To contact our media team, please email media@haitianbridge.org with [Media] in the subject line. We can facilitate country-expert interviews as well as interviews with directly impacted migrants in some cases.
San Diego, California – On the last day of Haitian Heritage Month, the United States sent yet another deportation flight to Haiti, tearing families apart and sending people into insurmountable danger. This recent flight comes after the Biden administration agreed that Haiti’s country conditions warrant an extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Last month the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) urged the US and other governments to “suspend the forced return of Haitians to their country taking into account the current situation in Haiti.” Today’s flight marks the fifth deportation flight of 2023, and the 283rd flight to Haiti since Biden took office.
Guerline Jozef, Co-founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Black Immigrants Bail Fund, and founding member of Cameroon Advocacy Network, issued the following statement:
“We call on the Biden administration to immediately halt deportations to Haiti. Black immigrants continue to be disproportionately impacted by draconian immigration laws. Our communities are overpoliced, hyper vulnerable and the first to be targeted. By continuing these deportations, the administration is knowingly condemning the most vulnerable, who came to us in their time of need, to imminent danger. Deportations to Haiti are intentional violence and blatant anti-Black discrimination.”
We further call on the Haitian Government to prioritize the well being of the Haitian people and reject these deportation flights on the grounds that the country is currently unsafe. It is unconscionable that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Victor Génus would accept charter flights from the United States. Since taking office, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has continuously called on the international community for military support to address the insecurity crisis in Haiti. According to Human Rights Watch 2021 Report on Haiti, Haiti is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks of violence in decades. The United Nations also reported, from January to May 2022, kidnappings rose by 36% and homicides by 17%. Miami Herald reports that it has been almost two years since the assassination of Haiti’s former President, Jovenel Moïse. The power vacuum has allowed as many as 200 gangs in Haiti, and they control roughly 80% of Port-au-Prince, several other cities, key ports, and roads, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Earlier this month the Haitian Bridge Alliance joined the National Urban League, NAACP, and the Southern Poverty Law Center in calling on President Biden to take all actions within his authority to protect majority Black immigrants who can’t return to their home countries due to armed conflict, natural disaster, or other emergent humanitarian reasons – including nationals from Haiti. We urge this administration to cease all deportations in light of the deadly conditions that Haitians may face upon their arrival. Deportations to Haiti is a clear example of how the United States continues to contribute to the destabilization of the country.
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Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “the Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies 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
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 25, 2023
PRESS CONTACTS
Niambé Tomlinson (National Urban League) NTomlinson@nul.org
Paige Censale (Haitian Bridge Alliance) info@haitianbridge.org
Anna Núñez (Southern Poverty Law Center) anna.nunez@splcenter.org
San Diego, California — Today, as first reported by The Hill, a coalition of prominent civil rights organizations sent a letter to the Administration calling on President Joe Biden to take all actions within his authority to protect undocumented immigrants — many of whom hail from the African and Caribbean diasporas, have strong family and community ties, and contribute tremendously to the economy. The groups underscored the economic and moral imperative to protect these communities, calling immigration, “one of the key civil rights issues of our time.”
The letter specifically calls for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations and redesignations for nationals in the U.S. who can’t safely return to their home countries, including nationals from Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, Cameroon, and other African nations, as well as Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras. It also calls on President Biden to use all tools necessary to protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and urges reduction of overly long case backlogs.
As long-term undocumented immigrants continue to uniquely strengthen the economy and local communities, they have become an inextricable part of our nation’s fabric. However, as the groups outlined in the letter, congressional inaction on immigration reform has left undocumented Black immigrants who have called the U.S. home for decades with uncertainty about their future. The groups are now calling on the Administration to take every executive and agency action possible to help protect these immigrant communities and move towards a more fair and equitable immigration system.
The letter, led by the National Urban League, NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and the Haitian Bridge Alliance, states:
“There is a moral imperative for us to reform our immigration system and overcome the mistakes of our past, particularly as the Black immigrant population represents one of the most rapidly growing immigrant communities in the U.S.
“We, therefore, urge the Administration to take every executive and agency action possible to help ensure that we begin to move to a more fair and equitable immigration system. A number of our organizations have endorsed the solutions in the report titled 2023 Immigration Priorities: A Blueprint for the Biden-Harris Administration. We believe all of these solutions should be on the table as the administration builds a suite of solutions focused on affirmative relief, including: (1) TPS designations and redesignations for nationals in the U.S. who can’t return to their home countries due to armed conflict, natural disaster, or other emergent humanitarian reasons, including nationals from Haiti, Sudan, South Sudan, Cameroon, and other African nations, as well as Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras, as soon as possible; (2) protections by any tool necessary for DACA recipients; and (3) reduction of overly long case backlogs and other related actions.”
“Black immigrants carry the burdens of discrimination on multiple fronts, suffering from a stigma of anti-immigrant sentiment that has surged in recent years, compounded by the stain of anti-Blackness that the nation is still struggling to erase,” said Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League. “These communities deserve an equal shot at the American dream, and we urge the Biden Administration to take aggressive action to rid the immigration process of the inequities that put that dream persistently out of reach.”
“Black immigrants continue to be the group most impacted by crimmigration as our communities are overpoliced, hyper vulnerable and subject to extreme racism” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. “It is of utmost importance that the Biden administration live up to its values and use the full breadth of its executive power to provide essential humanitarian protections including TPS. According to the latest Pew Research, one (1) in ten (10) Black people in the United States are immigrants. The Black immigrant population is projected to account for roughly a third of the U.S. Black population’s growth through 2060. It is time that we acknowledge the contribution of Black immigrants in the United States and urge President Biden and his administration to make sure that racial equity is at the center of all immigration policies and to bring swift action to protect our Black immigrant community.”
“Immigrants make our communities stronger,” said LDF Senior Policy Counsel Amalea Smirniotopoulos. “Yet, we’ve seen an onslaught of attacks in recent years on undocumented immigrants — thousands of whom came to the United States to escape violence, poverty, and environmental disasters. Black immigrants in particular continue to fare worse in our immigration system, and may face higher rates of deportation and detention. We urge President Biden to take all necessary steps to fix our broken immigration system.”
“For too long, anti-Black racism and cruelty have pervaded our immigration system, and it’s time to end unjust treatment and human rights abuses inflicted by our government,” said Efrén C. Olivares, deputy legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “We must return to our nation’s values of being a nation where immigrants forced to flee due to political instability, violence and persecution can find a home and safe haven in the United States. We call upon the Biden administration to take every step to ensure that racial equity is at the forefront of its immigration policies.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 18, 2023
Contact: Paige Censalepcensale@haitianbridge.org
San Diego, California – Today, following last week’s visit of civil rights, human rights, and immigrants rights organizations to Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico and the Texas Rio Grande Valley, the delegation jointly released “LIVES AT RISK: Barriers and Harms As Biden Asylum Ban Takes Effect.” The report details the abysmal conditions, grave harms, and barriers to protection suffered by people who are now waiting to seek asylum as the Biden administration begins implementation of its new asylum ban.
The delegation, led by the Haitian Bridge Alliance, included leaders and experts from the ACLU, Amnesty International, Amnesty International USA, Human Rights First, NILC, National Immigrant Justice Center, Tahirih Justice Center, UndocuBlack Network, and the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign for asylum rights. Together, the delegation members bore witness to the shocking humanitarian crisis caused by U.S. immigration policies, policies causing unique harms to Black, Brown, and Indigenous people seeking safety.
“At the border, the impact of United States’ politics can be seen clearly,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. “At the doorstep to the United States, people fleeing violence and persecution are facing danger and harm as they wait for appointments in a jerry-rigged system and for the U.S. government to meet its obligations to people seeking asylum under federal law and international treaties. The new Biden administration asylum ban will inflict terrible suffering on already extremely vulnerable people, including pregnant women and children. Black and indigenous people will continue to suffer and even be killed as they endure dangerous and inhumane conditions while they wait to seek asylum in the United States of America. We call on the Biden administration to use this as an opportunity to change the tides and move away from these barbaric and cruel policies.”
In Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico the delegation heard accounts of individuals unable to obtain limited CBP One appointments navigating lack of phone and internet access, others trying to seek asylum at ports of entry without a CBP One appointment turned away or prevented, the precarious and inhumane living conditions in encampments at the border, and the life-threatening dangers and anti-Black racism that people seeking asylum endure while waiting in Mexico. Key findings of the delegation’s report include: People seeking asylum continue to be turned away from ports of entry; People seeking asylum are struggling to secure limited CBP One appointments; Haitian and Black people seeking asylum are targets of anti-Black discrimination and violence; Families continue to be separated; The Biden administration’s new asylum ban, like Title 42 and Remain in Mexico, is stranding many asylum-seeking people in dangerous places where they are targets of violence and kidnappings; Refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants are living in squalid conditions without access to basic services; There is a lack of accessible information about the asylum ban; and There is a tremendous lack of governmental and international support for asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
A humane border policy should focus on increased communication, coordination and support for humanitarian aid, shelter and reception at the border and in destination communities, with a focus on local organizations. The delegation reiterates its call for the Biden administration to uphold the legal right to seek asylum and due process, rescind its new asylum ban, maximize access to asylum at ports of entry, and welcome people with dignity and respect. Many of our organizations have provided detailed recommendations to the Biden administration.
Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “the Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provide 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 build 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
San Diego, California – On Monday, March 13, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that certain Ukranians who entered the U.S. at a land border shortly after Russia’s invasion, and were given permission to stay for one year, may be eligible to remain in the United States longer. This humanitarian parole extension will allow upwards 25,000 Ukrainians to live, work and remain with family in the United States.
“We welcome the announcement that humanitarian parole has been extended to Ukrainians and the Ukrainian community; no person or family should ever live in fear of being sent back to danger—and in some cases, death. We call on the administration to live up to its commitment to racial justice and ensure that this welcoming gesture is extended to countries that have also been ravaged by extreme violence, war, and poverty including Haiti, Cameroon, Nicaragua and Somalia, among others. America can and should be a nation that lives up to its moral compass and welcomes with dignity, not a country that forces those who have already lived the unthinkable—leaving everything they know and love behind—to face fear and uncertainty as they begin to rebuild their lives.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 6, 2023
San Diego, California – On Friday, March 3, 2023, a video and photo surfaced on social media allegedly showing the aftermath of a shooting of three Black men and the potential kidnapping of a Black woman near a migrant encampment in Matamoros on the US-Mexico border. Upon hearing reports of the shooting from migrants in the nearby camp, the Haitian Bridge Alliance reached out to entities in Mexico and the United States immediately to warn them of these extreme acts of violence fearing for the Haitians and other asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border.
“We strongly advise the migrant populations in the Matamoros area, including many Black asylum seekers, to be extremely cautious. Anti-Blackness is endemic in Mexico, and each day that people seeking asylum, including pregnant people, children, and families are forced to wait in these dangerous areas raises the chances of more violence. This is an active investigation so the Haitian Bridge Alliance will continue to reach out to various entities to see if we can clarify whether or not the victims were asylum seekers or indeed US citizens crossing into Mexico as some media outlets have reported. These cruel acts of violence show that whether you are seeking asylum or US citizens of African descent just visiting the Matamoros area, there is no safe place for Black people at the US-Mexico border.”
From Tijuana to Matamoros, Haitians and others seeking safety are victims of extortion, kidnapping and murder by cartels. We call on the US government to restore full asylum access at the border, and for the Mexican government to investigate this violence immediately and do what is necessary to reunite those taken with their loved ones.
February 22, 2023
Contact: Taisha Saintil tsaintil@haitianbridge.orgPaola Luisi pluisi@haitianbridge.org, 202-264-9546
San Diego, California – Yesterday, the Biden Administration announced a proposed Asylum Ban, that would bar any person who enters in between ports of entry or presents at a port of entry without an appointment from seeking asylum in the United States if they had previously transited through a third country and did not petition for asylum there.
“President Biden campaigned on restoring the soul of America, which includes restoring our asylum system. Instead, President Biden has made it a practice of recycling Trump-era policies, like this asylum transit ban announced today. This policy will prevent extremely vulnerable people, especially Black and LGBTQIA+ migrants fleeing from seeking asylum if they did not do so in the other countries that they passed through. This is absurd and illegal and will effectively shut down our asylum system, denying many the opportunity to seek safety. We must immediately change course, uphold our human rights obligations, and create pathways for all seeking safety regardless of how they reach our borders and shores.”
If migrants do travel through a third country and do not meet the asylum ban rules they will be deemed, “ineligible for asylum” and unable to seek asylum for five years. Without a doubt, this policy will put countless lives at risk as migrants’ chance for asylum is taken away. This policy will force people, including many children, into the arms of human traffickers and coyotes who will be left without any other avenues to seek protection.
Although it is unclear when this Trump-era, white supremacist policy will take effect, the administration has only given the public 30 days to weigh in. We urge President Biden and his administration to reject this policy and immediately change course.
February 2, 2023
Paul Pierrilus, Who Was Unjustly Deported to Haiti Two Years Ago Today, Must Be Returned to the United States and Reunited with His Family
Washington DC, February 2, 2023 – Two years ago today, on February 2, 2021, the Biden-Harris administration put Paul Pierrilus, a finance consultant from New York, on a deportation flight to Haiti. Born in St. Martin to Haitian parents but raised in New York, Paul was not from and had never been to Haiti. Since the day of his arrival, Paul, now 42 years old, has lived in hiding for his safety during one of the most unstable and dangerous times in Haiti’s modern history. Haiti’s Ambassador to the U.S. Bocchit Edmond said at the time, “Mr. Pierrilus isn’t a Haitian citizen & thus can’t be sent to Haiti.”“Since I’ve been deported to Haiti, Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse got assassinated. How safe can the country be for someone like myself who’s never been here if it’s not safe for its own president?” said Paul Pierrilus. He added, “Literally every other night police officers are getting killed or I hear gang shootings. I’ve crossed paths with people that have been kidnapped and or had family members kidnapped. The insecurity is at an all-time high and there is zero police presence in the streets. I don’t leave my home or take any unnecessary risks out of fear that I’ll be kidnapped or killed. I should never have been deported here and ask the U.S. government and my community to help reunite me with my family who desperately need need me with them in New York.”Guerline Jozef, Co-founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Black Immigrants Bail Fund, and founding member of Cameroon Advocacy Network, said, “I will never forget the call I received from Paul at 2am on February 2, 2021, saying that he was being deported. The Trump administration targeted Paul based on his Haitian background in its premeditated plan to single out Black immigrants for deportation, even though he had lived in the U.S. since he was five years old. After repeated attempts by the Trump administration to deport him, the Biden administration finally did. Paul had never been to Haiti, did not speak Haitian Kreyol, and is not a citizen of Haiti. We ask the Biden administration to establish a meaningful opportunity to return him home to reunite with his family and community in New York, in light of his cruel and unjust deportation.”“It has been two years since the Biden Administration’s cruel decision to deport my constituent and an upstanding member of our Spring Valley community, Paul Pierrilus, to a country he had never been,” said Mondaire Jones, former U.S. Representative for the 17th Congressional District covering Pierrilus’ home of Rockland County. “After my office was able to stop his initial deportation, we were alarmed when ICE pressed forward two weeks later in apparent defiance of President Biden’s own executive order halting deportations for 100 days. The Biden White House has recognized the humanitarian and political crises in Haiti through a series of actions including extensions of TPS. In the same way that U.S. policy prohibits deportations to Ukraine due to dangerous conditions there, we should not be deporting people to Haiti.”“Paul’s story is emblematic of the targeted violence and abuse Haitian immigrants in the United States face at every juncture of the criminal legal and immigration systems,” said Sarah Decker, staff attorney at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, “We know that U.S. immigration policy has historically singled out Haitians for deportation and has consistently blocked them from accessing the protection they are entitled to under U.S. and international law. Despite the fact that Paul lived in New York with his family and community for over thirty years, on this day two years ago, he was taken from his family, without any notice or warning by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and disappeared. We demand that the Biden administration bring Paul home. In light of the current conditions in Haiti, his deportation can only be understood as an unconscionable act of targeted violence.”
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that has worked to realize Robert F. Kennedy’s dream of a more just and peaceful world since 1968. In partnership with local activists, we advocate for key human rights issues— championing change makers and pursuing strategic litigation at home and around the world. And to ensure change that lasts, we foster a social-good approach to business and investment and educate millions of students about human rights and social justice. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter: @RFKHumanRights.
Dated: 1.27.2023
Contact:
Taisha Saintil : tsaintil@haitianbridge.orgPaola Luisi: pluisi@haitianbridge.org, 202-264-9546
Biden Administration Publishes the Long-Awaited Federal Registration Notice Allowing Haitians in the U.S. on or Before November 6, 2022 to Apply For Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
San Diego, California — The Haitian Bridge Alliance applauds the Biden Administration’s publication of the Federal Register Notice (FRN) yesterday, which allows eligible Haitians who are already in the United States on or before November 6, 2022, to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Guerline Jozef, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, stated the following:
“We welcome the administration’s support for Haitian immigrants through the TPS program that will provide them protection from deportation. In addition, they will be able to obtain employment authorization to provide for themselves and their families with dignity, pay taxes and give back to their community. On behalf of our community members, we send a strong mèsi anpil (thank you) to all of our partners who have been working hand-in-hand with us from the beginning to provide the Haitian community with TPS protection. This is undeniable proof that many hands make the load lighter! We are looking forward to continuing to work in collaboration to make sure that all immigrants are protected, particularly vulnerable Black migrants who remain stuck at the U.S.-Mexico border. In the same respect, we continuously call for the designation of all other countries that warrant it, such as Mauritania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
The Haitian Bridge Alliance calls on Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden to push the eligibility date for Haitians who are already in the United from November 6 2022 to January 26, 2023, to reflect the date of the Federal Register Notice.
Wednesday, January 11, 2022
CONTACT info@haitianbridge.org
Washington, D.C.—Following the recent announcement from the Biden-Harris Administration that Haitians are eligible for humanitarian sponsorship through the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV), Welcome.US and the Haitian Bridge Alliance are partnering to mobilize sponsors interested in helping Haitians fleeing danger and seeking refuge in the United States.
Since April 2022, nearly 200,000 Americans have stepped up to sponsor Ukrainians through the successful Uniting for Ukraine program, which was used as a model for the CHNV process. American citizens and lawful permanent residents now have the same opportunity to extend such compassion to Haitians fleeing gang violence, abject poverty, political instability, and gender based violence. Those interested in sponsoring a newcomer should visit welcome.us/uscis-sponsorship to learn more on eligibility and sign up for more information.
Statements from Welcome.US and Haitian Bridge Alliance:
“The inspiring results of the humanitarian sponsorship programs for Ukrainians and Venezuelans speak for themselves: We know that our society is eager to get involved in welcoming newcomers. Everyday people can now serve as the bridge to safety for Haitian children and families who have been forced to flee their homes, and we at Haitian Bridge Alliance are proud to partner with Welcome.US to demystify and facilitate this process.” – Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance
“Sponsors across the country have already stepped up to show the world who we are as Americans: people who welcome those seeking refuge, self-determination, and the fulfillment of their human potential. We are honored to work with the Haitian Bridge Alliance, who has worked tirelessly and effectively to advocate for the Haitian people and support a thriving community in the United States, to extend this new humanitarian sponsorship program to as many people as possible.” – Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US
The humanitarian and political crisis in Haiti is dire. More than 1.5 million children in Haiti, nearly one-third of the country’s youth, are in urgent need of emergency relief due to shortages of food and water amid political and economic turmoil and escalating gang violence, according to UNICEF. The United Nations Security Council continues to consider an international intervention in the country as key political leaders, including a former president, are sanctioned for drug trafficking, abusing their power, and financing gang violence.
Welcome.US provides resources to potential sponsors so that they have the information they need to use these safe, orderly, and designated pathways to help welcome displaced people in need of refuge into their communities and support newcomers as they rebuild their lives. These include informational materials, educational training, resources, tools, and guides to navigate the application process and the entire sponsorship journey.
Welcome.US is also working with community organizations and diaspora groups to recruit Cubans and Nicaraguans who are also included in the CHVN process, in addition to continuing the work to find sponsors for Ukrainians and Venezuelans.
About Welcome.US
At Welcome.US, our mission is to unleash the desire and capacity of Americans to welcome newcomers and help them thrive. We operate on the evidence that direct participation with newcomers transforms both the welcomer and those being welcomed. By making it easier for Americans from all walks of life to participate in the work of welcoming — and telling their stories — we are building a movement that celebrates America’s welcoming spirit by providing an opportunity to serve for all who seek to welcome. Our diverse community of Welcomers reaches across real and perceived divides to meet the needs of newcomers more effectively. In partnership with local and national resettlement agencies, diaspora organizations and leaders, refugees, community sponsorship groups, nonprofits, businesses, faith-based institutions, veterans, universities, four former Presidents and four former First Ladies, Welcome.US is a single point of entry for Americans who want to get involved and support those who are starting new lives in the United States. To learn more about Welcome.US, please visit welcome.us.
About Haitian Bridge Alliance
Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “the Bridge”, is a community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies 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
Taisha Saintil – tsaintil@haitianbridge.org Paola Luisi – pluisi@haitianbridge.orgDated: 1.6.2023
San Diego, California – Today, the Biden-Harris administration announced a parole program allowing some migrants from Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela with U.S.-based sponsors to seek shelter in the United States. President Biden also announced that migrants from the same countries will face immediate expulsion to Mexico under Title 42 if they enter irregularly to the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum.
Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, the only Black-led non-governmental organization at the U.S.-Mexico border, said the following:
“While today’s announcement that the administration is opening more pathways for Haitians, Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans to come to the United States is a step in the right direction, this announcement does not bring closer to restoring our broken immigration system. The right for all – regardless of national origin – to seek asylum should be fully restored. The creation of the parole program should not have come at the expense of barring others from exercising their rights to asylum. We are extremely concerned the administration is returning to some of Trump’s era practice of expelling asylum seekers to Mexico without the opportunity to seek protection and re-introducing an asylum transit ban” said Guerline Jozef, co-founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “We are also extremely concerned that the new parole program will be inaccessible to the most vulnerable amongst us, particularly those en route to the US border who will be ineligible for this program. We see firsthand the negative consequences and disproportionate impact on Black migrants that the current state of our immigration system brings. We can have a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system that welcomes all with respect and dignity.”
Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “the Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies 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”)
Contact: tsaintil@haitianbridge.orgPluisi@haitianbridge.org
San Diego, CA, December 5, 2022 – Haitian Bridge Alliance is pleased with the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to extend and redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). As the UN Security Council is considering an international intervention in Haiti to open aid corridors and resolve what the UN Secretary-General calls an “absolutely nightmarish situation” caused by gang violence, the dire situation in Haiti is only exacerbated by the cholera pandemic and the crippling economy with an inflation rate of 30 percent. According to a recent report by the UN, 4.7 million people in Haitian Nationals are facing acute hunger, including 19,000 in catastrophic famine conditions for the first time. It is also estimated that nearly 50 percent of the capital’s population is directly affected by gang violence, and 4.5 million need humanitarian assistance.
Guerline Jozef, Co-founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Black Immigrants Bail Fund, and founding member of Cameroon Advocacy Network, said “We welcome this much-needed announcement from the Biden administration. We rejoice and celebrate with our Haitian siblings and stand undeterred, in solidarity as we continue to work with and for the Haitian and Haitian-American communities. We are grateful for all our partner organizations, many of whom supported the letter led by the Haitian Bridge Alliance calling for the extension and redesignation of TPS for Haiti. This is another example of ‘Anpil men, chay pa lou.’ We acknowledge that there is much work to be done to welcome all people in need of protection with dignity and center the voices and narratives of Black migrants and immigrants. As we celebrate, we urge for the swift release of the Federal Register Notice as well as the release of all Haitians currently in immigration detention centers. We also call for the same protection for all deserving of safety, such as Nationals from Mauritania, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and others.”
Taisha Saintil, Advocacy, and Communications Associate and Founding Member of Cameroon Advocacy Network, said “ Today’s decision secures protection for thousands of Haitians in the United States living in fear and uncertainty. Although we are elated, we do acknowledge that this decision came after much advocacy, and inspired fear in the hearts and minds of Haitians all across the country. It is without a doubt that the Biden Administration not only made the morally right decision but also the one that makes the most sense for the United States. As highlighted by a report by FWD.us, Haitians who are living in the U.S. and are currently eligible for TPS contribute $2.6 billion to our economy each year, and 81% of them are in the labor force, providing essential services at a time of worker shortages and high inflation. This redesignation of TPS allows more Haitians in the U.S. to enroll in the program and contribute their skills and talents to American communities and the American workforce. As we continue to fight with our allies to ensure the total eradication of anti-Blackness within the immigration system, we take this moment today to thank the administration for this decision.”
Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “the Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies 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”).
Taisha Saintil, Haitian Bridge Alliance, tsaintil@haitianbridge.orgBlaine Bookey, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, bookeybl@uchastings.edu | (415) 703-8202Anthony Enriquez, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, enriquez@rfkhumanrights.org | (917) 941-9141Carolyn Tran, Communities United for Status and Protection, carolyn@wearecusp.org | (415) 377-4711
November 10, 2022 – The Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) led a delegation of human rights defenders—composed of thirteen representatives from HBA, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Panamanian advocates —to Panama from October 21 through October 29, 2022, to investigate the migration process and reception and treatment of people seeking refuge. The delegation traveled across the country, observing migrant reception centers in Panama’s Darién Province along the southern border with Colombia and in Panama’s Chiriquí Province along its northern border with Costa Rica. In these regions and in Panama City, the delegation spoke with dozens of refugees and met with government officials, civil society representatives, and international organizations.
“Given this spiraling situation in Haiti, many Haitians may be harmed or even killed if they stay in Haiti. They are forced to migrate in search of safety, often making this long and dangerous journey through the Americas to the U.S. Mexico border, where they hope to seek protection and join their family in the United States,” says Guerline Jozef, co-founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “Instead of receiving access to their right of protection, many Haitian asylum seekers along the border are dying of violence and medical neglect as they wait for months and even years for the chance to enter the United States – blocked by Title 42 policies that have closed the border to asylum seekers since March 2020.”
The delegation will release a report on its findings as part of a push for a comprehensive assessment of the human impacts of States’ migration policy in the Americas and State compliance with commitments made in the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. The delegation was first organized in response to reports the organizations received from Haitian migrants of violence and a lack of protection in Panama’s Darién Gap, including gruesome stories of sexual and gender-based violence. The investigation also sought to understand the key role Panama’s Darién Gap plays for people in migration through the Americas and to document the human impacts of the United States and other States’ immigration policies on people exercising their right to human mobility and seeking protection throughout the region and (non)access to justice where their rights are violated. Along with meeting and interviewing Haitians in migration, the delegation spoke with people in mobility from Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa, and witnessed the cruelty inflicted by the United States October 12 policy change towards Venezuelan refugees.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENovember 4, 2022
CONTACTTaisha Saintil, tsaintil@haitianbridge.orgEmily Morris, media@nilc.org, 213-457-7458
WASHINGTON — Haitian Bridge Alliance, the National Immigration Law Center, and over 280 civil and human rights organizations sent a letter calling on President Biden to protect Haitian asylum seekers. The administration must not send Haitians seeking safety back to Haiti, third countries, or detain them in Guantánamo Bay.
The letter, published today by the Haitian Bridge Alliance and NILC, outlines the United States’ pattern of disparate and discriminatory treatment towards Haitian refugees seeking protection and the prior human rights abuses that Haitians previously suffered from while detained at Guantánamo Bay. The letter also details concrete steps the Biden administration can take to protect Haitian asylum seekers, uphold human rights, and follow through on commitments to advance racial equity.
“It is past time for the United States, and the Biden administration, to pursue these rights-respecting actions, and end the pattern of discriminatory and disparate treatment inflicted on Haitians seeking U.S. protection,” the letter states. “During your administration, Haitians have been met with summary push-backs at the hands of the U.S. Coast Guard. People have died and continue to die at sea while seeking protection at U.S. shores. Rather than protecting them, the United States further victimizes these individuals by returning them to danger.”
The letter continues, “Your administration has the power to turn the page on these harmful and discriminatory policies. We urge you to do right by Haitian people seeking protection, whether by land or at sea, to live up to our humanitarian obligations, and build an equitable humanitarian protection system that welcomes those seeking refuge.”
A PDF of the full letter and signatories can be found here.
San Diego, California, August 31, 2022 – On International Day for People of African Descent, the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) honored the contributions of Toussaint Louverture, the leader of Haiti’s revolution that ended slavery and started the fight for Black liberation, and calls on all people and organizations to use every forum available to advance the human rights of people of African descent.
On August 18, 2022, Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance visited and honored the gravesite of Toussaint Louverture in Fort de Joux, France. She stood in Mr. Louverture’s prison cell in Château de Joux where Mr. Louverture was imprisoned after he led the successful revolutionary war against France, and she contemplated his life and legacy.
Before traveling to Fort de Joux and Mr. Louverture’s final resting place, Ms. Jozef had presented and advocated before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva, Switzerland. HBA led a coalition report to the CERD about the U.S. laws, policies, and practices that result in racist and xenophobic treatment against Black non-citizens—migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
In addition to the CERD report in July 2022, HBA has been focusing more on international accountability mechanisms, including a report in August 2021 to the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism and Xenophobia, a report in January 2022 to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, where it then spoke up on behalf of Black people and others being subject to rights violations and sexual and gender-based violence in Panama’s Darien Gap.
The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Human Rights First (HRF), The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK Human Rights) co-authored the report to CERD, and both BAJI and RFK Human Rights presented before CERD. The report and advocacy were endorsed by the Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP) and Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH). On Tuesday, the Committee issued Concluding Observations that took up many of the concerns and recommendations that this coalition raised to it.
“HBA continues to fight for Mr. Louverture’s legacy every day through our work with Black migrants stuck along the U.S.-Mexico border or locked in immigrant detention centers, and we know many great people and organizations do the same,” said Ms. Jozef. “It is up to us, with the knowledge we gain through this work, to ensure that global governance systems know the truth about what is happening to Black people and to assert our inalienable human rights in the face of States that trample upon them–just like Toussaint Louverture and our ancestors did before us. We ask for all willing to join us in making the record on the international stage about State abuses to use the international human rights governance and monitoring structure to ensure States fulfill their duties to Black people and other groups harmed by the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonial imperialism.”
“As someone who has lived through all the issues that Black people face in the Americas through my own journey to the States,” said Daniel Tse, HBA staff member and founder of the Cameroonian Advocacy Network. “It is powerful to see these issues addressed on the international stage and to see the clear calls for accountability for State abuses against People of African Descent.”
“Though it can be hard to see sometimes, the struggles of People of African Descent all across the world are interconnected,” said Erik Crew, the Staff Attorney at the Haitian Bridge Alliance who has spearheaded HBA’s international advocacy. “My African ancestors came up through slavery in the United States, and people helping them when they were fleeing State-sanctioned violence in the South is one of the reasons I am here today. We honor them and those that stepped up to help them every day with our work at HBA.”
The Bridge celebrates this collaboration and is inspired by the heroes of the Haitian Revolution, who had to find ways to make bonds and forge alliances out of African nations that had been thrown together as a monolith in slavery, speaking different languages, practicing different religions, having different customs, but who could unite to be the first to end slavery in the Americas.
Geneva, Switzerland, August 8 2022 – Today, the Haitian Bridge Alliance, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Human Rights First, The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services submitted a Shadow Report to the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) during its 107th session, denouncing anti-Black discrimination against non-citizens and ongoing violations of international protections for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers of African descent in and at the border of the United States. The report was also endorsed by Communities United for Status and Protection and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti.
The report argues that the US immigration and refugee laws, regulations, policies and practices are in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The link to the full report can be found here.
Guerline Jozef, Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, shared the following from Geneva:
“I will never forget the horrors I witnessed the United States commit against Black toddlers in Del Rio, Texas. The viral photo of the officer on horseback chasing and whipping a Black man getting his family food is only the tip of the iceberg: It is the product of a systemically racist approach to treating Black women, men, children—even babies—with cruelty. We submit this report alongside our partners in an effort to document these atrocities and demand the United States do all withing its reach to fully rescind Title 42, do a complete wind down of the Migrant Protection Protocols, and treat people with basic human dignity.”
San Diego, California, July 7, 2022 – A year ago today, we woke in shock to the terrible news of the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse. As writer Edwidge Danticat states, “A year after Moïse’s assassination, his murder remains unsolved, like those of so many other Haitians before and since.” Many close to Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s government are suspected of being involved in the assassination, including Mr. Henry himself.
Meanwhile, gangs are brutalizing Haitians with kidnappings, sexual assault, arson, and mass kidnappings, rendering Haiti uninhabitable for many. Entire neighborhoods such as Martissant have been internally displaced and forced to flee, while the U.S. government is fumbling any chance at a sustainable Haitian-led solution to the crisis by supporting Henry.
“Given this spiraling situation in Haiti, many Haitians may be harmed or even killed if they stay in Haiti. They are forced to migrate to ‘CHECHE LAVI’ in search of safety, often making the long and dangerous journey through the Americas to the U.S. Mexico border, where they hope to seek protection and join their family in the United States,” says Guerline Jozef, co-founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “Instead, many Haitian migrants along the border are dying of violence and medical neglect as they wait for months and even years for the chance to enter the United States – blocked by Title 42 policies that have closed the border to asylum seekers since March 2020.”
In Tijuana, Mexico, Haitian Bridge Alliance spoke with family members of those who have died this year, including the father of 18-year-old “J.L.” who spent two days in the hospital with stomach pains but was released with little more than prescriptions for medications. Three days later she died of medical neglect; she should never have been released from the hospital. “C.A.” died a few days after he was released from the hospital and told to come back another day despite feeling ill. An ambulance took him to the morgue ostensibly for an autopsy, but when his brother picked up his body, he had been disfigured, cut up, and mutilated – a likely victim of organ trafficking in the Mexican state-run morgue. 35-year-old “A.J.” was robbed and severely beaten outside a bank, and died several days later after a hospital refused to treat him. (For more stories like these, please see the Seven Case Profiles of Medical Neglect and Violence Against Haitian Migrants in Tijuana attached below)
“The Haitian Bridge Alliance primarily consists of directly-impacted individuals that work with the community that they represent. These stories of abuse are personal and painful to us. I’m tired of having to bury my brothers and sisters who die off the shores of Puerto Rico, in Panama’s Darien Gap, or at the U.S. Mexico border,” said Ms. Jozef. “Given President’s Biden campaign promises to immigrants, we demand that he reinstate safe access to asylum protection. It’s time for the Biden-Harris administration to recommit to ending cruel policies such as Title 42, MPP, and Operation Lone Star, which force people fleeing danger to wait for months or years in peril at the border or put them in the hands of smugglers and traffickers. At the same time, the U.S. government must address the root causes of Haitian migration and commit to real, strategic, and sustainable Haitian-led solutions so Haitians may thrive at home.
“This is the life of migrants here, we are treated like animals”
San Diego, California, July 7, 2022 – As we hear stories of migrants all around the world suffering from neglect and abuse, leading to much pain and suffering and sometimes death, Haitian Bridge Alliance mourns those Haitian men and women who died so far this year in Tijuana, Mexico. We mourn alongside the five families for whom we organized the funerals for their loved ones and for the others that we accompanied on their journey, and for all those who lost their lives unbeknownst to us in Mexico. We also mourn the countless lives lost at sea, including the forty Haitians who died off the coast of Puerto Rico in May 2022, for whom we have only been able to recover eleven bodies.
Below are profiles of seven tragic deaths in Tijuana. From medical negligence to targeted violence, their lives will not be forgotten in their tragic journey from Haiti to foreign lands in the hopes of reaching safety in the United States.
And then there are those Haitians who were victims of outright violence in Mexico.
This is the fate of more and more Haitian men, women, and children at the border in Mexico. A.J.’s friend summarizes the reality that Haitians face on their journey to the United States, “It is frightening because the same type of violence that we are leaving our country for is the same violence we are finding on our path to what we imagined was comfort.”
Yet, we as Haitians, as we have always done, will continue to fight for what is right, as attested by C.A.’s sister’s vow: “We are poor now, but when God gives me the opportunity, I will find out what happened to my brother’s organs so that it may never happen again.”
San Diego, California, June 29, 2022 — Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) mourns with the survivors and families of migrants who lost their lives in San Antonio on June 27, as they sought safety and protection in the United States. “My heart is heavy as we grieve the loss of precious lives, but I am also angry,” said Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “These vulnerable people seeking refuge died because the United States continues to impose barriers to people in search of protection, creating a system for smugglers and traffickers to thrive, rather than protecting these vulnerable people at our border. We must come together and make sure that the U.S. government ends its cruel, inhumane and ineffective deterrence policies and restores access to asylum so people don’t fall prey to smugglers and human traffickers.”
HBA also mourns the death and torture of as many as 37 African migrants attempting to cross from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Melilla on June 24. Shocking videos circulated of hundreds of young Black men piled on top of each other on the ground like corpses (unclear who was dead or alive), while Spanish law enforcement beat them with batons. The abuse of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers is a global atrocity and must be stopped.
Ms. Jozef, “The tragic death of the migrants in San Antonio and Morocco, as well as the 42 young Haitians including eleven women who lost their lives off the coast of Puerto Rico, is a painful reminder of the violence against the 15,000 Haitian and other asylum seekers who tried to seek protection in Del Rio, Texas last September and were met with armed resistance by the U.S. We witnessed people die from lack of access to water, food, and medical care. Almost one year later, and despite President Biden and Vice President Harris’s promises of accountability, no one has received justice. This war against migrants must stop. We implore President Biden to reinstate safe access to asylum protection. It’s time to end Title 42, MMP, Operation Lone Star, and to stop putting people fleeing danger in the hands of smugglers and traffickers.”