Why The United States Is Punishing Haitian Immigrants

flag flying in the wind with a blue sky in the background
Zain Murdock
October 2, 2024

Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s lies about Haitian immigrants have been debunked. But, from bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio, to “Send them back!” chants in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, his words are causing real damage. But this is only a new wave of pre-existing, cyclical, anti-Haitian violence.

#1 Scapegoat: Scapegoating Haitians as “cannibals” and “criminals” creates a narrative. Haitian schoolchildren get harassed. Memes spread online. News outlets spotlight once-banal incidents if Haitians are involved. It doesn’t matter that U.S. police actually kill thousands of pet dogs a year. Haitians are villainized. And white vigilantes and cops now have the cover to threaten and enact violence.

 #2 Punish Here: This violence is in the system. Haitian immigrants are the second-largest Black U.S. immigrant population, already disproportionately imprisoned, shackled, and deported by I.C.E.

#3 Intervene There: The U.S. recently helped send Kenyan and Jamaican police into Haiti, mirroring the Marine occupation of 1915. But “restoring order” for “disorderly” Haitians has meant mass sexual violence, cholera infection, theft, and political corruption -- pushing Haitians to leave their country.

Scapegoat, brutalize, colonize, and repeat. Since the Haitian Revolution, anti-Haitianism has sought to punish Haiti for its resistance. From smearing immigrants and Black police violence victims to spreading conspiracies about unhoused people and “trans mass shooters,” these narratives are designed to normalize violence against marginalized groups. But when we recognize anti-Black propaganda, we must reject it.

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