June 19, 2025

Contact: media@haitianbridge.org

SAN DIEGO, CA – On this Juneteenth, Haitian Bridge Alliance commemorates the end of slavery in the United States while calling urgent attention to the ongoing struggle for justice and dignity for Black people—especially Black immigrants. Even as we honor this historic moment of liberation, we must confront a harsh truth: the freedom promised in 1865 remains incomplete in 2025. June

This year’s commemoration comes amid renewed efforts to erase Black history and silence racial justice movements. Under the Trump administration, we have witnessed a dangerous rollback of progress— from Executive Orders to eliminate DEI  (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, to bans on teaching about slavery and systemic racism  in public schools, to the cancellation of federal contracts addressing racial equity. These actions not only rewrite history—they attempt to delegitimize the lived experiences of Black Americans and immigrants.

“Juneteenth is not just about freedom—it’s about truth, accountability, and justice,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “We cannot celebrate freedom while Haitian and other Black immigrants are detained in Guantánamo, deported without due process, and vilified by an immigration system rooted in anti-Blackness. And we cannot ignore the growing effort to erase the very history that Juneteenth represents.”

From forced deportations of Haitian families to the weaponization of asylum policies against migrants from Africa and the Caribbean, Black and Brown immigrants continue to be disproportionately targeted. Haitian Bridge Alliance urges policymakers to dismantle punitive immigration practices and reject any political platform that denies our history or our humanity.

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