Latest news with #Fleurissaint
Boston Globe
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
White House ending protected status for Haitian migrants, sparking fears in Massachusetts
The department set a Sept. 2 termination date for Haitians living in the country under temporary protected status. (The program ends Aug. 3 but officially takes effect Sept. 2). Protected status shields immigrants from deportation and grants them work permits. It is reserved for people fleeing countries in upheaval. 'This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,' a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. 'The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.' Advertisement In Massachusetts, Haitians are one of the state's largest immigrant populations. The local Haitian community and advocates for them decried President Trump's undoing of the protections. Pastor Dieufort Fleurissaint, a Haitian community advocate known by his nickname, Pastor Keke, said there was 'consternation' in Boston's Haitian community Friday evening as word spread. 'Everyone is calling to ask what's going to happen to their future here, to their employment, to the future of their children,' he said in a telephone interview. Fleurissaint said the conditions in Haiti have not improved as federal officials have suggested. Advertisement 'You have a humanitarian collapse,' he said. 'The decision today will leave returning Haitian citizens at very high risk of persecution, danger, homelessness. People have nowhere to go.' Fleurissaint said he was still processing the news himself. 'The only hope we have is God,' he said. 'God and to call upon our friends and allies, elected officials, to advocate on our behalf, so these families can be protected and find a way to enact permanent solutions.' Haitians were granted temporary protected status after the island nation suffered a devastating earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010. The designation has been extended several times. President Joe Biden extended it until 2026 right before he left office. Ruthzee Louijeune, 'It is also bad for our economy,' she said. 'Haitian health care workers with TPS helped our country get through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, often to the detriment of their own bodies and families," she said. 'Anyone who states that country conditions have improved in Haiti is actively and affirmatively lying,' she said. Representative Ayanna Pressley condemned the DHS decision on social media as 'an act of policy violence that could literally be a death sentence.' 'We should NOT be deporting anyone to a nation still dealing with a grave humanitarian crisis like Haiti,' Pressley wrote on Heather Yountz, senior immigration staff attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, said, 'This is a heartbreaking example of the Trump administration stripping people of their legal status without a justified reason simply to fulfill the harmful mass deportations he promised.' Advertisement The idea that the gang-ridden country which hasn't seen an election in nearly a decade is safer 'is preposterous,' Yountz said. After a review of the conditions in Haiti from US Citizenship and Immigration Services and in consultation with the US Department of State, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem determined that Haitians no longer meet the requirements for TPS, Friday's statement said. The agency encouraged Haitians who don't have another means of gaining lawful status after their TPS status expires to self-deport, and use the US Customs and Border Protection app to report themselves leaving the country. Despite DHS's claims that Haitians could return home 'safely,' dozens of Haitians interviewed by the Globe in the past year have said that they would be unable to go back to Haiti without the threat of violence and severe economic instability back in their country. The State Department also cautions US citizens not to visit Haiti, The In Massachusetts, immigration advocates had been preparing for this moment since the Trump administration announced back in February that it would revoke the Biden extension of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants. 'We've been expecting this,' said Sarang Sekhavat, the Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. 'But it's horrible regardless.' Advertisement Some TPS holders have lived in Massachusetts for more than a decade after fleeing the aftermath of the earthquake, severe gang violence, and political turmoil. In 2021, the country's president was assassinated. 'It's not like the situation in Haiti has gotten better,' Sekhavat said. Sekhavat said that MIRA and its partners have been encouraging Haitians here under TPS to consult with attorneys, to see what kinds of options might be available to them. Some may have other means to stay in the country legally, like applying for asylum, or if they have US relatives or employers who could petition for their legal status. But, Sekhavat said, 'unfortunately, there's not a blanket answer for these folks.' Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights, The group said that DHS's assertions that conditions in Haiti have improved are 'simply false.' 'Haiti is experiencing unprecedented political violence, instability, and humanitarian collapse. Even the U.S. State Department warns Americans not to travel there — yet DHS insists Haitian families can safely return? That contradiction is indefensible,' the statement said. 'We are not backing down. We will use every legal tool at our disposal to stop this cruel and unlawful termination,' the statement added. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at
Boston Globe
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘Disappointed, extremely nervous, very shaken.' Boston immigration advocates react to Trump travel ban
'This is horrible and unjust, [an] unfair action that undermines the values of compassion, fairness, and love that this nation basically was built upon,' Fleurissaint said. Haitians 'have contributed so much to the American fabric … are very hard working people, and they bring their faith, families, resilience and value, so this decision really is morally wrong.' The Haitian community is already grappling with the recent Supreme Court decision that allowed the federal government to revoke a humanitarian parole program for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants, known as CHNV. The Trump administration has also moved to end the Temporary Protected Status program for Haitian immigrants, which is set to expire in August. A lawsuit challenging the decision is currently pending in federal court. Advertisement 'Haiti is a nation in crisis at this point, facing political instability, violence, gangsterization, food insecurity, displacement,' Fleurissaint said. 'A travel ban targeting Haitians only adds to the suffering.' Advertisement He said the news Wednesday night has sparked even more wide-ranging confusion, as evidenced by the number of texts he is receiving from Haitians, including permanent residents and naturalized citizens, who are worried about traveling out of the country right now. It's also set to affect students on visas, or Haitian-American residents with family still in Haiti, who need to travel back and forth between the two countries. 'You understand how critical it is right now? How mentally frightened Haitians are?' Fleurissaint said. 'You're talking close to what, almost half a million people, who are right now thinking their lives are in limbo.' Fleurissaint added that he worries the travel ban will only reinforce a negative stereotype and narrative about Haiti and its citizens. He asked that Americans stand with immigrants to fight back against these actions by the federal government. 'This decision will definitely disrupt lives and as well, send a wrong message, a message basically of rejection and exclusion to anyone who's been living here and looks at America as a place of refuge and opportunity,' he said. Other countries covered by the ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The seven countries facing increased restrictions are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The ban and restriction, which Trump has said are necessary for national security, take effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey criticized the ban in a statement on X. 'Make no mistake: Trump's latest travel ban will NOT make America safer. We cannot continue to allow the Trump administration to write bigotry and hatred into U.S. immigration policy,' Markey wrote. Advertisement Make no mistake: Trump's latest travel ban will NOT make America safer. We cannot continue to allow the Trump administration to write bigotry and hatred into U.S. immigration policy. — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) Local immigration advocates also decried the move. 'Banning travel is rooted in discrimination, not national security or safety,' Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said after reviewing 'American values are undermined when we arbitrarily decide who may enter the U.S. based on national origin or identity,' Espinoza-Madrigal said in an emailed statement. 'Instead of imposing bans, we should respond to crises in countries like Haiti through diplomatic engagements that center humanitarian protections,' Espinoza-Madrigal said. 'Efforts to block and exclude vulnerable populations raise serious equal protection and due process concerns.' Immigration lawyer Kerry Doyle said Trump's travel ban 'doesn't come as a complete surprise.' 'We certainly anticipated this,' she said in a telephone interview Wednesday night. 'We'll take a look and see what we need to do to count counter it,' Doyle said. 'We're still trying to digest it to see what can be done.' Doyle said she fully expects lawyers to challenge the ban with claims of 'over reach,' same 'as many of Trump's other executive orders.' Correspondent Adam Sennott contributed to this report. This story will updated as more information becomes available. Tonya Alanez can be reached at
