By Adrian Connor
Haitian immigrants in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood are working hard to boost voter turnout ahead of Tuesday’s high-stakes election as immigration protections expire and violence back in Haiti worsens.
Delores Murat, CEO of DoDor Services, an organization that assists Haitian immigrants in Brooklyn’s Little Haiti, said Haitian immigrants in the area are worried about deportation if Donald Trump is elected. Trump has promised to round up immigrants—including those groups who have certain types of legal status—into camps and deport them in his second term.
“We have a lot of people who are scared, they’re scared out of their mind,” Murat said.
Civil unrest in Haiti, which erupted after the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in 2021, has escalated further in recent months, pushing Haitians from the island to seek refuge in the U.S. Over 214,000 Haitians have entered the U.S. under Biden’s humanitarian parole program since January 2023.
Haitians have been in the national spotlight this election season, after Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance falsely claimed Haitian immigrants were eating neighborhood pets in Springfield, Ohio, where many Haitians have settled in recent years. Reuters reported in September that immigrants are actually helping grow the economy in Springfield, which has a labor shortage.
Delores Murat has won many awards for her work as director at DoDor Services, which provides Haitian immigrants with computer and language classes, references to lawyers, free groceries, and assistance with immigration documents. (Credit: Adrian Connor)
The recent arrivals from Haiti have been allowed to legally live and work in the U.S. for two years. Immigrant advocates were frustrated when President Joe Biden’s administration did not renew the parole program for immigrants from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela or Nicaragua on Oct. 4 this year, an announcement that followed backlash from conservative groups against this program. Deportations for people losing their legal status could begin as soon as January 2025.
Haitians are among the immigrant groups who can also qualify for Temporary Protected Status, which allows immigrants already here in the U.S. whose home countries are unsafe due to conflict or disaster to continue to legally stay and work for up to two years—with the possibility of extending their status. Neither option provides a pathway to a green card or U.S. citizenship.
The Biden administration expanded temporary status to Haitians after political unrest broke out in 2021 and extended it for eligible Haitian immigrants until February 2026. Trump, on the other hand, had revoked these protections in his first term.
Jensen Derosiers, owner of Little Haiti’s popular Bon Bonbon restaurant, said the Biden administration’s programs have supported Haitian immigrants. “We think, if they stay in power, then the policies will continue. Otherwise, it’s gonna be a mass deportation,” he said.
Emmanuel Laurent, 38, at Little Haiti’s DoDor Services, where he works part-time. (Credit: Adrian Connor)
Derosiers said that Trump and Vance’s racist statements about Haitians, and other recent disparaging comments by Trump’s allies at the recent Madison Square Garden rally, have further motivated New York City’s Haitian community; he expects to see a surge in voter turnout this election. “The Haitian community, along with the Puerto Rican community, I think they are very anxious to see a change at the White House, and when I say ‘change’ I mean no to having Mr. Trump,” he said.
Glenda Elie, a co-owner of Bon Bonbon, said she’s more concerned about the immigration programs.
“It’s not just the crazy comments in Ohio; the comments are just ridiculousness,” Elie said. “It’s more about the TPS issue. What’s going to happen with that? What’s going to happen with immigration rights?”
Elie said this election season has seen a wide-reaching effort to get out the vote with collaborations between churches, the local healthcare workers’ union, and a number of community groups.
These partnerships led to door-knocking efforts to encourage voting in Spring Valley, NY, a Long Island town that has seen an influx of Haitian immigrants over the last 50 years, according to the Haitian Cultural Heritage Preservation. That community also rallied against hate speech in September, calling for a public apology from Trump and Vance.
Emmanuel Laurent, 38, arrived from Haiti in February and hopes to bring his 6-year-old daughter soon. Laurent’s protected status will expire in February 2026, at which point he needs to find another way to legally stay in the country. Through a translator, he said he is very worried about Trump winning the election, and would vote for Harris if he could vote. As the election approaches, he is spending his time working and practicing English.
