's them now, who will it be next?" Several speakers at the event outside Konbit Neg Lakay said federal leaders, including seven GOP U.S. House members from New York, need to demand Trump respect immigrants' rights and the rule of law. "Even if just some of them stand up to Trump," Assemblymember Chris Eachus said, "it would be done." Deportation politics: How Trump embraces the drama around Abrego Garcia and a Salvadoran prison Eachus pointed to Rep. Mike Lawler. The Pearl River Republican's 17th District includes Rockland, Putnam and parts of Westchester and Dutchess counties. He said because immigration is a national issue, members of Congress should be taking the lead on pushing the Trump administration. "We did not invite Mike," Eachus said. "He should have been inviting us." Lawler's office did not immediately return a request for comment. Several of the local people targeted for the Homeland Security letters came to the U.S. under a humanitarian parole program called CHNV, for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the countries represented. The program was activated under the Biden administration as a way to ease the number of asylum seekers at the Southern border. CHNV parole recipients have sponsors, and can work as they pursue their asylum cases. More on CHNV program: Trump yanks Biden-era CHNV humanitarian parole program. How did Rockland Haitians react? Trump yanked CHNV and reversed other immigration programs this spring; his administration has aggressively pursued deportation. A recent federal court order in Massachusetts on April 14 temporarily blocked the Trump administration's efforts to terminate the CHNV program. But the letters from Homeland Security, the state lawmakers and activist said, keep on coming. Allowing the president to ignore court orders, Carroll said, is "dangerous anti-American and unconstitutional." Trump, whose first administration targeted immigrants from the Mideast and Latin America, debased immigrants from Haiti and other countries during his 2024 campaign. He began taking action to curb what he said was mainly illegal immigration on Day 1 of his administration, with the White House noting the aim was to "enforce our nation's immigration laws." About 3,000 Haitians came to Rockland through CHNV, and others are here from Venezuela and Nicaragua, immigrant groups have said. People in Rockland targeted for deportation also included those here under Temporary Protected Status and young people protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, activists said. People have come to the U.S. to escape danger and to contribute to the U.S., said Eachus, a Democrat who represents Stony Point and parts of Orange County in his 99th District. His office was recently contacted by the family of a woman who had fled Haiti's violence, including the destruction of her home. She was distraught over receiving the letter from Homeland Security. "The United States would send her straight back into that danger," he said. Konbit Neg Lakay Executive Director Renold Julien noted that the focus of Trump's actions were immigrants of color; meanwhile, the president was inviting white South Africans to come to the U.S. "It is not immigration," Julien said. "It is racism." This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: East Ramapo NY students told to self deport or face expedited removal
USA Today
29-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Haitians saw a special Biden entry program as a promise. Will Trump kick them out?
Trump on Day 1 killed a Biden-era program that helped people from certain countries, including Haiti, come to the U.S. under humanitarian parole. It remains unclear what will happen to people who are already in the U.S. on the two-year parole. Loueise Mary Pierristil, who is now seeking asylum, said Haitians were invited here under the past administration. "The right thing to do is for whoever is president to respect that." SPRING VALLEY - The Trump administration announced just after the inauguration that a special humanitarian program for immigrants from chaotic and dangerous countries was terminated. The program, introduced by the Biden administration in 2023, lets certain immigrants with a sponsor into the U.S. as they seek asylum and a possible path to citizenship. Almost half of those using the program, said to be given "humanitarian parole," are from Haiti. But what about those participants who are already here, including an estimated 3,000 now living in Rockland County? Will the Trump administration allow them to complete the next step, which usually includes securing asylum and a pathway to citizenship? "I hope so," said Renold Julien, CEO of Konbit Neg Lakay, a community center in Spring Valley that's been helping immigrants since 1996. Loueise Mary Pierristil agreed. "I was invited by President Biden," he said during a break from a morning English class that Konbit provides. "The right thing to do is for whoever is president to respect that." Homeland Security says program fed 'invasion' There has been no official word for what comes next for humanitarian parole recipients already here. But a Jan. 21 statement by Homeland Security said the program had been "abused" and had allowed an "invasion." Trump throughout the presidential campaign blasted immigration programs, especially those that supported Haitians. One of the most memorable comments about Haitian immigration came during the presidential debates, when Trump repeated rebutted rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were "eating the pets." What is the 'Biden Program'? Biden in 2023 reopened a special humanitarian parole pathway, given the government shorthand of CHNV, for people from dangerous, corrupt and chaotic countries like Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. Many who have been granted the status call it the "Biden Program." To qualify, a person needs to have a sponsor in the U.S. who can demonstrate the ability to provide any needed financial support. The parole status is for two years and provides necessary working papers. During the parole, a person can seek asylum, which provides a pathway to U.S. citizenship. As of December 2024, some 531,690 had been come to the U.S. under CHNV, with more than 40% coming from Haiti. Choosing faith in the U.S. Lauture Jean is among those seeking humanitarian parole who ended up in Spring Valley, long a nexus of Haitian community and culture that boasts the second-largest, per capita, Haitian population in the U.S. Like Jean, many joined the "Biden Program" because their lives were in danger in the chaos of Haiti's political instability. Jean was a high-ranking police officer in Haiti, and became a target of gangs. He received humanitarian parole in September 2023. His two-year window under parole would give him until September this year to establish some sort of permanent residency. Jean is well into the asylum application process — he's even submitted fingerprints — and has faith that the application process would be allowed to proceed under Trump's changing policies. "I can continue to be afraid of going back to Haiti," he said in Haitian Creole. He said he has faith that the commitment the U.S. made will stand. Fulfilling promise is 'the right thing to do' Most of the Biden Program participants are employed, often in jobs that offer nowhere near the pay or prestige of their professional careers in Haiti. Pierristil was an engineer in Haiti; now he's cleaning Konbit's offices. Was it his dream to come to the U.S. someday? For a vacation, he said. But with his home country unstable and his family there still in hiding, he now hopes to get asylum and U.S. citizenship and bring his loved ones to safety here. Pierristil arrived in May 2023, so his two-year period to make a plan ends this May. 'Invited' to U.S. St. Jacques Pierre arrived to New York on humanitarian parole last May. He had been involved in politics in his hometown. It became dangerous for him and his wife, which endangered his extended family; when the couple left, things seemed to calm down for the rest of the family, he said. Pierre's two sons, ages 13 and 10, are in Haiti, living with their grandparents. He said he dreams of going back to Haiti, if things were safe and calm. But he is building a life here, applying for asylum and planning to bring his two boys to the U.S. Julien of Konbit said that people from all over the world come to the U.S. seeking safety and security. As the leader of a U.S. Department of Justice-recognized agency, Julien said he keeps close tabs on immigration enforcement, as well as the political rhetoric and tone. "Why the only people the administration is running after are Black and Latinos?" he wondered. "My people, they were invited by the U.S."
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio AG and 17 others question protections for immigrants from dangerous home countries
Attorney FritzGerald Tondreau, who helps with immigration issues at Konbit Neg Lakay in Spring Valley, N.Y., shows intimidating videos of gang hostages and enemies being killed or beaten in Haiti. As a new wave of immigrants fleeing chaos arrives, many are moving beyond New York and Florida to find jobs and housing. (Photo by Tim Henderson/Stateline) Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and 17 other Republican attorneys general are questioning the temporary protected status for immigrants from 17 distressed countries. They're asking officials in President Donald Trump's explicitly anti-immigrant administration to review whether protections are necessary. In a statement Tuesday, Yost said some have been allowed to stay in the United States even after it was 'safe for them to return home.' However, he didn't name a single such country — and publicly available reports make it hard to guess which places he might mean. His office was asked if he could name a person with temporary protected status who could safely return to her or his home country. A spokeswoman responded that it wasn't the attorney general's job to make such determinations. An immigrant advocate said the letter was another way to scare vulnerable immigrants into the shadows. It's akin to last summer's false claims by now-President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and others that Haitians under temporary protected status in Springfield were stealing and eating their neighbors' pets, she said. That led to dozens of bomb threats and reports of violence against immigrants. 'It's about intimidation,' said Lynn Tramonte, founder of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. 'It's about destabilization. These are authoritarian tactics where you make people unsafe in their homes and communities. It's really sad. J.D. Vance himself brought violence to Springfield.' Yost and the other attorneys general sent a letter to Kristi Noem, Trump's head of the Department of Homeland Security. Now confirmed, Noem has the power to grant or revoke temporary protected status, or TPS. Her farewell address last week as North Dakota governor was peppered with starkly anti-immigrant rhetoric. The Trump administration is giving immigration officers an expanded authority to rapidly deport immigrants, including people the Biden administration temporarily allowed into the country under parole authority, according to an internal memo, States Newsroom reported this weekend. 'TPS beneficiaries represent over 1 million immigrants residing in the States who are otherwise without legal status,' the attorneys general's letter to Noem said. 'Converting TPS into a license for long-term residency frustrates congressional aims and only increases the financial and governmental strain on States.' In addition to Yost, attorneys general from Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming signed the letter to Noem. The letter makes much of the fact that the word 'temporary' is in the name of the designation, and that people from some countries have had temporary protected status for decades. 'Honduras, for instance, first received TPS after a hurricane hit in 1998 and DHS bases its current TPS designation on 'persist[ing]' conditions from that same event,' the letter said. 'TPS extensions spanning decades have become routine.' According to statutory language provided by Yost's office, the Homeland Security secretary can grant TPS if she finds 'that there exist extraordinary and temporary conditions in the foreign state that prevent aliens who are nationals of the state from returning to the state in safety.' Tramonte said the attorneys general are misreading the law. 'It's called 'temporary protected status,'' she said. 'It's not called 'short-term protected status.' When a crisis happens, whether it's a natural disaster or a political crisis, it takes years to recover. They're fixating on the word 'temporary' as if that means short-term. But all that means is that Congress said we're going to give you a break and not deport you because it's dangerous to send you back.' In its 2023 report on human rights practices, the U.S. State Department had this to say about Honduras, the country the Republican AGs cite as being designated a TPS country for almost 27 years: 'Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by government agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including threats against media members by criminal elements; serious government corruption; extensive gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual violence, and femicide; and crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons.' In fact, of the 17 countries designated for TPS, 11 have the State Department's most severe travel warning — do not travel. Three have the next-highest, reconsider travel. And three have the second-lowest, exercise increased caution. Reports for the latter countries — Cameroon, Nepal and El Salvador — indicate how dicey it might be to return there, especially if you're not a tourist from a developed country. Human Rights Watch's World Report 2024 says that El Salvador had been stricken by gang violence, and then 'a state of emergency (that was) adopted in March 2022 that suspended basic rights remains in force. Authorities have committed widespread human rights violations, including mass arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment in detention, and due process violations.' The Human Rights Watch report for Cameroon detailed 'continued clashes between armed groups and government forces throughout Cameroon's Anglophone and Far North regions severely impacted civilians, with cases of unlawful killings, abductions, and raids on villages increasing in the second half of the year.' And the State Department's 2023 report for Nepal described 'significant human rights issues (including) credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; arbitrary detention; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media, including violence or threats of violence against journalists and unjustified arrests of journalists.' Those are the TPS countries that the State Department deems to be the safest of the 17 to travel to. The letter the attorneys general wrote to Noem criticized former President Joe Biden for extending temporary protected status designations for Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela, in addition to El Salvador. Ukraine has been devastated by war since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded in 2022. Sudan has been torn by civil war since 2023, spurring the enlistment of child soldiers, sexual violence and other atrocities. And in Venezuela, the socialist government has made the economy so dysfunctional that 90% live in poverty, and it has the highest crime rate in the world. In a statement announcing that he and other Republican attorneys general called for a review of TPS designations, Yost, said some could safely return to their home countries. 'This program has been applied too loosely, allowing noncitizens to live here indefinitely, even after it's safe for them to return home,' the statement quoted Yost, who last week announced a 2026 run for governor, as saying. Asked if the Ohio AG could name one, his spokeswoman said that wasn't his job. 'The Ohio Attorney General isn't the person with authority to make TPS judgments, regardless,' the spokeswoman, Bethany McCorkle, said in an email. 'That's why the letter doesn't call for the designation to be immediately lifted from any one nation. 'What the letter does ask is that the Secretary engage in a review of the country conditions and exercise her judgment regarding the status of countries that have been designated as 'temporar[ily]' protected for years — sometimes decades — based on the same insular events,' she added. 'If conditions are currently unsafe in a certain country based on new/current factors that would reach the high bar set by Congress for TPS, then the Secretary would have discretion to give TPS on that basis.' The call for an administration led by a vehemently anti-immigrant president to review and possibly deny immigrants' protected status might be out of step with public opinion. A December poll sponsored by the National Immigration Forum and the Bulfinch group said that 73% of Americans agreed that immigration policies should protect the persecuted and keep families intact. Tramonte, of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said the real point of the letter is to distract the public from the real cause of many Americans' suffering. 'This gets them headlines, this gets them accolades from the people they're trying to stir up,' she said. 'They're trying to distract from their bigger agenda, which is getting corporations bigger tax breaks and helping the wealthy while average people are having to work multiple jobs just to pay the rent.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
