HCAH and HILSC issue joint letter calling on Biden Admin to stop CBP from mistreating Haitian migrants

HCAH ak HILSC pibliye yon lèt pou mande Administrasyon Biden fè CBP sispann maltrete migran Ayisyen yo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 24, 2021

CONTACT:

Marjorie Joseph, marjorie@houstonagainsthate.org

Zenobia Lai, zenobia@houstonimmigration.org 

HCAH and HILSC issue joint letter calling on Biden Admin to stop CBP from mistreating Haitian migrants

DISTRIBIYE ANONS SA A TOUSUIT: 24 septanm 2021

KONTAK:

Marjorie Joseph, marjorie@houstonagainsthate.org

Zenobia Lai, zenobia@houstonimmigration.org

HCAH ak HILSC pibliye yon lèt pou mande Administrasyon Biden fè CBP sispann maltrete migran Ayisyen yo.

HOUSTON, TX – In a joint letter addressed to President Biden, Attorney General Garland and Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, Marjorie Joseph, Executive Director of Houston Coalition Against Hate (HCAH), Zenobia Lai, Executive Director of Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative (HILSC), and Justine Fanarof, Esq. Board President of HCAH asked the Biden Administration to put a stop to and investigate CBP’s mistreatment of Haitian migrants. They also ask that the Biden Administration create pathways for Haitian migrants to seek refuge in the United States.

“We are appalled by the border patrol’s violent and racist treatment of Haitian migrants. Whipping, caging and violent assault on asylum-seekers at the border cannot be allowed in this day and age. Such mistreatment harkens back to the days and trappings of the enslavement of Africans everywhere. We can’t stand for it.” Said Marjorie Joseph, Executive Director of Houston Coalition Against Hate. “We demand that the Administration cease and desist racist and violent treatment of Haitian migrants and stop using Title 42 to expel migrants back to Haiti. The country is in no position to safely receive them.”

 “We are outraged that this Administration is contemplating re-opening Guantanamo Bay to set it up as a Haitian Internment Camp, to repeat the racist and cruel treatment of Haitians from thirty years ago. The political unrest, economic and healthcare crisis, crippling poverty and gang violence that led Secretary Mayorkas to designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status in May 2021 are still there, and in fact they have worsened with the assassination of President Moïse on July 7, 2021 and the 7.2 magnitude earthquake and tropical storms a month later. Why are we expelling Haitians and sending them back?” Said Zenobia Lai, Executive Director of Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative. “We should extend TPS or offer Deferred Enforced Departure to the Haitian migrants and grant them humanitarian parole to enter the U.S. to seek protection.”

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A list of some of the organizations supporting Haitian and Black migrants may be found here.

Marjorie Joseph, Direktè Egzekitif òganizasyon ki pote non angle “Houston Coalition Against Hate (HCAH)”, ak Zenobia Lai, Direktè Egzekitif òganizasyon “Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative (HILSC)”, ak Avoka Justine Fanarof, Prezidan Komisyon HCAH la met tèt ansanm pou yo voye yon lèt bay Prezidan Biden, bay Minis Jistis la Mesye Garland epi bay Sekretè Sekirite Nasyonal la Mesye Mayorkas, pou mande Administrasyon Biden nan fè CBP sispann maltrete migran Ayisyen yo epi mennen yon envestigasyon sou aktivite CPH yo. Òganizasyon sa yo mande Administrasyon Biden nan kreye mayen pou pèmèt migran Ayisyen yo jwenn azil nan Peyi Etazini.

“Sa choke nou anpil pou jan patwouy sou fontyè yo trete migran Ayisyen yo ak vyolans epi jan patwouy yo rasis anvè Ayisyen yo. Nan tan n ap viv la a, nou pa kab pèmèt patwouy ki sou fontyè yo swa bat moun, swa mete moun ki vin mande azil sou fontyè a nan kalòj. Kalite move tretman sa yo fè n sonje epòk kote yo te konn ap kouri dèyè esklav Afriken toupatou. Marjorie Joseph, Direktè Egzekitif òganizasyon ki pote non angle Houston Coalition Against Hate (HCAH) la di “Nou pap pran sa yo ankò. Nou mande pou Administrasyon an sispann tretman migran Ayisyen yo epi pou yo sispann sèvi ak règleman Tit 42 a pou yo depòte migran yo tounen Ayiti. Peyi a sibi anba tranblemanntè, anba move tan, anba poblèm politik, epi peyi a pa nan pozisyon pou l pwoteje moun l ap resevwa.”

“Sa endiye nou lè n vin aprann Administrasyon sa a fè lide re-ouvè Gwanntanamo Bay ankò pou fè yon kan detansyon pou Ayisyen, pou rebay Ayisyen move tretman rasis ak move tretman kriminèl yo te ba yo sa gen trant an. Batay politik, kriz ekonomik ak kriz swen sante, povrete epi vyolans gang se tout sa ki fè Sekretè Mayorkas te bay Ayisyen TPS nan mwa d me 2021 an, kondisyon sa yo la toujou, an reyalite yo vin pi grav poutèt yo asasinen Prezidan Moïse le 7 jiyè 2021 epi poutèt tranblemanntè 7.2 a ak move tan ki frape peyi a yon mwa apre. Zenobia Lai, Direktè Egzekitif Biwo Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative la di “Pou ki sa n ap depòte Ayisyen epi voye yo tounen nan peyi yo? Nou ta dwe ap bay migran Ayisyen yo plis tan nan TPS oubyen ofri yo posiblite pou yo kite peyi a pi ta epi ofri yo libète sou kondisyon pou rezon imanitè pou yo kab rantre nan peyi Etazini pou yo chèche pwoteksyon legal.”

Translation services from English to Haitian Creole provided by Fedo Boyer of CREOLETRANS, Website: www.creoletrans.com.

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