CONTACT: press@acaciajustice.org and info@haitianbridge.org

SAN DIEGO, CA – Today, the Acacia Center for Justice released a new factsheet that demonstrates tragic disparities in the rates of representation for nationalities targeted by the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, specifically Haitians. Several hundred thousand Haitians are now vulnerable to deportation because the Supreme Court decided in June that the Trump administration has the authority to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, despite the “constitutional claim that the Secretary of Homeland Security’s decision was tainted by racial animus in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.”

The termination has already had a tragic impact. Last week, Pierre Damas Bel of Springfield, Ohio, lost his life by suicide after he was forced to wear an ankle monitor upon losing his TPS. Acacia’s findings underscore the dire situation this administration’s termination of TPS has created for the hundreds of thousands of Haitians like Pierre who have become beloved members of communities across our nation.

Haitians have the second-lowest rate of legal representation among the top ten nationalities in the US immigration removal caseload. Acacia’s analysis shows only 18% of Haitians whose cases were initiated in immigration court in the past year and a half had legal representation at some point during their case. Cubans were the only other nationality with a lower representation rate, at 17%.

Phillip Kretsedemas, Acacia Center for Justice’s Managing Director for Research, said: “The end of TPS for Haitians means that almost half of the Haitian foreign-born population in the US could be at risk for deportation. The catastrophic effect of this policy decision is, tragically, in keeping with a long history of exclusionary policies that have had a more severe impact for Haitians than most other immigrant populations. People should also be aware that policies–like mandatory detention and maritime interdictions–that began by focusing on Haitians tend to be streamlined for all immigrants, which is what we’re seeing today with the revocation of TPS.”

Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said: “We spent more than a month trying to find an attorney in Ohio to represent Pierre Damas Bel before his tragic death to no avail. As we all mourn his passing, I am grateful the Acacia Center for Justice is highlighting the impact of TPS terminations nationwide. In an increasingly rigged immigration system, legal representation can be the difference between a person’s freedom, a family’s unity, a community’s well-being, and indefinite detention, family separation, or tragedies like Pierre’s untimely death. We join the Acacia Center for Justice in calling on Congress to provide a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship for our Haitian siblings who have sought protection and have rebuilt their lives here in the United States, including legislation like Senate Bill 4814 and the Dream and Promise Act.”

Acacia’s factsheet titled “A History of Exclusion: Haitian TPS Termination and Legal Access” is available here.