17-05-2025
Haitian pride unfurled in Greater Boston as community confronts Trump immigration push
This year's commemorations are happening amid President Trump's efforts to remake US immigration policy and expand deportations.
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In August, the federal government plans to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, a program which has allowed hundreds of thousands of Haitians to live and work in the US. The program lets people remain in the United States when it would be unsafe to return to their home country due to armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances.
The Trump administration is also seeking to end humanitarian parole protections for people from three other nations, though a lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston has blocked those plans for now.
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'There is a lot of concern. There's a lot of fear, but we are reminded to not operate out of fear in times like this,' said Marie Elianor, co-founder of the Haitian American Student Corporation, a nonprofit organization. The group participated in the Somerville event.
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Greater Boston is home to more than 50,000 Haitian-born residents, according to a
who make their way north, often living for years in other countries like Brazil and Chile before continuing on to the United States.
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As Trump's deportation push has brought federal immigration agents into neighborhoods across Massachusetts, organizers of the Haitian Flag Festival in Somerville emphasized in marketing the event that it would be safe for attendees, said Metushael Jacques, president of the Haitian Service Providers Coalition.
Judy Antoine, 13, of Somerville, danced at Somerville City Hall on Saturday.
Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
The coalition hosted the festival in collaboration with Somerville's arts council and its Office of Immigrant Affairs.
'This is a community event,' Jacques said.
Haiti's independence is a tremendous source of pride for Haitians, she said. The nation ended more than a century of French colonial rule in 1804 and established the world's first free Black republic.
'The flag means a lot for us,' Jacques said. 'This is the first symbol of independence.'
Its flag consists of two horizontal bands, one red and one blue, and the nation's coat of arms.
The coat of arms depicts weapons and a palm tree topped by the liberty cap, a symbol of freedom. A banner underneath the palm tree reads, 'L'Union Fait La Force,' or In Union, there is Strength.
Margarette Woods, of Somerville, waved a Haitian flag.
Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
'Unity is strength, and more than ever we need strength,' said Elianor. 'We need the power to drive change.'
More gatherings celebrating Haiti's culture are planned. On Sunday, the Haitian-American Unity Parade will march from Mattapan Square to Harambee Park on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston, according to the city.
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On Tuesday, a Haitian cultural center celebrates its grand opening in the North End. The Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center was named for François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, the famed Haitian revolutionary leader.
On Saturday, the venue hosted an expo for Haitian vendors and entrepreneurs. The event continues Sunday.
Fayola Nicaisse, one of the organizers, said she launched the pop-up market two years ago when a group of Haitian vendors were stranded in the United States after Haiti's international airport closed due to escalating gang violence.
Since then, Nicaisse, who lives in Miami, has helped Haitian vendors sell their products in Atlanta, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
'We are basically connecting the diaspora with homemade products,' said Nicaisse, who is the founder of Ébène, which sells plant-based hair and skin products from coffee, castor oil, and moringa, an herbal plant grown in Haiti.
Victor Vaval Jr., who came to the United States from Haiti in 1999 as a teenager, visited the expo. Vaval now runs PVeet corporation, a grocery delivery service that sells imported products from the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia.
The business has introduced him to many migrants who have recently arrived in Massachusetts from Haiti.
'My heart goes out to the migrants,' Vaval said. 'They come here for the right reason. To work. To be able to provide for their family. And if our country was in a better place, they would love to just go back home.'
Laura Crimaldi can be reached at
