AUGUST 31, 2026
Contact: info@haitianbridge.org,  media@haitianbridge.org

San Diego, CA —  On the International Day of People of African Descent, the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) joins communities across the world in affirming the dignity, humanity, and fundamental rights of people of African descent. The United Nations estimates that approximately 200 million people of African descent live in the Americas, yet Black communities continue to experience systemic racism, racial discrimination, exclusion, and unequal access to economic, social, civil, and political rights.

For Black migrants, race and immigration status too often intersect to create heightened risks of detention, deportation, and family separation. Under the Trump Administration’s intensified immigration enforcement, Haitian and other Black migrant communities are facing renewed threats to their safety, stability, and denied access to humanitarian protection, while allowing White South Africans to enter the U.S. under the false pretext of persecution. The actions of this administration could not make it clearer that its immigration policies are rooted in racism and white supremacy. Nonetheless, these are not merely abstract policies—they have real consequences for families and communities.

“The International Day of People of African Descent must be more than a day of recognition—it must be a call to action. Black people should not have to prove their humanity in order to receive protection, justice, or dignity. For Haitians and Black migrants, the struggle against anti-Blackness is inseparable from the struggle for humane migration policies, racial justice, and the right to live safely and freely. Black and Brown migrants globally are under attack, from South Africa to the Dominican Republic to the United States. We must move beyond statements of solidarity toward policies that dismantle the systems that continue to criminalize, exclude, and marginalize Black people around the world” — Guerline Jozef, Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance

ABOUT HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies, foreign policy, and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and builds solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”). Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook: @haitianbridge