New York governor Hochul visits Caribbean Brooklyn and backs TPS for Haitians
Kathy Hochul called the Supreme Court’s backing for ending protection for nearly 350,000 Haitians a “tragedy” as New York moved to curb co-operation with immigration enforcement.
NEW YORK, United States. New York Governor Kathy Hochul reaffirmed her support for Haitians whose Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been terminated by the Trump administration during a visit to the Caribbean community in Brooklyn on Thursday 30 July.
Accompanied by her running mate, former New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, the governor described the US Supreme Court’s concurrence with the administration to end TPS for nearly 350,000 Haitians as a “tragedy”.
“I will continue to stand up to the cruelty the Trump administration is taking,” Hochul told Caribbean Life at Allan’s Bakery on Nostrand Avenue. “Don’t give up hope. Our country is better than this.”
Asked about feedback from the Haitian community, Hochul, flanked by Haitian-born Council Member Rita Joseph, said: “People are scared. They don’t know what to do.”
New state office
Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James had the week before launched the Office of Immigrant Trust (OIT), a statewide bureau within the attorney general’s office charged with investigating potential unlawful collusion by state and local employees with federal immigration enforcement.
They also wrote to the 12 local law enforcement agencies in New York with 287(g) agreements with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), telling them state law requires the agreements to be unwound by 25 August.
“Nobody is above the law,” Hochul said. “In New York, we will not tolerate the diversion of local resources for federal civil immigration enforcement at the expense of public safety.”
Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigration Coalition said: “New York State is not in the business of doing ICE’s dirty work.”
Calls on Congress
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants who co-chairs the House Haiti Caucus and Caribbean Caucus, said she stood with “the nearly 350,000 Haitian nationals across the United States”.
James also joined 18 other attorneys general in urging Congress to extend TPS for Haitians and to pass legislation allowing judicial oversight of TPS decisions.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on 23 July urged Republicans to protect TPS for Haitians, citing warnings that expelling them would strain the US health system.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, based in San Diego, called it “an S.O.S. moment for the Haitian community”.
