'We belong here.' Rally held in support of Haitian Temporary Protected Status
The federal government officially terminated TPS for Haitian immigrants on July 27.
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Several hundred people gathered for a rally in lower Manhattan's Foley Square, then marched through the streets Friday, protesting the federal government ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants last month.
It's disgusting, it's fascist," said Adam Kwapich, a Sunset Park resident who joined the rally.
"We are here, we're not going anywhere, and we belong here," added Darnell Benoit, the director of Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project in Flatbush.
After being challenged in court, the federal government eventually won, and terminated Haiti's TPS on July 27, saying the country no longer met the conditions for it.
"TPS literally effects every single facet of a person's life," said Aline Gue, the executive director of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, which is also based in Brooklyn.
Following the termination of TPS, the Department of Homeland Security told Haitian citizens to either return to the country themselves, or be taken back by ICE.
"Is is destabilizing," said Kerbie Joseph, a daughter of Haitian immigrants who was born and raised in Crown Heights. "Nobody should be separated from their homes, from their communities that they have contributed to for decades."
Few communities in the country are likely to be impacted more than Brooklyn's Little Haiti - a section of Flatbush with thousands of Haitian immigrants, which many people in attendance told News 12 has seen an increase in ICE activity over the last month.
"We're always full of young people in our space, and we could see the summer was a very quiet summer," said Benoit. "There's a lot of fear."
While very few, if any people in attendance Friday were actually at risk for deportation themselves, organizers said they believed having so many different communities coming together in such a public space was the sort of thing that could send a powerful message.
"We have power as a community to make substantive changes in the lives of our neighbors, in the lives of our family members," Gue said.
Still, organizers added any real change would have to come at the legislative level, so they also told people in attendance to make calls about extending TPS to national lawmakers.
