On Wednesday, September 21st, 2022 Haitian Bridge Alliance, UndocuBlack Network, Justice Action Center & Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP) held a Congressional Staff briefing on the unique challenges Black immigrants face. The briefing was to commemorate the events that occurred in Del Rio, Texas, one year ago, where Haitians fleeing environmental disaster and political instability arrived to exercise their legal and human right to seek asylum and safety.
For two weeks, they were subjected to horrid conditions and racist abuse, captured by the now iconic photo of men on horseback chasing migrants with reins. This has been followed by a sharp increase in mass expulsions of Haitians —more than 24,000 people—including infants as young as nine-days-old, since the publication of the now infamous photo.
Policy advocates and directly impacted individuals will delve into the rampant anti-Blackness and subsequent criminalization of Blackness more generally in this country, the racist and xenophobic origins at the core of the US’s immigration system, and how these dynamics intersect in an especially destructive way in the lives of Black immigrants.