HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Haitian Immigrant Rights
Haitian migration, hemispheric anti-Blackness, and legal empowerment across the Americas.
Impacted by anti-Black racism, xenophobia, and language barriers, Haitian immigrants are marginalized in destination countries throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Global Justice Clinic partners with Haitian-led immigrant rights’ organizations in the U.S., Haiti and elsewhere, supporting Haitians to expose injustices and combat marginalization.
Launched in 2022, Rights without Borders is a collaborative project with the NYU Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. It builds on the Clinic’s past work advancing Haitians’ rights in the U.S.
Building a hemisphere-wide coalition of Haitian leaders and advocates, the project:
- aims to use legal empowerment as a tool to fight the racism and anti-migrant policies that Haitian diaspora communities are confronting across the Americas.
- will facilitate the sharing of strategies, creation of know your rights resources, and coordination of advocacy across borders.
In partnership with Ralph Thomassaint, a series of videos will be created to highlight the work of Haitian activists and Haitian-led organizations who are advocating for Haitian migrants in various countries throughout the hemisphere.
Rights without Borders builds on the Global Justice Clinic’s past work advancing Haitians’ rights in the United States.
In 2021, GJC partnered with the Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, and Fried Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, to file FOIA requests seeking records concerning the rapid, summary expulsions and deportations of Haitians seeking refuge in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, GJC partnered with NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund to hold a two-day virtual convening with over 400 participants entitled “Immigration, Racial Justice and Equal Protection: The Legacy of Jean v. Nelson.” A companion podcast explored the intersection of immigration and racial justice, centering the challenges that Haitian–and more broadly, black immigrants–face as the targets of anti-black racism in the United States.
In 2017, GJC published a report arguing for an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. Since then, GJC staff have contributed to the legal efforts to preserve TPS for Haiti, participated in the successful advocacy effort to win redesignation of Haiti for TPS, and trained dozens of attorneys to better serve members of the Haitian community as they seek protection through TPS.
- Anti-Blackness Knows No Borders and Neither Should Haitian Migrant Rights Advocacy (NACLA, 2023)
- Experts explain Haitian migration causes at NYU teach-in (Haitian Times, 2021)
- États-Unis : les migrants haïtiens ont quitté la frontière mexicaine (La Croix, 2021)
- Il n’y a pas une invasion haïtienne à la frontière du Mexique avec les Etats-Unis, estime Claude Joseph (Le Nouvelliste, 2021)
- US begins mass expulsion of Haitians (BBC Radio Interview, 2021)
- Del Rio migrant crisis: How did so many Haitians end up at the southern US border? (USA Today, 2021)
- 344 Groups call on Biden Administration to halt deportations to Haiti (The Hill, 2021)
- Black Immigrant Lives Matter (Haiti Liberte, 2020)
explore past events
Event
Haitian Migration Beyond the News Cycle
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Featuring Gabrielle Apollon, Emmanuela Douyon, and Ralph Thomassaint Joseph, with moderator Wynnie Lamour.
Event
Haitian People at the Border
Historical and current push factors, and the role of U.S. Foreign Policy.
Event
Temporary Protected Status for Haiti
Why was it designated, and what do practitioners need to know about Haiti and Haitians to effectively assist with TPS applications?
Event
Haiti & the Biden/Harris Administration
HAWG member Haitian Women’s Collective hosted a policy panel discussion with distinguished women speakers to discuss what’s next for Haiti in relation to the current Biden/Harris Administration.
Event
GJC partner testifies before IACHR
Member of the Hemispheric Network for Haitian Migrants’ Rights testified at a landmark hearing on the Human Rights of Persons in Human Mobility due to the Effects of Climate Change.