Dozens join hands during Little Haiti candlelight vigil after TPS ruling
Lit by twinkling string lights and flameless candlesticks, dozens of people held hands and prayed Tuesday night at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex as they both celebrated a victory and prepared for the road ahead in a battle to safeguard temporary immigration protections for Haitians.
Thousands of families in Miami-Dade County are “breathing a sigh of relief” after a federal judge gave a “very short pause or reprieve” by blocking the Department of Homeland Security on Monday from ending temporary immigration protections — which were set to end at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday — for Haitians, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said to the crowd in Miami.
The conditions in Haiti are intolerable and dangerous, and it’s “irresponsible and immoral to send people back to a country where they are at such risk,” Levine Cava said.
Langlichmie Normile told the Miami Herald the violence in Haiti is not just something you see in movies or on television. In 2023, she had to cross through gangs to visit her family.
While Normile is not directly affected by the TPS legal battle, she was born and raised in Haiti, she said. She recalled how stressful it was to come to America years ago and the fear of not being accepted legally and socially.
“What is going on in Haiti is real,” Normile said. “Haitians are really fearing for their lives.”
READ MORE: Federal judge blocks termination of Haitian TPS, keeps protections from ending Tuesday
North Miami Vice Mayor Kassandra Timothe and Miami Commission Chairwoman Christine King called for the community vigil, which started at 6 p.m. at 212 NE 59th Terrace.
When legal decisions such as these are made, it is felt far beyond the courtroom, Timothe said. People feel the impacts around their kitchen tables, in their classrooms and at their places of worship.
“While we won this battle, the war on TPS still has some ways to go,” Timothe, who was one of many addressing an anticipated appeal of the federal judge’s ruling.
There was an apparent sense of solidarity among many who attended the vigil. Some police officers held hands with members of the public and bowed their heads during a prayer. A 9-year-old, Elizabeth Barthélemy, started to cry and was brought on stage while a woman sang, “Stand Up.” One man held his arm straight toward the sky, and his Haitian flag waived in the breeze.
Members of the public were urged to call 202-224-3121 to speak with their congressional representative and demand an extension of TPS for Haiti.
It was important for Daniel Subdiaz, 28, to show up for the vigil to support vulnerable communities such as the one he came from, he told the Miami Herald. His family members immigrated to the United States from Mexico. Many Americans have faced a struggle similar to the one that Haitians are dealing with now, he said.
People deserve “due process and dignity,” and Subdiaz said he hopes to see a shift in society that more people realize deporting others to unsafe places “is just not right.”
Miami Herald Staff Writer Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report.