We must fight for Haitians. They’ve added so much to our community | Opinion

It took more than courage for U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes to keep the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 300,000 Haitians. I believe it also took compassion and integrity. The judge’s decision was not a popular one in today’s climate when it seems that any immigrant in America is fair game for ICE officials.

Yet, while we applaud this move to offer temporary safety and freedom to thousands of Haitians who have made America their home over the past four or five decades, we know the battle is just beginning. While we sleep, the wheels of injustice against Haitians are turning rapidly, seeking ways to undo Judge Reyes’ decision.

I can understand the administration wanting to have a safer America. So do I, and millions of other freedom-loving and justice-seeking Americans. What I don’t understand is the way they are going after many law-abiding immigrants, often snatching them from their cars and from their homes in the middle of the night, sometimes using innocent children to help them carry out their deeds. Many of the targeted ones are in this country legally. Some are even citizens. And please, let us not forget the attacks on peaceful protesters.

I don’t know about other cities where Haitians have settled. But I sincerely believe the South Florida community has benefited greatly from the Haitian culture and contributions.

Haitians have added more than color to their new homeland. Many arrived to these shores seeking a better life without even speaking a word of English. Yet through hard work and perseverance they not only survived, but thrived.

I can’t imagine a North Miami or North Miami Beach without Haitian elected leadership. Or a medical facility without Haitian doctors and/or nurses. Or a school where there are no Haitian teachers. Or a neighborhood where there are no Haitian entrepreneurs.

In a few decades, Haitians have come to this country and jumped right into the mixing pot, adding their culture to basic American culture, thereby making it more flavorful.

So, to send them back to a country that is not only foreign to them, but violent and poverty-stricken, where diseases go unchecked for lack of medicine and medical facilities, where young girls and women are raped and brutalized, would be a sin beyond measure. America is, and has been, their home for decades. It is the only way of life that many of them know.

In a Miami Herald article Wednesday, Jacqueline Charles, the reporter who covers Haiti for the Herald, said while Haitians are bracing themselves for a legal fight from the Department of Homeland Security, local Haitian advocates and elected officials from Miami-Dade and Broward counties were calling on the Trump administration to let the judge’s decision pausing immigration protection for Haitians to stand.

More than 300,000 Haitians have been allowed to live and work legally in the United States under TPS. What would they do if they are sent back to a land that is foreign to them, and where there is not any way for them to make a living?

Charles’ article also stated Judge Reyes noted in her 83-page ruling that Haitians would face irreparable harm if sent back to Haiti, a country the administration ‘s own State Department says is overrun by criminal “terrorists gangs.” The State Department has issued a “Do Not Travel” warning for U.S. citizens.

The judge also pointed out that Haitian TPS holders “substantially benefit the U.S. economy, contributing approximately $3.4 billion to it annually” and help fill labor shortages, according to Charles’ reporting.

Said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien: “…ending TPS will devastate families and damage our economy… Tell the Trump administration, let this decision stand,” she said

I agree with Judge Reyes and Commissioner Bastien. Sending Americanized Haitians back to Haiti would be sending them to a certain death. We must join hands with Haitian advocates and Democratic lawmakers in Florida who, according to the article, say while they welcome a federal judge’s ruling to pause the end of temporary immigration protection for more than 300,000 Haitians, they will keep fighting “until protection turns into permanence.”

Klezmer concert

The United Generations, a Chabad organization whose mission is to “enhance the quality of life” for Jewish senior citizens, will present a “Grand Klezmer Concert” of authentic Klezmer Yiddish and other Jewish music at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15. The concert will be held at the Julius Littman Performing Arts Theatre, 17011 NE 19th Ave. in North Miami Beach.

The concert will feature Zevy Steiger and Aryeh Leib Hurwitz, two world-renowned cantors, and the Heavy Shtetle Klezmer Band.

For those unfamiliar with the term “Klezmer”, it is “Fiddler on the Roof” style of music, said Rabbi Menachem Smith, director of United Jewish Generations.

“It is a lively, traditional and nostalgic kind of music played at Jewish celebrations over the last century and will bring back heartwarming and cherished memories of the past,” he said.

Smith said because the organization wants everyone to be able to enjoy “this beautiful music with the highest caliber musicians and cantors, we offer tickets at a price everyone can afford. The vast majority of the seats are priced at only $20 each.”

Tickets can be purchased online at www.JewishRetiree.com or in North Miami Beach/Aventura at Aspaclaria Judaica, 18240 W. Dixie Hwy., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. only. Tickets can also be purchased in Miami Beach at Torah Treasures at 524 W. 41st St.

If you need help purchasing tickets or for transportation to the concert, please call 954-458-6000. Tickets are priced at $20, $36, and $50 each. Sponsors of $180 or more will be able to choose their seats in the two front rows.

Persons using a walker or a cane must buy seats in the lower section of the theater only, because the upper section requires climbing stairs. For more information email: admin@unitedjewishgenerations.com or call 954-458-6000.

This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 5:30 AM.