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Could Trump’s attacks motivate Haitian-Americans to the polls?

A man wears American and Haitian flags in his hat.
Rebecca Blackwell
/
AP
A man wears American and Haitian flags in his hat, as members of South Florida's Haitian-American community listen to speakers during a rally to condemn hate speech and misinformation about Haitian immigrants, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, in North Miami, Fla.

“Lakay pa bon,” Alix Desulume says, Haitian Creole for “Life is not good back home.”

Like many Haitian immigrants looking for a better life, Desulme moved to the U.S. with his family when he was just 6 years old. Now, he is the mayor of North Miami, successful by most measures, yet he and fellow Haitians in the United States find themselves targeted, slandered and threatened by former President and current GOP nominee Donald J. Trump.

While some Haitian-American elected officials say the community is in crisis, other advocates are using the opportunity to get the word out about the economic contributions of Haitian immigrants and Haitian Americans. Democrats are hopeful the community will turn its outrage into a show of political strength by going to the polls and voting for Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Desulume called Trump’s anti-immigration statements – such as that Haitian immigrants here legally in Springfield, Ohio, are kidnapping and eating pets – hurtful and hateful. “It’s racist. It’s discriminatory. It’s xenophobic. It’s all of those that you could possibly think of. Period,” he said.

Trump said last week he would end Temporary Protected Status for as many as 500,000 legal Haitian immigrants, including those in Springfield. What Trump’s MAGA base may not realize is that the TPS program is a boon for the U.S economy.

Cindy Woods, national policy counsel for the Miami-based American for Immigrants Justice, spelled it out with hard data:

  • 96% of Florida TPS holders are employed, making up 26% of the state’s labor force
  • TPS households in Florida have $2.9 billion in spending power, paying $275 million in taxes
  • Immigrants with TPS started businesses (36%) and worked in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (25%).

“What that shows you is that TPS holders bring a lot of economic prosperity and provide a large amount of assistance to the local workforce,” Woods said. “Immigrants are really the backbone of a lot of important industries that make up Florida.”

Trump during his first term worked to get rid of TPS, but this was slowed down by court challenges. TPS for Haiti was redesignated back in June through February of 2026 under President Biden’s administration.

Haiti remains arguably the most destabilized country in the Western Hemisphere, beset by natural disasters and political upheaval – the very reason why Haitian immigrants have the TPS status, which has been an issue for decades as the Caribbean island has been beset by crisis after crisis.

“We have continued to speak out against the continued removal of flights of individuals to Haiti,” Woods said. “The public information around the situation, the ongoing security and human rights situation in Haiti makes clear that removals and returns of individuals to that country are unconscionable.”

Jocelyn McCalla, senior adviser of the Miami-based Haitian American Foundation for Democracy, Haitian-Americans who have become naturalized citizens can show Trump and Republicans they also have political power and vote on Nov. 5.

“What (Trump) is doing is essentially being a bully against the Haitians, pitting Haitians against the broader American constituency, so that the broader American constituency starts to believe that the Haitians are nothing but cockroaches that should be destroyed as much as possible and denied the opportunity,” McCalla said.

Democratic Party leader, State Rep. Michael Gottlieb, D-District 102, said he is hopeful that hateful rhetoric will motivate voters to come out not just for Vice President Kamala Harris but for down-ballot candidates. “It’s an anti-black bias as well as anti-immigrant,” Gottlieb said.

Christopher Bouzy, a political analyst and tech entrepreneur, pointed out on X, formerly Twitter, that Trump won Florida with fewer than 400,000 votes in 2020. “There are enough Haitians registered to vote in Florida to flip the state. The fact Trump is still attacking Haitians is political insanity,” he tweeted on Wednesday.

Democratic activist Fergie Reid agreed with Bouzy, saying Trump is “one of the best advocates to bring out the Democratic Haitian vote.”

“When he says they are eating dogs and cats and the pets of the people who live in Springfield – that is worth millions and millions of dollars in get-out-of-the-vote advertising for Democrats,” Reid said.

This story was originally published in the Key Biscayne Independent, a WLRN News partner.

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