For Immediate Release
February 21, 2025
Contact:
Taisha Saintil, taisha@undocublack.org
Trump Administration Revokes Humanitarian Protections for Haitians,
Fueled by Racist Rhetoric Amid Black History Month
The UndocuBlack Network (UBN) and Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP), vehemently condemn the Trump administration’s decision to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for up to 500,000 Haitian migrants—a move rooted in xenophobic rhetoric, racist tropes, and a years-long campaign to dismantle protections for Haitian families. This cruel revocation, set to take effect in August 2025, will tear apart families, destabilize communities, and force vulnerable individuals back to Haiti, a place still grappling with political collapse, environmental devastation, and rampant violence.
On June 28, 2024, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the extension and redesignation of Haiti for TPS, recognizing the country’s instability. This humanitarian safeguard, valid through February 2026, provided critical relief to families fleeing Haiti’s escalating gang violence, cholera outbreaks, and political turmoil. The Trump administration’s decision to terminate TPS six months early violates both the law and basic morality, as Haiti remains unsafe for return.
Patrice Lawrence, Executive Director of UBN said, “The decision marks a continuation of Trump’s relentless efforts to terminate TPS for Haiti. Firstly to our community members, I remind ourselves that nothing is yet final and we have fought and won before. In 2017, his administration attempted to revoke protections for over 50,000 Haitians, falsely claiming the country had “recovered” from the 2010 earthquake. Federal courts blocked the move, citing its disregard for Haiti’s ongoing crises. Now, Trump has reignited his vendetta, this time targeting hundreds of thousands of additional Haitian migrants.”
“We stand unwaveringly in community with our Haitian siblings,” continued Patrice Lawrence. “This is not about policy. It is about racism, plain and simple. Trump’s obsession with terminating TPS for Black and Brown immigrants, has always been fueled by racist lies designed to strip our siblings of their humanity. Reviving the grotesque ‘pet-eating’ myth—a vile, anti-Black stereotype steeped in centuries of bigotry—is not just a lie. It is a weapon. A weapon meant to justify tearing families from their homes, schools, and communities, and casting them back into the chaos they fled. But we see the truth: Haitian lives are sacred. Their resilience is our collective strength. We will fight, hand in hand, until this injustice is overturned and their right to safety is affirmed.”
Carolyn Tran, Executive Director of Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP) said,
“Haiti is the only successful rebellion of enslaved Africans in history and the first republic in the entire world to abolish slavery. It was ahead of the United States on these issues, and has since posed a threat to white imperial powers, which built its enormous empires and wealth on ideologies of white supremacy. Today’s announcement to terminate TPS for Haiti is part of this administration’s continued legacy to uphold anti-Blackness, facism and white supremacy to further their cruel agenda. Tearing communities apart, creating chaos and deporting people to unsafe conditions makes nothing great about America. We ground ourselves in the history of Haitian resistance and stand united with the Haitian community as we challenge this termination and see justice prevail.”