New York's Haitian community marches in West Indian Day Parade amid TPS loss and enforcement fears
Organizers describe Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway celebration as defiant pride in a difficult year for Haitian immigrants.
NEW YORK — Hundreds of thousands are expected on Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway on Monday for the West Indian Day Parade, one of the largest celebrations of Caribbean culture in the United States, the Associated Press reported. This year, Haitian marchers take part under more solemn circumstances after the loss of temporary protected status and intensified federal immigration enforcement against Black immigrant communities.
In June, the 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 protection. A federal judge finalized the order in early August, and work permits tied to Haitian TPS expired July 27, according to the AP.
Natalie Lafontant, who organizes Lespri Ayiti ("Spirit of Haiti"), the largest Haitian "mas" in the parade, said a "somber cloud" hangs over the event but that the community uses "music, dance, art, to continue to strive and push through." Her group of about 180 artists and residents struggled to find float sponsors this year.
The New York metro area is home to roughly 163,000 Haitians, the second-largest such population in the U.S. after Miami, per the Migration Policy Institute. Designer Clara Poteau created robes honoring Jean-Jacques Dessalines.