Join Local Pols & Other Neighbors To Protest The Threatened Mass Deportation Of Haitians From Dominican Republic

Tomorrow, July 2, from 3-6pm, you can join Councilman Jumaane Williams, Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte and other members of our community at a march to protest the Dominican Republic’s treatment of hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent.

Thousands of people are expected to attend tomorrow’s march, including many from our neighborhood’s large Haitian community. The event will kick off at 3pm at Union Square in Manhattan and will coincide with similar demonstrations taking place in Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta, and Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The march will end at 76 8th Avenue, between West 15th and West 16th Streets in Manhattan.

The march follows a move by the Dominican Republic to threaten deporting more than 200,000 Haitians or Dominicans of Haitian descent who did not register with immigration authorities by a June 17 deadline.

This immigration registration drive also follows a 2013 ruling by the Dominican Constitution Court that individuals would not be granted citizenship solely on the basis of being born in the D.R., leaving generations of Dominicans who have Haitian roots to all of a sudden be declared non-Dominicans. To find out more about the history of Haitians in the D.R., you can watch this video that the Human Rights Watch just published.

“When a country turns its back on its people, everyone across the globe must take a stand,” Williams said in a statement to the press. “As an elected official of a vibrant Haitian community in a city made stronger by residents of both the Dominican Republic and Haiti, I am beyond disheartened by the Dominican government’s treatment of its citizens who happen to be of Haitian descent; treatment that can only be described as hateful, xenophobic purging.

“Many of the families who are facing deportation were born in the D.R. and have lived there all of their lives,” Williams continued. “Men, women and children – many born in that country – are being stripped of their human rights, essentially becoming stateless. The climate of fear has forced thousands into hiding.”

https://twitter.com/EmmaDaly/status/616103250543009792/photo/1

Bichotte, a Haitian-American, also issued strong words against the Dominican Republic.

“The Haitian Diaspora and the world is standing in solidarity with the 250,000 Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent who have been stripped of their citizenship and are in danger of being deported,” she wrote. “Communities across the country and world are standing against the illegal crimes on humanity and ethnic cleansing that the Dominican Republic is committing.”

Last week, Councilman Mathieu Eugene, a Haitian immigrant and the first Haitian-born elected official to serve in the New York City Council, held a press conference at City Hall addressing the mass deportation.

“The treatment of Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic is despicable,” said Eugene, who created a petition calling on the Dominican government to create a path for citizenship for the individuals at rsk of being deported. “Hundreds of thousands of families are being torn apart because of this inhumane mass deportation.”

For more information about tomorrow’s march, contact the Haitian American Caucus’ Jennings Louis at 617-224-7527 or by emailing Jennings.louis1@gmail.com. You may also contact the Haitian American Caucus’ Sam Pierre at 347-930-7027 or by emailing SPierre@hacus.org.