In May 2021, HBA successfully co-led a campaign to redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), allowing over 155,000 Haitian nationals in the US to receive legal status, work authorization, and protection from removal. As a result, this population and their family will not remain in the shadows of society as undocumented and can access health care, housing and other services for their family without fear of being deported.
HBA led a coalition of organizations to convince US government to designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status effective June 7, 2022, providing protection from deportation and access to work permits for 45,000 or so Cameroonians already in the US.
“This news is a life changing victory for so many Cameroonian community members living every day in fear of deportation back to extremely dangerous conditions in Cameroon. We celebrate this win that is a direct result of our hard work and years of advocacy to defend and protect Black immigrants. However, protection should be for everyone, and we will continue to fight on behalf of our siblings from Mauritania, Ethiopia, and other countries deserving of protection. We thank Secretary Mayorkas and the Biden Haris administration for this announcement as we continue to advocate against the double standards within the immigration system.”
-Daniel Tse, Co-Founder of the Cameroon Advocacy Network
This victory is a result of years of advocacy and leadership of Black immigrants and the support of our allies. Due to longstanding socio-political tensions and years of armed conflicts in Cameroon, that has left thousands dead, 4.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and over 1 million people internally displaced. Cameroonians deported from the United States were tortured, physically or sexually abused, or assaulted by state agents, and were detained in jails, prisons, military camps, or other detention facilities, for periods ranging from days to months.
For a guide on TPS eligibility for Cameroonians, click here.
HBA v. Biden is a Class Action Lawsuit to demand accountability for thousands of families who were denied their basic rights and treated horrifically under the Del Rio bridge in Texas under the unlawful and racist Title 42 policy. Alongside Justice Action Center and Innovation Law Lab, we are suing the Biden administration. The plaintiffs are eleven Haitian asylum seekers who were victims of U.S. officials’ abusive treatment in the CBP Encampment and expelled without an opportunity to access the U.S. asylum system. We demand an end to Biden Administration’s harmful, discriminatory, and unlawful policies.
The link to the lawsuit filing is here and the transcript from our press conference about the lawsuit can be found here.
We’ve delivered hundreds of thousands of dollars of humanitarian aid, cash assistance, and have gotten countless families out of immediate danger. But it’s not enough – there is so much to do and such a large community to serve.
The country’s current stereotypes around immigration too often erase Black people. We’re chipping away at this by elevating our stories in the news and shedding light on our families and their stories, because immigration is a Black issue.
We teamed up with the African Bureau of Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA) to launch the Black Immigrants Bail Fund in 2010 and to date have paid bail for hundreds of people and helped reunite them with their loved ones.
We are not stopping until EVERY bond-eligible Black immigrant in ICE detention is free. We will not let any Black immigrant’s freedom to hinge on their wealth, because we know that Black Lives Matter, no matter where they were born.