Trump’s promise of widespread deportations won’t happen without defining a wave of new ‘illegals’ into existence.
By Anna Lekas Miller, The Progressive
Ever since Donald Trump accused the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, of “eating the dogs . . . eating the cats” of the city’s other residents, Haitians across the country have been packing their bags.
“Immigrants, Black immigrants, were the scapegoat for the [2024 Trump] campaign and the scapegoat for the election,” Guerline Jozef, the executive director and co-founder of San Diego-based Haitian Bridge Alliance, tells The Progressive. “The fact is, people who hold extreme power have come to dehumanize vulnerable communities for their political gain.”
After Trump made the debunked claim at the September presidential debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Haitian Bridge Alliance received so much hate and harassment that they had to shut down their office and pull down the hotlines that their community depends upon for support.
“We were forced to hire armed security so that we could reopen the office,” Jozef says, adding that there is now an enormous climate of fear and trauma within the community. “We can’t do any public town halls or community gatherings, because we are so afraid that attacks will continue.”
Ordinarily, the Haitian Bridge Alliance helps more than one million Haitian people across the United States navigate the immigration system and protections such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that allow them to live and work without fear of deportation. While the Haitian community has long experienced discrimination under the U.S. immigration system—they were one of the first communities targeted under the Biden Administration—threats from neo-Nazis have pushed many to seek places where Democrats are in power. This includes cities like Boston, Massachusetts, where there is already a large Haitian population, and where Mayor Michelle Wu has promised that the city will not cooperate with immigration enforcement.
“These are people who fled Haiti, who came here seeking some kind of protection . . . . They found a new home in cities like San Diego and Springfield, Ohio,” Jozef says, adding that amid multiple political crises, Haiti is still unsafe for most to return. “Right now, they are so uncertain about what comes next for them.”
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