The Haitian American Dream Matters

Guest blogger: Johana Morales, graduate student, International Studies, University of San Francisco

Anti-immigrant rhetoric and demeanor echoed across the United States during the Trump presidency have not tucked away at the Mar-A-Lago with its facilitator as many would hope. After all, the racist hierarchical remark claiming Haiti and African nations were “shithole countries” unworthy of sending migrants to the U.S. revealed the sentiments already existent among many Americans. These same racist ideologies have and will continue to impact immigration policy if the current administration remains passive in allowing ICE to deport and decide on Haitian TPS holders’ fate.  

After the 2010 earthquake that killed over 200,000 people in Haiti,[1] in addition to the complexities that fomented economic turmoil and political instability, the U.S. allowed thousands of Haitians to apply for Temporary Protected Status. [2] With TPS, foreign nationals are permitted to live and work in the U.S. for some time. Some Haitians were granted entry; others left for South America. Following Brazil’s economic crisis, a country that had offered livable conditions and work opportunities for Haitians during the 2014 World Cup, thousands more headed for the U.S.-Mexico border in hopes of being granted temporary visas of humanitarian asylum.[3] In this context, a substantial number of Haitian nationals have been displaced from their home country. The Haitian diaspora, although often invisibilized in political and public discussion, is sizeable and in crisis.   

As of 2021, there are an estimated 55,338 Haitian TPS holders in the U.S.[4] TPS designation for Haiti was constantly under attack by the Trump administration to dismantle bridges for Haitians seeking entry to the U.S. During his presidential campaign, Joe Biden courted to Haitian-Americans [5] and promised to consider Haitian TPS holders and community if he was elected. [6] Despite hopes of a rapid transformation of immigration policy and end of discriminatory deportations, since the beginning of 2021, over 300 Haitian TPS holders-including children- have been deported back to the Caribbean [7] and some to Mexico [8] based on a public healthcare statute Title 42 [9] commonly used during the Trump-era but rarely before that.    

It is no doubt that the uncertainty and risks that the pandemic introduced to all aspects of life, including socio-economic ones, also affected immigration policy. The decision to close nations’ borders across the globe was considering public health concerns that revolved around individuals’ safety and concerns. However, how does deporting Haitian TPS holders to a country that continues to battle the same factors that pushed Haitian nationals to leave their country in the first-place amid a pandemic benefit anyone? It doesn’t. The sole outcome of the deportations of Haitian TPS holders who are neither suspected terrorists nor convicted felons is furthering the vulnerability to violence, susceptibility to economic distress, and health risks for migrants who sought livable conditions.

The enforcement policies against Haitians are not new. Targeting or barring immigrants who come from countries with predominantly non-white populations is also not new. Much of this is stemmed from the ignorance of the contributions to society that all immigrants bring. Without discrediting the value of cultural diversity, it is necessary to have insight into the economic contributions. TPS holders are employed in industries such as “construction, restaurant, and other food services, landscaping services, childcare, and grocery stores.” [10] The removal of all TPS holders, an estimate projects, would result in a $45 billion loss in gross domestic product [11] and a $6.9 billion reduction to Social Security and Medicare over the next decade.[12] The adverse effects that local and national economies would have immediately and in the long run after deporting Haitian TPS holders are substantial. 

To consider the effects of family separation is equally important here. President Biden’s election came with the prospect of a reconciliation between the executive branch and immigrants in the U.S. An immediate end to the zero-tolerance approach was at the forefront of many American voters’ and activists’ minds, advocating for family reunification. Many TPS holders have U.S.-born children and extended family members in the U.S. that have resided here for over a decade. [13]  The deportation of Haitian TPS holders would increase the number of transnational families suffering separation as a result of U.S. immigration policy.

If ICE continues to deport Haitian nationals on the grounds of Title 42, the extension of TPS until October of 2021 (previously expiring January of 2021) by the Department of Homeland Security is meaningless. Like the deportation of other migrants who flee their country on account of intersecting push factors, Haitians’ deportation would be detrimental to local economies and families. Moreover, the removal of Haitian migrants will reflect the president and Congress’s unwillingness to act quickly in favor of the most marginalized and too often invisibilized migrants: Afro-descendant Latino/as from the Caribbean.  

Instead of deporting Haitians to the island where its neighbor, the Dominican Republic, plans to build a physical barrier that conceptualizes racism in Hispaniola,[14]the time to move forward against the racial discrimination and anti-blackness that has permeated our immigration policy for decades. President Biden must keep his promise that his administration will differ from the predecessor; he must commit efforts to ensure that TPS holders whose countries continue to be in turmoil are exempted from deportation. Until Haiti restores a democratic institution, economic integrity, and the pandemic is no longer an international threat, the DHS should not consider stripping Haitians of their American Dream. In the current political climate, when Democratic leaders claim to promote racial justice and support more equitable opportunities for all, the question looms: what about Afro-Latino/a migrant lives? Let’s not forget: they matter, too. 

[1] Juliette Benet, Behind the Numbers: The Shadow of 2010’s Earthquake Still Looms Large in Haiti, International Displacement Monitoring Center (January, 2020), https://www.internal-displacement.org/expert-opinion/behind-the-numbers-the-shadow-of-2010s-earthquake-still-looms-large-in-haiti#:~:text=Around%203%20million%20people%20were,1.5%20million%20people%20were%20displaced

[2] Congressional Research Service (2020, March 5). Haiti’s Political and Economic Conditions. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R45034.pdf

[3] Karolina Walters, Discriminatory Treatment of Haitians Throughout History Informs Current Policy at the U.S.-Mexico Border, Immigration Impact American Immigration Council (November 19, 2020), https://immigrationimpact.com/2020/11/19/haitian-immigrants-asylum-border/#.YFLs7ejYrrc

[4] National Immigration Forum. (2021, March). Fact Sheet: Temporary Protected Status (TPS).  https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-temporary-protected-status/

[5] Jacqueline Charles, Biden to Haitian-American voters: You can help decide the next U.S. President, Miami Herald (October 05, 2020), https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article246223940.html

[6] Anthony Man, Biden: South Florida Haitians Can Determine Election Outcome, and Hispanic Voters can ‘put nation on new path forward,’ South Florida Sun Sentinel (October 5, 2020), https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/elections/fl-ne-fl-biden-miami-campaign-swing-20201004-qjrbikrugfac7gqyn6rqpbobla-story.html

[7] Anagha Srikanth, Babies and Children Deported to Haiti in Apparent Defiance of Biden Order: report, Changing America on The Hill (February 09, 2021), https://thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/refugees/537987-babies-and-children-deported-to-haiti-in-apparent

[8] Jose Luis Gonzalez and Lizbeth Diaz, U.S. Expels Dozens of Haitian Asylum Seekers to Mexico, Reuters (February 03, 2021), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-border/u-s-expels-dozens-of-haitian-asylum-seekers-to-mexico-idUSKBN2A40FM

[9] Julian Borger, U.S. suspends Haiti Deportation Flights as Biden administration tries to control Ice, The Guardian (February 05, 2021), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/05/us-haiti-deportation-flights-suspended-ice-immigration

[10]  Nicole Prchal Svajlenka, Angie Bautista-Chavez, and Laura Muñoz Lopez, TPS holders are Integral Members of the U.S. Economy and Society, Center for American Progress (October 20, 2017), https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2017/10/20/440400/tps-holders-are-integral-members-of-the-u-s-economy-and-society/

[11] Peniel Ibe and Kathyrn Johnson, Trump has ended Temporary Protected Status for Hundreds of Thousands of Immigrants, American Friends Service Committee (June 30, 2020), https://www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/trump-has-ended-temporary-protected-status-hundreds-thousands-immigrants

[12] Id.

[13] Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. (2020, January). Fact Sheet: Temporary Protected Status (TPS): An Overview. https://www.miracoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/MIRA-TPS-factsheet-Jan2020.pdf

[14] Jim Wyss, Dominican Republic Plans Border Fence to Keep Haitians at Bay, Bloomberg Politics (February 27, 2021), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-27/dominican-republic-plans-border-fence-to-keep-haitians-at-bay

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