Beware of bad advice about Trump’s deportation pledges
Community advocates urge Haitians to avoid panic as questions swirl about TPS, Biden’s program, and what’s next.
by The Haitian Times and Macollvie J. Neel Nov. 29, 2024
Overview:
As misinformation about Trump’s potential immigration policies circulates online, Haitian community advocates caution against panic. They advise focusing on securing legal documents, avoiding fear-mongering on social media, and seeking guidance from trusted organizations like HAUP and Catholic Charities.
Editor’s Note: The following article should not be considered legal advice. For assistance with immigration issues, please consult a reputable attorney for appropriate guidance.
NEW YORK — With President-elect Donald Trump gearing up to take office, anxiety is spreading among some Haitian immigrants so intensely that many are turning to unreliable sources for legal advice. Amid the uncertainty surrounding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Biden’s humanitarian parole program as well as reports of people fleeing certain areas, immigrant advocates are urging the community to stay calm, emphasizing preparation over panic.
The surge in panic has been fueled largely by misinformation online, including a TikTok listing so-called “safe” places to move to under Trump’s presidency. According to advocates, some trusted community sources and relatives are also sharing poor or unverified advice. But despite having good intentions, the advice is misleading.
“Sit tight, mind your business, and stay out of trouble. These are uncertain times, but panic won’t help.”
Elsie Saint-Louis, Haitian Americans United for Progress
From the larger umbrella service providers to community-based groups and individual practitioners, the questions continue to come as people worry about mass deportation. Answers seem to fall into three categories: It’s too early to give legal advice, remember that TPS or CHNV are legal status, and stay calm and prepare your documents.
“There’s always misinformation when there is a change in administration, in either direction,” explained Margaret Martin, co-director of Immigrant and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. “The misinformation, confusion and fear is going to increase.”
No blanket legal advice available right now
Catholic Charities, an umbrella group that services immigrants and refugees of all nationalities, says the calls are coming to them from community partners and city agencies alike.
“We don’t know when it’s going to happen, how it’s going to happen or if it’s going to happen,” an attorney with the Haitian Response Initiative (HRI) told The Haitian Times. “Everyone is kind of in a state of confusion, so we try to keep our clients calm.”
“Don’t listen to TikTok,” the HRI attorney added, referring to unverified advice on the platform.
Elsie Saint-Louis, executive director of Haitian Americans United for Progress (HAUP) in Brooklyn, said her organization has been inundated with calls since the election.
“It’s nonstop. People are worried,” Saint-Louis said.
“None of us know what Trump will do,” she added. “Just wait, mind your business and stay out of trouble, and do what you do. That’s all you can do.”
Top questions from the community
Based on interviews The Haitian Times conducted with community leaders and advocates, here are the most common questions Haitians are calling about.
Is my TPS still valid?
Yes. If you have TPS until 2026 for example, it remains valid until then, regardless of speculation. Advocates urge TPS holders to ensure their paperwork is current.
I’m here on the Biden program. Do I have to leave in two years?
The program was always intended as temporary. Whether the two years apply from entry or program start is unclear. For now, advocates recommend focusing on renewing documents and seeking legal advice if eligible for status adjustment.
What should I do now?
Community leaders suggest gathering important immigration documents, avoiding fraudsters, and seeking help from credible legal organizations.
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Overall, the consensus among the advocates and attorneys is for families to continue living their lives, stay informed through credible channels and ensure their documents are in order. They encourage people to turn to established organizations or reputable immigration attorneys with expertise in their particular circumstances.
They also encourage Haitians to avoid self-proclaimed lawyers or notariospromising quick fixes or telling them what they want to hear.
“We let people know that at this moment, nothing has changed,” Martin said. “If it does change after January 20th, we will be here to let people know what those changes mean for them. In the meantime, just keep doing the same thing they were doing before.”
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Little Haiti-based nonprofit acquires land for expanded healthcare
Center for Haitian Studies provides for the uninsured and the underfunded
Known for its affordable health services and annual health fair, the Center for Haitian Studies (CHS) takes care of any Miami resident regardless of insurance, and soon, the organization could expand to a new location to offer even more free medical services to the community in Little Haiti. At the City of Miami commission meeting on Oct. 24, commissioners voted unanimously to donate a plot of land at 185 NE 82nd St. to CHS.
When Chairwoman Christine King, who represents the area, saw that the city was holding onto land near the CHS offices, she put forward a resolution so that the nonprofit could use the land “for providing charitable healthcare and human services to uninsured and to benefit persons and families with low and moderate income,” she said.
District 5 Commissioner King attended the CHS Health Fair this year and was pleased to see her constituents receiving free healthcare — immunization, eye exams, blood pressure checks and many more services.
“I was blown away by the services that they are providing uninsured residents, families, you know, not just adults, but children,” she told The Miami Times in an interview.
CHS also provides services through the University of Miami’s Pediatric Mobile Clinic, where children have received primary care since 1992. That van often sits in front of the land the healthcare workers can now use to expand their services even further.
Dr. Rimsky Denis, a cardiologist and assistant director at CHS, is helping shape the vision for future services.
“We have a growing population of women who are pregnant, who recently migrated to the country who otherwise have no access to women's health care. We'd love to be able to use that space to expand those services,” he said in an interview with the executive director and medical director.
Helping those in need
As medical director, Dr. Stephen Symes is concerned about the social determinants of chronic health issues. One patient, he told the Times, still struggles to find consistent care for her ulcer and needs to see a specialist.
“We've been seeing her every week or so to wrap the leg, change the dressings and make sure that wound starts to heal,” Symes explained, but attempting help through the Jackson hospital system proved difficult. “She's a legal resident, she has benefits, she pays taxes, but somewhere along the line, the extensive paperwork that the county system requires, it failed her, or she failed it.”
Every day CHS doctors see about 25 patients with appointments. But there are even more that walk in. At the Health Fair on Oct. 19, they treated roughly 350 people, most of which were identified as underinsured or “unfunded” patients. On a daily basis, Dr. Denis said, “we provide free primary care, preventative services to roughly 25 patients or so, and not including the patients that are seen in the pediatric mobile van.”
Executive Director Dr. Larry Pierre said that some people have such a difficult time getting care at major hospitals that by the time they get help, they are in the emergency room.
“We serve as diversion clinic for Jackson … They don't have a place in the community to go, and then they'll end up at Jackson again with with a catastrophic illness,” he explained.
CHS can now imagine a day where the Pediatric Mobile Clinic expands into a brick-and-mortar doctor’s office. Service providers can screen more men and women for breast cancer, and focus on some of the leading causes of death for Black families like heart disease.
Training future providers
Through its partnerships with the Jackson and University of Miami systems, the CHS also attract highly qualified doctors and students.
Dr. Denis says he is a product of that relationship. He learned about CHS as a medical student, and after receiving his M.D. and pursuing research outside of Florida, he returned to serve his community.
“I would say that 95% of the medical students at the University of Miami, in some way, form or fashion, have some involvement with the Center for Hatian Studies … where they come here to learn about community care,” he said. “So when I was a medical student, that's how I became involved.”
The Miller School of Medicine at UM gets students involved through its Department of Community Services. Students complete their mandatory clinical experience with CHS before they graduate, and they are learning from highly experienced clinicians like Dr. Symes.
Symes is an associate professor of internal medicine at Miller.
“I'm a teacher, educator, an HIV specialist but also I spend two half days a week here at the center. I've been doing that for the past 10 years,” he said.
A continued commitment
Chairwoman King has matched the doctors’ passion for this community. “When she came to the health fair, she expressed excitement,” Dr. Pierre said. “She cared enough to sponsor our item.”
King regularly raises awareness to mental and physical health issues on her podcast The King-dom.
“We just have to keep bringing awareness and educating the community. And where government [is] concerned, whatever we can do to elevate organizations such as CHS in helping them provide resources to the community,” said King.
It’s issues like housing and immigration that the organization can’t fix, that can hinder communities like Little Haiti from staying well. Symes said that CHS’ social worker “steadily every day, is seeing about 10 to 14 patients who are trying to navigate the system, sometimes without language competency or without a clear understanding of what their rights are.”
This is why the board says this expansion and the city’s involvement will mean a lot to the community of Little Haiti and surrounding neighborhoods.
“There’s more to do,” said Symes, “but we’re committed to doing it.”
Haiti wonders what’s next as gang violence surges and the push for a UN peacekeeping mission flops
Danica CotoNovember 24, 2024 at 9:34 AM CST
chicagotribune.com
Police officers man a checkpoint checking for weapons, in the Petion-Ville of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — When Kenyan police arrived in Haiti as part of a U.N.-backed mission earlier this year to tackle gang violence, hopes were high.
Coordinated gang attacks on prisons, police stations and the main international airport had crippled the country’s capital and forced the prime minister to resign, plunging Haiti into an unprecedented crisis.
But the crisis has only deepened since the international policing contingent arrived. The main international airport closed for the second time this year after gangs opened fire on commercial flights in mid-November, striking a flight attendant. Gunmen also are attacking once-peaceful communities to try and seize control of the entire capital, taking advantage of political infighting that led to the abrupt dismissal of the prime minister earlier this month.
Now, a new prime minister is tasked with turning around a nation that sees no escape from its troubles as Haitians wonder: How did the country reach this point?
‘No functioning authority’
Bloody coups, brutal dictatorships and gangs created by Haiti’s political and economic elite have long defined the country’s history, but experts say the current crisis is the worst they’ve seen.
“I’m very bleak about the future,” said Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia. “The whole situation is really collapsing.”
The government is anemic, the U.N.-backed mission that supports Haiti’s understaffed police department lacks funding and personnel, and gangs now control 85% of the capital. Then, on Wednesday, another blow.
Doctors Without Borders announced it was suspending critical care in Port-au-Prince as it accused police of targeting its staff and patients, including threats of rape and death. It’s the first time the aid group has stopped working with new patients since it began operating in Haiti more than 30 years ago.
“Every day that we cannot resume activities is a tragedy, as we are one of the few providers of a wide range of medical services that have remained open during this extremely difficult year,” said Christophe Garnier, mission director in Haiti.
Lionel Lazarre, deputy spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, did not return messages for comment. Neither did officials with Kenya’s mission when asked about the surge in gang violence.
In a recent statement, the Kenyan-led mission said it was “cognizant of the road ahead that is fraught with challenges.” But it noted that ongoing joint patrols and operations have secured certain communities and forced gangs to change the way they operate.
André François Giroux, Canada’s ambassador to Haiti, told The Associated Press on Saturday that his country and others have been trying to bolster the Kenyan-led mission. “They’ve done miracles, I think, considering all the challenges that we’ve been facing,” he said.
“What we have to keep in mind is that it’s still very much in deployment mode,” Giroux said. “There are not even 400 on the ground right now.”
A spokesman for Haiti’s new prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, did not return messages for comment. In a statement Thursday, his administration said authorities were strengthening security along the capital’s main roads and had formed a special security council.
“The prime minister renews his commitment to find lasting solutions to current problems,” it said.
The statement was issued just days after gangs launched a pre-dawn attack Tuesday around an upper-class community in Haiti’s capital, forcing residents armed with machetes and guns to fight side-by-side with police to repel gunmen.
At least 28 gang members were killed, but not before some reached an area near an upscale hotel long considered safe.
“It tells you that there is no functioning authority in Haiti,” Fatton said.
Dwindling aid and growing isolation
A main concern in the ongoing crisis is the temporary closure of the main international airport in Port-au-Prince.
It means critical aid is not reaching those who need it the most in a country where nearly 6,000 people are starving and nearly half of the more than 11 million inhabitants are experiencing crisis levels of hunger or worse. Gang violence also has left more than 700,000 people homeless in recent years.
“We are deeply concerned about the isolation of Port-au-Prince from the rest of Haiti and the world,” said Laurent Uwumuremyi, Mercy Corps’ country director for Haiti.
The aid group helps people including more than 15,000 living in makeshift shelters, but persistent gang violence has prevented workers from reaching a growing number of them in the capital and beyond.
Basic goods also are dwindling as the suspension of flights has delayed imports of critical supplies.
“Before, there were some neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince that we considered safe that the gangs had never reached, but now they are threatening to take over the control of the entire capital,” Uwumuremyi said.
At least 150 people were reported killed in the capital and 20,000 forced to flee their homes in the second week of November alone. Overall, more than 4,500 people were reported killed in Haiti so far this year, the U.N. said.