New York's Haitian Community Marches at West Indian Day Parade Amid TPS Losses
Hundreds of thousands filled Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway as Haitians celebrated under more solemn circumstances following the end of Temporary Protected Status.
NEW YORK (AP) — Steel drums, flag-draped floats and the smell of jerk chicken filled Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, as hundreds of thousands turned out for the West Indian Day Parade, one of the largest celebrations of Caribbean culture in the country. This year, Haitians marched under more solemn circumstances, the AP reported, as federal immigration enforcement has intensified against Caribbean and other Black immigrant communities and Haitians have lost Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Doe that federal courts cannot review the Trump administration's decision to end TPS for Haitian and Syrian immigrants, clearing the way for roughly 350,000 Haitians to lose the protection. A federal judge finalized the order in early August, and work permits tied to Haitian TPS expired July 27. Natalie Lafontant, organizer of Lespri Ayiti ("Spirit of Haiti"), the largest Haitian mas group in the parade, called it "a somber cloud" but said her group of about 180 continues. Designer Clara Poteau created royal-blue emperor robes in the image of Jean-Jacques Dessalines. The New York metro area's Haitian community numbers roughly 163,000, per the Migration Policy Institute.