Houston’s Haitian community is betrayed by Supreme Court’s TPS ruling

Frustration crept into Alexandra Okolie-Kirkland’s voice as she described how Haitians in Houston and across the nation are facing an uncertain future.

There aren’t many options now, said the Houston immigration attorney, who is Haitian American.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with ending temporary protected status for some 350,000 Haitian and thousands of Syrian immigrants. The ruling means deportation protections and work authorization could be revoked. The administration has also moved to end protections for more than 600,000 Venezuelans. 

Temporary protected status is granted to people whose home countries are unable to house them due to natural disasters, political unrest or war. It  protects them from deportation and allows them to legally work in the United States. In Houston, there are an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Haitians and hundreds of Syrians who work in schools, hospitals and businesses throughout the city.

The U.S. first granted temporary protected status to Haitians in 2010 following a devastating earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people. In 2012, Syrians received protected status after the outbreak of civil war.

Ending protections means that many Haitians and Syrians will not be able to legally work in the United States. 

This decision isn’t just a change in policy, it is another shift in the nation’s moral character, a betrayal of communities that have spent years strengthening the economy in Houston and cities nationwide. They have built lives here, often working the jobs no one else wants, paying taxes and raising children who call this country home. 

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In her 15 years of practicing law, Okolie-Kirkland said it’s never been this overwhelming or hectic. Too many people need help.   

“Everybody wants to know what to do, and everybody is scared,” she said. “The  options are very minimal, and this is not the best administration to be seeking immigration anything. But it’s always a fight. There are many advocates who will continue to pursue the fight.”  

Just this month, Haitians were joyous over their country’s return to the FIFA World Cup after 52 years. For a nation battered by natural disasters, political turmoil, poverty and violence, it was an incredible moment of pride and hope — even though the team’s uniform was banned by FIFA for being too political. It honored the Battle of Vertières of 1803, which made Haiti the first nation to win its independence through a slave revolt. But the nixed uniforms didn’t stop the cheers for their national team.

Though Haiti lost to Morocco, fans were exuberant about their team defying the odds to play in its first World Cup stint since the 1970s.

The next day, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision. 

“It’s very disappointing, and we know that it’s fueled by xenophobic and racist rhetoric that is just being swirled around to paint a picture of the Haitian people which is not correct and not true,” said James Pierre, co-founder and vice chairman of Houston Haitians United.

“As a Haitian American in Houston, I know that our people contribute a lot to the city and to this nation, and we’re going to continue to stand for our people, our culture and continue to try to spread the positive about them because there’s so much negative,” he said. 

Among the most outrageous rumors about Haitians came in 2024 when then-Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance asserted that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were draining social services and eating cats.

Police even refuted reports of pets being stolen and eaten. Still, too many people believed it. 

If you wonder how false rumors about certain people take hold like a wildfire, a line from the blockbuster movie,”Wicked,” explains it well: “The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy.”

At this moment, Haitians and other immigrant communities are exactly that.

But in Houston and cities across the country, Haitian immigrants are hard working people, teaching our children, caring for our sick and working diligently at many other careers.

Pierre said Houston Haitians United, formed in 2015, has been doing what it can to build community and provide support. In 2021, when some 30,000 Haitians arrived in Del Rio, along the Texas-Mexico border, the organization partnered with other groups to help migrants get food, clothing and even flights to reunite them with their families in other states. 

 “I don’t care if you are white, green, purple or whatever, as human beings we have to admit some of things that are still taking place are wrong. You don’t have to be Christian or have a religious belief to understand what’s wrong is wrong, what’s right is right,” said Jean Michel Celestine, one of the organization’s board members and a native of Haiti. 

Even if Haitian immigrants self-deport, they are returning to a country with virtually no functioning government. Haiti has not had a president since its last one, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in 2021. The country’s main airport in Port-au-Prince has been under siege, and even shut down at times, by gang violence.

Poverty and crime. Those are the images of Haiti that many people have in their minds, but beyond the capital city it is an island full of beauty, Okolie-Kirkland said. 

Her grandparents moved to Canada from Haiti in the 1980s. Every summer, she’d visit her native land, with its country vistas and cool Caribbean waters. She misses it. 

“I feel helpless right now, but we’re always going to continue to fight. That’s for sure, ” she said.