Funding Will Include Additional $1.6 Million in Needed Support Services
NEW YORK— New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) Commissioner Manuel Castro today announced an additional $1.6.5 million in funding for Fiscal Year 2023 to help newly arrived Haitian New Yorkers access immigration legal assistance and numerous social services. This funding is an increase from last year, bringing the total investment for New York City’s Haitian Response Initiative to $3.15 million. To mark the importance of this announcement a Haitian flag raising ceremony was held at Bowling Green near Wall Street in Manhattan.
“I am proud to be the mayor of the largest Haitian population in the United States and pleased to announce the additional $1.65 million in funding that’s being provided to help newly arriving Haitian New Yorkers,” said Mayor Adams. “These funds will provide much needed services and resources that the city regularly provides to all immigrant New Yorkers. As we raise the Haitian flag, we say today and every day, that we stand with our Haitian community and will always have their back.”
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The New York Times recently released a multi-part series detailing the history of Haiti, a nation originated from the first, and the only, successful slave revolt in the history of the world. The Times analyzes the obstacles Haiti faced after its victory, its root causes, and the crippling economic impact of its payments to France. The Times asks what if Haiti had not been subjected to decades of payments to its oppressors?
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Once upon a time in Haiti, we were free. They say we are free in America. But there’s always a cost to Black liberation.
To be free is to be empowered and, unbound, Black people seem to scare this world. Look back at how countries worked to ravage Haiti of its path to self-sustaining freedom. See it in xenophobic deportation policies upheld by presidents, Democrat and Republican alike.
Haiti has been paying for daring to win its freedom for over 200 years. Black folk in America, though privileged by comparison, bear an expense too high to pay, as well. Click here to read more.
CAP-HAITIEN — The festivities in Arcahaie, the birthplace of Haiti’s flag, began last Friday with the customary children’s march. Dressed in white or red T-shirts and blue jeans, the children assembled in front of the city hall, waving the red-and-blue, and reciting.
‘Jean-Jacques Dessalines created the Haitian flag.’
‘Catherine Flon sewed the Haitian flag.’
Afterward, they marched in the streets alongside their instructors, to the sound of a marching band’s trumpets and drums. Later, a bigger parade followed with thousands of people, including men on horseback dressed as Heroes of the Haitian Revolution, women sporting folkloric dresses dancing and high school students in their uniforms.
“The soul of the May 18 Meeting is in Arcahaie,” said attorney Jean Amilcar, an Arcahaie native. “The vibration, the energy is in Arcahaie and they can’t move it.” Click here to read more.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, Gilbert Ménard, a taxi driver in his 40’s, remembers the joyful events held around the capital in the lead-up to and on Haiti’s Flag.
As May dawned, smaller activities began taking place in anticipation and promotion of or Jou Drapo. The National Palace, located in the Champ-de-Mars Park, set the tone with oversized red-and-blue pom-poms hanging along its exterior, silk ribbons wrapped around its stately pillars and green fence. A few blocks away, workers cleaned and tidied the National Plaza, home to historical monuments and founding fathers statues.
Weeks prior, street vendors set up stands to sell little flags, bracelets and t-shirts around the theme. Each night, the ambiance stretched all the way in the capital’s popular neighborhoods. Click here to read more.
On Thursday, May 5, 2022, the New York State Assembly passed a resolution that formally designated May as Haitian Heritage Month statewide.
“The designation of Haitian Heritage Month commemorates the heart and the souls of the people of Haiti here in New York, and our home country, the Island of Haiti, the first Black Republic,” says Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn who introduced the resolution cosponsored by 15 members of the Assembly.
Since May 1998, as an expansion of the Haitian flag day, Haitian Heritage Month has been celebrated throughout the United States to highlight the Haitian rich culture, art, cuisine, history, and the Haitian community contribution.
This year marks the 219th anniversary of the creation of the Haitian flag on May 18, 1803. Haiti became the first Black Republic in the world after a slave rebellion led to its independence by defeating the French army.
The United States is home to Haiti’s most important Haitian diaspora in numbers and remittances sent to Haiti. Florida and New York are the two states with the highest concentration of Haitians. According to the United States Census Bureau, before the deadly earthquake in 2010, an estimated 830,000 people of Haitian ancestry were living in the United States. 55,000 Haitian immigrants were granted Temporary Protected Status. In 2020, the Haitian diaspora sent 3.8 billion dollars in remittances to Haiti. 76% of these transfers came from the United States.
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(Albany, NY) -- Today the New York State Assembly passed a resolution introduced by Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn which formally designates May as 'Haitian Heritage Month' statewide. The resolution was cosponsored by 15 members of the Assembly.
Speaking to the chamber, Bichotte Hermelyn noted Haiti's status as the first free Black republic in the Western Hemisphere. "We are a people that have been fighting for our freedom for generation after generation, including in America," she said, referring to the period in 1779 when Haitian's fought alongside the Union in the Battle of Savannah. "We saw the beacon of freedom that America promised, and we helped seize it."
The designation of Haitian Heritage Month commemorates Haitian heritage and culture, including the nation's notable leaders like Jean Jacques Dessalines, who defeated Napoleon and the French colonists at the Battle of Vertières in 1803; General Toussaint Louverture, who commanded his revolutionary army to victory; and female revolutionaries like Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière – who fought as a soldier in the Indigenous army – and Catherine Flon, a nurse, who is credited with crafting the independent Black Republic of Haiti flag in 1803; and Jean Baptiste Dusable, the first settler of Chicago, also known as the “father of Chicago”. Other notables include Jean-Michael Basquiat, one of the defining artists of the 20th century – and Jackson Georges, a painter - both Haitian - as well as modern day leaders like actor Jamie Hector, and reporter Vladimir Duthiers. Click here to read more.
SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Late yesterday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agreed to restore a path to permanent residency for many Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries blocked by then-acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli — an illegally appointed Trump official. Because of this agreement, TPS beneficiaries impacted by this policy will be able to reopen and dismiss their removal orders and apply to adjust their status to become permanent residents — eliminating the threat of deportation if their TPS protections are revoked in the future.
The agreement is the result of a new settlement in CARECEN v. Cuccinelli, a lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), Montagut & Sobral, PC, and Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP in August 2020. Seven Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) sued the Trump administration for unlawfully denying tens of thousands of TPS beneficiaries the opportunity to take steps to adjust their immigration status and become permanent residents. In the lawsuit, the seven current TPS holders shared their stories. Now, each one has the opportunity to obtain permanent residence.
The December 2019 policy change, disguised as a mere clarification, was one of the Trump administration’s many efforts to eliminate TPS protections for tens of thousands of eligible men and women. The groups’ lawsuit alleged the change violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act; was motivated by the Trump administration’s racial and anti-immigrant bias; and was unlawfully authorized by Ken Cuccinelli, whose appointment was deemed illegal by a federal court in March 2020 in response to a separate lawsuit brought by Democracy Forward, CLINIC, RAICES, and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
“Today’s agreement will allow TPS beneficiaries — many of whom have lived in the U.S. for decades and built deep roots in their communities — to once again seek permanent residency and extinguish the threat of deportation if their TPS protections are revoked,” said Democracy Forward Senior Counsel John Lewis. “The Trump administration’s policy illegally sought to destabilize the lives of tens of thousands with TPS protections. We’re proud to have helped restore protections that ensure our neighbors have a path to pursue permanent residency.”
“This victory will change the lives of those individuals impacted,” stated Abel Nuñez, Executive Director of CARECEN. “As an organization, we are proud of our continued efforts to defend our community as they integrate into their new home in the U.S. CARECEN will work with those TPS members that qualify under the settlement and also keep fighting to ensure that all TPS beneficiaries who have been in the U.S. for over 20 years and have complied with everything that has been asked of them are able to apply for legal permanent residence." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
There is a Partnership between National Bar Association (including Haitian American Lawyers Associations across the country) with Haitian Bridge Alliance.
Haitian Bridge Alliance, has partnered with the National Bar Association to streamline the process and increase capacity to provide legal service to migrants at the Texas border. The conditions of the agreement are as follows. We are looking for attorneys to take on cases Probono if you are interest in participating please fill out this form by clicking here and email us at halaofny@gmail.com. If you are a law student, or an attorney and interested in joining HALANY Immigration efforts please email us at halaofny@gmail.com. If you know any migrant that is seeking legal advice, please have them fill this form by clicking here.
Click on here for Legal Resources for the Haitian Border Crisis.
Best,
HALANY
Join HALANY Host its First TPS Clinic Of The Year on October 23, 2021.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a little-known program that offers a temporary legal status to certain immigrants in the United States who cannot return to their country of origin due to ongoing armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary reasons. On May 22, 2021, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced a new Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Haiti for 18 months.
We will be hosting a FREE clinic to aid people who will be in need of assistance in filling out the TPS application. If you have any questions, please email us at HALAOFNY@GMAIL.COM.
TPS Clinic
Date October 23,2021
Time: 2:00pm.
Location: Lifeline Gospel Ministries International Incorporated
1010 Rutland Rd, Brooklyn, NY 11212.
We are looking for volunteers. You do not need to be an attorney to volunteer. If you are interested in helping out with our TPS Clinic please fill out this form.
