Tag: Haitians

JHISN Newsletter 06/27/2026

Posted on June 27, 2026 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends, 

When good immigration news is hard to find, we look harder. The notorious Alligator Alcatraz detention camp in Florida is fully shut down as of this week, less than a year after it opened with sadistic fanfare from Trump’s minions. We hope, with many of you, that the expansion of Mayor Mamdani’s political power with this week’s primary victories will strengthen a pro-immigrant, anti-authoritarian agenda. And a Trump lawsuit targeting four NJ cities for allegedly “unconstitutional” sanctuary policies was just tossed out by a federal judge.

But the bad news is really terrible. Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling that allows the federal government to continue stripping Temporary Protective Status (TPS) from hundreds of thousands of US residents is a nightmare. Most immediately, 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians are now facing the reality of losing their TPS legal status by July 1—a loss that will affect everyone who is their neighbor, co-worker, healthcare patient, or friend.   

Our newsletter covers some of the mixed good/ bad immigration news out of this year’s NYS legislative session, which ended in early June. We then update you on the ongoing legal campaigns—and harassment—of two high-profile international students from Columbia University targeted for deportation.

Newsletter highlights:
  1. NY State Legislature gestures toward immigrant protections
  2. Deportation threats to Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil

1. Latest NY State Legislation Falls Short On Immigrant Protection

On May 21, NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie noted that the 2026-27 state fiscal budget includes legislative provisions, signed by the governor, that protect our neighbors throughout New York from aggressive federal immigration enforcement. He suggested that local governments will be prohibited from collaborating with federal immigration enforcement officers and private detention facilities. He highlighted provisions that “will protect children in their schools and establish sensitive locations within our communities.” The official press release received endorsements from various elected officials, including Queens Assembly Member Catalina Cruz.

The perspective of immigrant justice supporters of the New York For All Act—proposed legislation which was never brought to a vote in the state legislature—was markedly different. The multi-organization coalition advocating for New York For All said, “The lack of political courage and moral leadership in Albany – and the failure to take a bold stand in the face of rising xenophobia – means that New York’s immigrant communities will continue to live with the threat that any encounter with government agencies can result in separation from their families.” 

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) outlined some of the Enacted Budget’s key elements, explaining which protections were included or fell short:

  • State and local employees may not gather information about immigration status, and cannot share personal data of NY residents with ICE…but the police are excluded from this restriction.
  • “Sensitive locations,” including hospitals, churches, and private homes, can deny entry to ICE agents. 
  • The right to free public education for children, regardless of the family’s immigration status, was established.
  • State and local agencies may not rent space to ICE for immigration detention nor financially support immigration detention facilities.
  • New Yorkers can sue local, state, and federal officials in state court when their constitutional rights are violated using the newly established Office of Immigrant Trust.

Republicans claim that these new protections mean that “New York is now a sanctuary state on steroids.” But there are, in fact, at least three significant elements missing from the new budget that progressive forces had fought for. First, although the formal 287(g) agreements that allow local governments to work with ICE (previously signed by twelve New York law enforcement agencies) were banned in New York, informal collusion between local police and immigration enforcement was not prohibited—that was called for in the New York For All Act. Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, noted, “The legislative package falls short of offering comprehensive protections by continuing to permit informal law enforcement collusion with ICE and Border Patrol.”

Second, state-funded counsel for immigrants facing deportation, part of the Access to Representation and the BUILD Act, was not included in the budget package. Although some money was secured for immigrant legal services, it was less than half of the $175 million called for by immigrant advocates.

Finally, the new measures banning face coverings for state, local, and federal officers in New York still allow for “tactical equipment” that covers faces.  Even with this legal loophole permitting ICE to deploy with tactical face masks, the federal government initiated a lawsuit against New York four days before the face mask ban was scheduled to go into effect. The Department of Justice has also initiated legal action against New Jersey, California, and Virginia, which sought similar mask restrictions. 

The New York Bar has explained why many of the items demanded and signed into law do not violate federal laws about police power and preemption. None of those explanations will stop the threats from Homeland Security to conduct an ICE surge in NYC. Passing the entire New York For All Act would help strengthen legal action against the overreach and violations of basic rights by ICE and border patrol federal agents.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2. Deportation Threat Ongoing for Palestinian Student-Activists at Columbia University

 “[T]he administration is abusing immigration law to silence me for speaking the truth about Palestinian suffering and genocide. When a government weaponizes immigration to punish speech, millions of immigrants and citizens feel that blow.” —Mohsen Mahdawi (June 10, 2026)

In Spring of 2025, Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil, both Columbia University students, became two of the most prominent faces of international student-activists targeted for their Palestine solidarity work. The newly-installed Trump regime quickly weaponized immigration law and accusations of antisemitism to incarcerate both young men in its broader campaign to silence and punish university-based mobilizations against the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Both men are Palestinian. Khalil was born in a refugee camp in Syria; Mahdawi in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Khalil is a graduate of Columbia’s prestigious School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA); Mahdawi is currently enrolled in the MA program at SIPA. Both are green card holders and legal US residents. Both were accused of nothing beyond the “memos” from Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating that their presence in the country might undermine US foreign policy goals. Both were eventually released from detention after public outcry and legal challenges. 

And … both are still threatened with deportation through legal proceedings pursued by the federal government, even as their names have faded from most headlines.

Their ongoing legal battles differ. An immigration judge in February 2026 ruled that the deportation case against Mohsen Mahdawi be dismissed. Trump’s DOJ fired that immigration judge (unlike other judges, immigration judges serve at the will of the federal government) and appealed the decision. The US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that the deportation case could go forward, and Mohsen’s case went to a second immigration judge who this month issued an order of removal that would send Mohsen to Jordan. Nevertheless Mohsen remains in the US while his legal team challenges the deportation order in the First Circuit Court on constitutional grounds. Mohsen declared:

“… I’m going to cut to the core of this issue, which is an issue that is related to the First Amendment. Do I have, as a green card holder, as a lawful permanent resident for 12 years, never committed a crime — do I have the rights that actually the citizenship questionnaire that I get tested on states that I do … do I have the right to free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression?” —on Democracy Now! (June 12, 2026)                                                              

Mahmoud Khalil’s case is on a different track, though he also is protected for now from a deportation removal order that has been set in motion. His legal team made a second appeal in May 2026 to the US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to dismiss the deportation case against him, after new revelations of government misconduct. The Trump regime is accused of “secretly engineering” the outcome of his case. The allegations of misconduct are corroborated by statements from former immigration judges, former BIA workers, and accumulating evidence that top government officials pressured judges to “decide” cases with predetermined outcomes in spotlight cases like Khalil’s, and to expedite deportation orders. One legal decision against Khalil was handed down by the BIA in a mysteriously speedy nine days. 

Meanwhile, a legal challenge in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals was decided in late May against Khalil, and a new challenge was immediately filed by his team in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also separately requested a Supreme Court review of the Third Circuit decision. “We hope the Supreme Court will recognize how dangerous the Third Circuit’s decision was, not just for Mahmoud but for other non-citizens the administration has its vengeful sights upon,” said Baher Azmy, legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Regardless of the outcome of their cases, Mohsen and Mahmoud remain targets of merciless legal harassment through a federal government campaign to deport them—and to silence, repress, and frighten others who would speak out.  

Columbia University has to date made no public statements in support of Mohsen, a current student, or Mahmoud, a recent graduate. The University has been operating since July 2025 under an unprecedented “settlement”’ with the Trump regime, in which the University paid the government $221 million, and agreed to a set of institutional changes demanded by the federal government. One of those demands was that the University start asking all international applicants “questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States.” Or, in the words of Marco Rubio, “we are not going to be importing activists into the United States.” 

WHAT CAN WE DO? 
  • Join the weekly vigil every Monday at 12pm near Columbia’s campus to protest DHS and ICE targeting of students, organized by CUIMC Stands Up.

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

 

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

JHISN Newsletter 09/28/2024

Posted on September 28, 2024 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

As racist targeting of immigrants of color intensifies across the US, immigrant justice leaders are pushing back. In Ohio, the Haitian Bridge Alliance has filed criminal charges against Trump and JD Vance for their incendiary lies about Haitian immigrants living and working in Springfield. And NDLON (National Day Laborer Organizing Network) has just released an Instagram video debunking false narratives about recent migrant arrivals that promote hatred, and fracture solidarity between immigrant communities.

We join the call for pro-immigrant popular education with an article that helps us more accurately perceive the ‘statistics’ on the number of undocumented immigrants in the US. Then we look at the Republican-fueled nightmare in Springfield, with an eye for how the threat of expanding fascism—targeting immigrants and other historically marginalized people—has arrived.  

Newsletter highlights:
  1. Confronting the Fear of Big Numbers: Counting Undocumented Immigrants
  2. Fascism in Uniform Marches on Springfield

 

1. A simpler approach to undocumented population counts

Recent attention has focused on Ohio and the ridiculous social media lies amplified by Trump during the presidential debate. Republicans became hyper-obsessed about Haitians living in Ohio, who are legally present through the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. In Ohio, almost 13,000 people have TPS approval, or just one-tenth of one percent of the state’s entire population. Yet to Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, this minuscule population represents a “terrible tragedy” for the people in his state.

This Ohio situation exemplifies the difficulty of accurately visualizing any large numbers describing immigrants. It is easy for politicians and the corporate media to utter worrisome-sounding numbers in the millions because such numbers have no practical meaning in the human mind.

Republicans have leveraged that impracticality to argue that the number of people here with, and without, ‘authorization’ is massively large and a threat. Although there are bipartisan differences around immigration issues, the Democrats have also embraced the perceived ‘threat’ of immigrants, as outlined in their recently proposed and failed border bill.

When discussing unauthorized immigrants, things get murkier due to difficult data. Since 1996 the federal government has published official estimates—these have been challenged as a dramatic undercount. There are statistics shared by organizations that conduct research about immigrants—these can conflict based on the organization’s bias. There are public data sets such as Syracuse University’s TRAC Data which allow anyone to delve into the data—these require an understanding of how to analyze numbers. All data sources take effort to find, read, and understand. The numbers spewed by Donald Trump, or Tucker Carlson, are easy, simplistic, and wrong. 

But, sometimes simplification can help us understand reality.

Instead of looking at large numbers, we can ask the following question: how many people are there in the US for each undocumented immigrant? State population data, Pew research on immigrants, and an infographic from a large data analyst company offers a simple answer: in the US there is just one undocumented immigrant for every 65 people. That may initially sound like lots of unauthorized people until we realize that 1 in 10 is just 10% of the population; 1 in 20 is only 5%; 1 in 30 is merely 3.3%. So 1 in 65 is a paltry 1.5% of the entire population. Republicans are telling 98.5% of the country to worry that this tiny group is a massive threat to the nation’s very being. As the regional and state populations differ, it is interesting to see how the answer to this question changes based on each location we look at.

  • We can compare Ohio, where there are 91 people for each unauthorized individual (1.2%), with New York State which has 30 people per unauthorized individual (3.3%).
  • Throughout the four states that border Mexico, we find there is one undocumented person for every 28 people. That is only 3.6% of the California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas populations combined.
  • In the 16 states that have a land or water border with Canada, the number changes to 1 in 89 people. That is slightly more than 1% of all those state populations combined.
  • Of the 14 states that border only with another US state, it averages to 1 in 77 people. Just 1.3%.
  • For the 16 remaining states, with an ocean border, the numbers change to just 1 in 44. That is only 2.4% of those populations.

The simplified number also tells a story about states traditionally voting for a Republican or Democrat presidential candidate and the 7 swing states in the coming 2024 election. In the 25 typically Republican states we see 1 unauthorized person in 81 (1.2%); that becomes 1 in 40 for the 18 typically Democrat states (2.5%); and the 7 swing states come in at 1 undocumented immigrant out of 48 (2.1%).

If people in critical swing states can see these more straightforward numbers, they may come to understand that the lies Trump, Vance, and many others obsessively make about Americans being replaced and endangered by ‘illegal’ immigrants are not substantiated by the data. With that knowledge, they can vote with understanding, not unfounded fear.

2. Then they came for the Haitians…

Our August 17 newsletter argued that Donald Trump’s demand for mass deportation was on the cutting edge of a rising fascist movement that is beginning to move into the mainstream of US politics. Now the ongoing racist political attack on documented Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, makes it clear that this poison is spreading fast. 

Most of the basic ugly facts of the Springfield situation are well reported: The baldfaced lies by Trump and Vance alleging that Haitians are eating other residents’ pets, bomb threats that paralyzed the city, requests by Catholic bishops and government officials, including the Republican governor, for Trump and Vance to stop the damaging falsehoods and threats. We have learned from mainstream media that Trump has doubled down on his plan to deport Haitians in Springfield on Day One if he gets elected (despite the fact they have federally-registered TPS protections), promising that this would kick off a mass deportation campaign that, he warns, will be “bloody.”

One thing that has been less widely reported is the story of the Weber family—a story that happened on the sidelines of the national news. What happened to the Webers is frightening and damaging. But it also exemplifies how anti-immigrant hate, and especially hate towards Black migrants, quickly mutates beyond the issue of immigration, opening the door to an increase in fascist activism that targets all marginalized groups, regardless of immigration status. 

Chelsea Shirk Weber told the Dayton Jewish Observer that she, her husband, and their 4-year-old daughter went to a Jazz and Blues Fest in downtown Springfield on August 10. As they were leaving, they saw a squad of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe marching in formation, complete with red uniforms, swastika flags and automatic weapons. Hearing people yelling and other loud noises, the family moved swiftly to their car. But as the Webers tried to drive away in traffic, they and other motorists were surrounded by four Blood Tribe members who pointed rifles at their cars. There were no police visible nearby. “Go back to f-ing Africa,” the fascists yelled. Chelsea’s husband accelerated, running a red light to get away.

Blood Tribe claims credit for creating and spreading the rumor about Haitian migrants eating pets, starting their online campaign months ago. They consider it a victory that the Trump campaign (and 53% of Trump supporters) have adopted their lies. 

Photo Credit: Chelsea Shirk Weber

Weber took a photograph of some of the fascists—the image above. When she posted it on the Facebook pages of Springfield and of Clark County, there was a massive pile-on by right-wing commenters who either supported Blood Tribe or alleged that the photo was fake. Soon Weber’s post was taken down. Five minutes later, the City of Springfield posted a bland statement expressing “concern” about an outside hate group that had been in town. The mayor, Rob Rue, was quoted as saying that “Nothing happened, except they expressed their First Amendment rights. Our Police Division was aware and in control the entire time.”

Weber does not agree:

“”It was just completely disappointing that the government said, ‘Oh, they’re just exercising their First Amendment right and they did no harm.’ Tell that to my 4-year-old, who is completely traumatized. I’m 37 and I was scared s—less. How do you explain it to a 4-year-old?’ The Observer provided Police Chief Elliott with a transcript of Weber’s interview. Despite repeated attempts to reach out to Elliott for a follow-up interview, she declined to comment.” —Dayton Jewish Observer, 8/22/24

The Springfield events demonstrate how Blood Tribe and other other fascists like the Proud Boys and the KKK are using racist attacks on immigrants and calls for mass deportation to raise their public profile, recruit, and normalize their full program of hate against people of color, women, LGBT people, Jews and leftists. And the concentration camps the fascists hope to build for millions of undocumented people are intended for many other perceived enemies as well.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

 

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN. 

 

JHISN Newsletter 07/23/2022

Posted on July 23, 2022 by - News, Newsletter

Dear friends,

Small victories, temporary defeats – the local landscape of immigration politics is complicated. We bring you our newsletter in hopes it can help you navigate the terrain. Let’s celebrate with DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), the recent decision by Queens DA Melanie Katz to drop all charges against Prakash Churaman, a young Queens resident and immigrant from Guyana falsely charged and held for six years at Rikers. DRUM, together with several other grassroots groups and Prakash himself, worked tirelessly to defeat the injustice of an incarceration system that disproportionately imprisons black and brown youth, including those who are innocent. Welcome home, Prakash.

And let’s note the recent defeat, for now, of a progressive move by the City Council to grant municipal voting rights to hundreds of thousands of immigrants with legal residence in NYC. A Republican judge from Staten Island, one of 324 elected judges composing the New York Supreme Court, just ruled that the new law violates the state Constitution. Activists who have worked for decades to secure noncitizen voting in NYC have vowed to appeal the ruling.

This week’s newsletter surveys a dystopian landscape of immigration politics at the global level, focusing on the history of the international asylum system, and the struggles today of migrants trying to navigate what’s left of it.

1. Asylum: A Human Right Under Attack

Over the last few decades, the world’s wealthiest nations, led by the US, have moved to shred the established global system of asylum and protections for refugees. Catering instead to racist and xenophobic domestic politics, they blatantly violate international law. “This system, once held up as a universal and legally binding obligation, is now treated as effectively voluntary,” writes Max Fisher. The practical repercussions of this change for the world’s hundred million plus refugees are staggering.

In the aftermath of World War II, which created approximately 60 million refugees, world governments met to establish unified asylum policies rooted in international law. The result was the 1951 Refugee Convention, later folded into the “1967 Protocol .” During the Cold War, the US, eager to be seen as a defender of refugees, promoted the Protocol and cemented it into national law as the US Refugee Act of 1980.

The Convention and Protocol require nations to provide asylum to anyone fleeing their home country because of persecution, or reasonable fear of persecution, on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political views, or membership in a particular social group. In conjunction with other international law, the Convention and Protocol extend asylum to refugees fleeing extreme danger from armed groups or because of civil strife. Although the right to asylum does not apply directly to economic or climate refugees, it may apply indirectly if they are endangered by social conflict in the wake of economic or climate catastrophes.

The Convention and Protocol, signed by 148 countries, demand that refugees be treated with dignity and respect. Two key provisions include the principle of “non-refoulement,” which prohibits the return of refugees to a country where they face serious threats to life or freedom; and the fundamental principle that asylum is a human right.  Refugees hold specific rights as well: the right not to be expelled (except under strictly defined conditions), the right not to be punished for illegal entry, the right to work, housing, education, and public assistance, the right to freedom of movement, and the right to obtain identity and travel documents. Any refugee seeking asylum must have their claim considered on its merits.

But today, wealthy countries go to cruel and elaborate lengths to deter asylum seekers, many of whom are fleeing social disasters caused by imperialism. Turning back desperate refugees at sea has become one increasingly common practice. This abuse was pioneered by the US, which began intercepting fleeing Haitians and Cubans in the 1990s. Using “international waters” as an excuse for denying asylum, the US imprisoned refugees in camps at Guantanamo or sent them to other countries. In a 21st-century version of this policy, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (who comes from a Cuban migrant family) made it clear to Haitians and Cubans that “if you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States.” The European Union directs similar harsh practices toward Arab and Central African refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean. It has negotiated agreements with Libya and Tunisia to intercept and detain migrants before they can reach land and request asylum.

International law is also ignored for refugees fleeing by land. Mexico has been enlisted to capture and deport migrants from Central America and other parts of the world before they get to the US border. At the border itself, many refugees are turned back by US Customs and Border Patrol on the grounds that they should have stayed in the first country they passed through, something generally not required by the Convention or Protocol. Central American, Haitian, and African migrants who apply for asylum are being illegally forced to wait in dangerous, unsanitary encampments in Mexico. The Trump administration created many new unlawful ways to deter asylum seekers, insisting that the government has the authority to “meter” the flow of refugees and to deny admittance because of Covid 19 using Title 42.

Britain recently announced that thousands of asylum applicants, mostly people of color, will be sent to Rwanda, a continent away. (This while immediately welcoming 100,000 refugees from Ukraine.) Other European governments send asylum seekers to Sudan and Libya, where they face uncertain futures. Greece is violently deporting asylum seekers to Turkey; Spain is confining refugees in Morocco. Israel is imprisoning and deporting African asylum seekers. Australia pays Pacific island nations to detain refugees who wish to make asylum claims, keeping them at arm’s length and isolated. As Laila Lalami summarizes: 

“Across the Global North, wealthy countries are outsourcing their border enforcement to poorer countries in exchange for economic, military or diplomatic support. Saddling poor countries with moral and legal responsibility, this collaboration strands refugees thousands of miles away from the safe havens they seek.”

It’s impossible to overstate the brutality and violence that accompanies this racist abandonment of international law and basic human rights. Desperate migrants are literally throwing themselves against the walls and fences put up by rich countries and their allies, and are being pushed back, beaten, gassed, and shot down in response. Refugees are drowning by the thousands, as the navies of rich countries refuse to rescue them. The camps where asylum-seekers are warehoused are often bleak, lacking basic services and even minimal safety. Millions of refugees languish in these camps for years or generations, with little or no prospect of asylum.

In recent days, the US Supreme Court has ruled that the Biden administration will finally be allowed to dismantle the “remain in Mexico” policy initiated by Trump–but only if they want to; it’s not illegal, they say. The administration also seems belatedly poised to end phony Title 42 Covid restrictions. These would be positive steps. And yet Biden has deported more than 25,000 Haitian asylum-seekers. In May alone, 36 deportation flights carried 4000 Haitians back to extreme danger. Only 12,000 refugees of all nationalities have been resettled this year in the US, despite an announced refugee ceiling of 125,000. The US, after its precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan, is rejecting 90% of Afghans seeking asylum. In other words, the carnage continues.

“If there were only one thing that could be expected from the Biden administration, it would be a more open, welcoming America after four years of his predecessor’s callous disregard for suffering abroad. We don’t have the hostile rhetoric from back then, but the numbers tell us we’re getting pretty much more of the same.”  —Marcela García, Boston Globe

WHAT CAN WE DO?
  • Take action with Human Rights First which provides free legal representation for asylum seekers and refugees in New York City.
  • Join Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project–with a membership of over 350,00 asylum seekers–to build legal, digital, and community support services.
  • Support Immigration Equality, a nationwide group promoting the rights of LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants and asylum-seekers.

In solidarity and with collective care,

Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network (JHISN)

Featured image: Photo by Sandor Csudai, borders added, licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0.

Follow @JHSolidarity on Facebook and Twitter and share this newsletter with friends, families, neighbors, networks, and colleagues so they can subscribe and receive news from JHISN.