Haitian immigrants in the U.S. legally are overwhelmingly Christian and they work to support the economy

In These Dark Times, Stand Up for Human Dignity

Echo essay published in The New York Times by Lydia Polgreen

In 2024, this has been a brutal year for people in many places across the globe. Sudan is in the grip of a merciless civil war. Bombs, disease and starvation stalk the people of Gaza. The people of Ukraine face another brutal winter in the maw of Russian aggression. These all deserve our attention, but I want to ask you, our readers, to think of someplace a little closer to home, a nation whose history and fate are so deeply intertwined with ours: Haiti.

I followed news from Haiti for two decades, and I struggle to remember a year as grim and hopeless as 2024. Armed groups control about 85 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, in the grip of horrific violence and a seemingly endless political crisis. 

More than 4,500 people have died in blood-soaked battles among gangs, with an overmatched police force barely capable of protecting its own members, much less civilians. Politically, it is in free fall. The country is on its fourth prime minister this year.

The United States has a long history of meddling and manipulating in Haiti and a long tradition of demonizing Haitians. But none of that history could prepare me for the ugly slander visited upon Haitian immigrants to the United States by JD Vance and Donald Trump. They spread baseless rumors 😠😞😢that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were kidnapping and eating pets. Haitian residents of the city, many of whom went there to work in its manufacturing sector, are living in fear, and many have fled.

A vast majority of Haitians in the United States are here legally. Many recent arrivals are under temporary protected status granted by the federal government because of the acute violence in Haiti. Their presence in cities like Springfield (Ohio), which was desperate for more workers to spur economic growth, is one of countless examples of Haitians helping to build the prosperity of the United States, despite being treated with contempt and derision. They join a proud tradition of Haitian Americans contributing at every level of American society, right up to the highest reaches of political, economic and cultural power.

A vast majority of Haitians in the United States are here legally. Many recent arrivals are under temporary protected status granted by the federal government because of the acute violence in Haiti. 

Their presence in cities like Springfield, which was desperate for more workers to spur economic growth, is one of countless examples of Haitians helping to build the prosperity of the United States, despite being treated with contempt and derision. They join a proud tradition of Haitian Americans contributing at every level of American society, right up to the highest reaches of political, economic and cultural power.

Many of the organizations that have stepped up to try to help newly arrived Haitians in the United States are under tremendous strain. They need our help. Elsie Saint-Louis, the executive director of Haitian Americans United for Progress, told me that just as the demand for help has grown to unprecedented proportions, slowdowns in city and state reimbursements for its work have left the organization hanging by a thread.

“It’s a crisis everywhere you turn,” she said. After fleeing gang warfare in their homeland, Haitians find themselves fleeing violent threats here in the United States. “People who are in Springfield are navigating toward anywhere they can go because they’re so scared,” Saint-Louis said. “There’s a mass exodus.”

For almost 50 years, Haitian Americans United for Progress has provided a wide range of services to Haitian and other immigrant communities, primarily in New York. In normal times it provides maternal and child health care and counseling, teaches civics for aspiring citizens, helps young people prepare for college, offers immigration counseling and connects new arrivals with community support. The past year has required digging much deeper as the organization has expanded its reach to help Haitian immigrants across the country. But it is struggling to keep up.

I can’t think of a better way in these dark times to stand for human dignity than to support the vital work of helping those who in the face of brutal demonization nevertheless seek to find safety and new life on our shores.

Lydia Polgreen is an Opinion columnist and a co-host of the “Matter of Opinion” podcast for The Times.