S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on this episode of KPBS Midday Edition. A new report reveals more about toxic pollution in the Tijuana watershed. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. It's been one week since Ice Age. Ice agents arrested a Haitian student near the San Diego City College campus. A student was driving when Ice agents stopped his car , arrested him , then pursued the passenger. Also a student who ran to campus for safety. Elected leaders , community members and school officials have all condemned ISIS actions. It all comes after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for Haitian and Syrian immigrants earlier this year. I'm joined now by Galena Joseph. She is the co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. They're a San Diego based aid group that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies , and supports Haitian immigrants and migrants and others. Jolene , welcome. Welcome back to the show. So glad to have you here.
S2: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: It's you know , it's been a week since the arrest happened. What was your immediate reaction when you first heard the news?
S2: And just to clarify , that specific arrest happened a week ago , but we have daily arrests across San Diego. San Diego has become the epicenter of what we call ice kidnappings , because they come in unmarked cars and they literally surround people who are dropping their children at school like they did two days ago , or students who are going to school or people were doing DoorDash. So that has become the epicenter of Ice kidnapping Haitians across the country. And right now , San Diego is part of number one. Uh , so when that happened last last week was here we go again. In that day , we had reports of at least five others who were taken by ice. Uh , and so that has become a part of the terror , the trauma , uh , and the psychological impact we see within the community here in San Diego and across the country.
S1: I'm so glad that you added that context. And and I'm curious what you're hearing from Haitian families about how this climate is affecting their daily lives , you know , including work , school , medical care and and whether they feel safe even leaving home.
S2: They do not feel safe leaving home. As a matter of fact , we at the Haitian Bridge Alliance , as you mentioned , we are headquartered in San Diego , and we normally have our community gathering. Two , three , 400 families will come and get legal advice , get the medical checkups and also get the diaper , the milk , the groceries that they need in order for them to to take care of their families. We were forced to cancel that event last month as as we started seeing the influx of Ice kidnapping , and people were afraid to come to get the services they extremely , extremely need. And we are forced again this month to cancel our community gathering. And now we are , um , delivering , uh , you know , the food , the diaper , the milk to make sure that the people who are afraid to get out of the homes or not dying of hunger or not dying or thirst because of the extra layer of danger that this crisis has created for those families. So to be honest with you , those of us who are providing the support or trying to find ways to make sure that people are not dying , and at the same time advocating to make sure that people are protected. Right now they have removed CPS , which is temporary protected status. And as I have mentioned several times , the in the name , it is temporary , but it is based on the current country condition and according to the US government under President Trump , they have said Haiti is at the state level for do not travel. So therefore the current country conditions in Haiti. That's what makes it critical for the US to continue to protect Haitians in the United States.
S1: Talk about that. The conditions in Haiti right now returning to Haiti means what for a person? What does a person face when they're deported?
S2: We we're turning to Haiti means potential death. And that's why we see some people , like Pierre Damas in Springfield and several people in San Diego. We are keeping an eye on the fear of being returned to Haiti , knowing that they might die , and some of them , unfortunately dying by suicide , are at the head of the system. I want to make clear. Yes , people are dying by suicide , but it's because of the trauma , the psychological terror that this whole ending of CPS has brought into the community. And I want people to understand those are people who had legal studies in the United States. People who came in the United States legally followed every single step , and yet now have been taken the very protection that they , they , they deserve. Um , going back to Haiti could definitely be a death sentence , especially according to the US government. We know for a fact that at least one person who has been deported to Haiti so far have died. We are trying to understand the cause of death. Um , and right now , the United States is sending a plane every week to Haiti , including us born children. They are forcing you. They are forcing former CPS holders who have us born children , forcing them to take their children back to Haiti with them.
S1: A crisis situation. You mentioned Pierre Dumas earlier. I want to make sure the audience knows that that is a he was a 20 year old Haitian student who earlier this month died by apparent suicide in Ohio after Ice required him to wear an ankle monitor. His family says he felt humiliated and believes that distrust contributed to his death , and its revealing about the psychological effects of this enforcement campaign. As you laid out gasoline. I want to talk about the student who was arrested here. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the City College student will have his claims heard , quote , by an immigration judge , and he will receive due process from where you sit , what's required for due process to happen , and do you have any concerns about that actually happening? Absolutely.
S2: Absolutely. Due process would have been him not being kidnapped by Ice in the first place. That would have been to process. Due process would have been allowing him to move through his case , understanding he might have a pending asylum or other relief that might be afforded to him. There is no due process. What we are seeing is being kidnapped and regardless of you have an asylum pending or potentially other relief. You they are deporting people very quickly. As I mentioned , they used to have one deportation a month to Haiti. Now they have in one a week. So what we are seeing that they are processing people quickly out of San Diego into Louisiana and putting them on planes to to Haiti. There is no due process. And we know very clearly that they have created the system to work. The way it is working is literally to kidnap people , moving them out as fast as possible , not caring for families and loved ones and community , including students , as you mentioned in San Diego , including pastors in Virginia and across the country. So there is no due process because they did not follow the fact that they should have given them a time to actually state their fear of return to Haiti , and at the same time , understanding that this person might have a case pending , but they do not care. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. You know , there was a protest last week where the Haitian community made their voice heard in response to these Ice arrests. Um , and also , you know , a lot of community members were there. I mean , what what's the ask here? What are we asking? Ice? The Trump administration and local leaders to do.
S2: We are asking local leaders , first of all , to understand the fear of the community and find ways to protect them. We cannot just have ice run rampant and kidnapping people on the way to school , and where students have to flee into the school or outside. You know , of of a public space in order for them to protect themselves. And we want to make sure there is no police and ice collaboration in San Diego. Um , because we see a lot of the people who are being taken by Ice. Some of them are doing DoorDash. Some of them are doing over eat. So we are trying to understand what is the collaborative coloration , collaboration , if any , between , uh , local police and Ice and what that entails. So those are the things we are looking into locally. We are asking President Trump and his administration to really reconsider the fact that the termination of CPS for , for Haiti is becoming a major health crisis as well. We do understand that they might not care for Haitians. They might not care for black people , they might not care for brown people. But as a country , we must stand on principle in protecting those in need. Right now is necessary. In addition to that , we are asking the Senate to pass Senate Bill S 4814 that has been , uh , on , on in the in the Senate for the past month and a half , and we need at least 30 more senators to join into that fight to protect the Haitian super soldiers. Senate Bill S 4814 will allow a three year protection for Haitians. As we continue to see how do we support Haiti in becoming more stable so that when it comes time for people to return home , they can safely return home?
S1: You know , in the wake of what happened here in San Diego last week , elected leaders and school officials , um , did speak out about that. But what can local elected officials and educational institutions realistically do to protect students and families , given that immigration enforcement is federal.
S2: What we are asking because we do know even the church is the hospitals , the schools , they they need to be able to to make us some , some rules of how internally they can protect their students and their church members. And we are really willing and able to work with them on that. And we are asking , uh , the mayor's office , the county officials to work with us on putting some plans in place to protect the people who have called , uh , San Diego home for the past 5 to 10 years. To be honest with you. Uh , we are seeing an impact when it comes to folks who used to work at the hotel. The restaurants in other places are very much impacted by that. Not just in San Diego , but around or around the country. And so therefore , I think here specifically in California and in San Diego , we need to work with our local elected officials and at the same time with our state officials to make sure that we put in place some guardrails , understanding they do not have leverage when it comes to federal issues. But there are certain things that can be provided locally in statewide to protect the peace holders , in other immigrants in the county and in the state.
S1: You know , gasoline from all that's happening. I mean , what do you believe is missing from the the national conversation about the effects of immigration enforcement on Haitian communities?
S2: I do believe that , um , immigration is being used as a testing ground , uh , of what other plans might be in the pipeline for us as a country and clearly understand the risks for black and brown and non-white folks in the fight to what they call project 2025 , or the fear of of the browning of America. Understanding that all of those , uh , policies and narratives are centered around white supremacist ideologies , and we are seeing the kidnapping and deportation of Haitians as a part of what we believe is , is a step toward ethnic cleansing in the United States. So we need to make sure we we are not , uh , you know , taking those that are being attacked right now as a simple immigration issue , because I strongly believe that we do not have an immigration issue , per se in the United States , because if you look the right way , if you from South South Africa and you are a white South Africans , you are welcome. Uh , so therefore there is a larger thing we need to look into as a country the moral of it , the humanity of it , the dignity of it , and how do we want our next stage of this country needs to be? We just celebrated 250 years of this country. What will the next ten , 20 to 150 years look like in history? Will judge us harshly based on how we treat immigrants , black immigrants , Haitian immigrants in the United States will be the guideline to where we move forward.
S1: The work is nonstop. How are you holding up amid all of this? I mean , there's so much that goes into this , and I imagine it can be a lot to bear.
S2: It is hard , sometimes unbearable. For example , earlier today we were literally talking to some community members , and all we could tell them is have a family plan in case , in case you come face to face with us , because most likely you will be taken and deported. Uh , so the hope that we we we could have to give people. Unfortunately , we do not. So that weigh heavily on myself , the team and those who are providing care and services for the community because the , the , the relief is , is , is almost non-existent. And we really have to find ways to care for the people. I really want everyone who is listening to understand the level of terror that this whole , uh , um , community and several other communities , including the Salvadorian community , who's now , you know , unsure of what the next step will be for them , the , the , the Cameroonians , the South Sudanese , you know , the , the Syrian , the Afghans. So we have 17 different countries who are under CPS and the attack on Haitians specifically , we can trace back to a very long time , remember , before the elections. Now , Vice President Vance created a narrative , and he actually said that this is a narrative they created in order for them to divide and conquer.
S1: So I think we gotta leave it there. We gotta leave it there. It's so much still to talk about. And we'll continue this conversation for resources and to find out how you can support the Haitian Bridge Alliance , go to KPBS. Because I've been speaking with Geraldine Joseph , co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. Thank you so much , Geraldine. I appreciate you , and I appreciate the work that you're doing.
S2: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
