The primary election Tuesday comes in the wake of the Trump administration’s cancellation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants in the United States. The designation has allowed immigrants to remain in the U.S. and has been extended multiple times since it was first granted to Haitians in 2010 after a magnitude 7 earthquake.
Since then, the situation in Haiti has only worsened. President Jovenel Moïse was killed in July 2021, leaving an office that has remained vacant since. Violence has spread like never before, with gangs controlling more than 70% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and expanding into other areas of the country. As a result, more than 1.4 million people have been displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations-affiliated organization.
Haiti has been under a national state of emergency since March 2024. The U.S. Department of State has warned Americans not to travel there for any reason due to crime, terrorism, kidnapping, unrest and limited healthcare.
With November midterm election to follow, concerns for their future are becoming part of how Haitian Americans are weighing their choices. Most of them have friends, relatives and neighbors who lack permanent legal status. More than 500,000 Haitians live in Florida, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Siblings Alisa and Woody Oscar, from Riverview, were both born in the U.S. They work at Kreyol Delight, their family’s Haitian restaurant in Tampa.
Alisa is 23 and studying to become a nurse. She will vote for the first time on Tuesday. Her candidate should be someone, she said, who’s looking out for everyone, ‘not just to make the rich richer.’
« A person who I feel like is truly trying to represent everyone, trying to make everyone’s future good in America, » she said.
She knows people who had temporary protection and now are trying to find a way to remain in the country. She said they have focused on keeping their jobs, homes and ability to provide for their families.
« They don’t want to go back, » Alisa said.
Her brother, a 25-year-old electrical engineering student, is looking for candidates who will do what’s best for the community.
« At the end of the day, I think that marginalized groups deserve their protection and to live safely, » he said. « I would not feel comfortable voting for somebody that benefits myself knowing that they will go on to harm so many different people. »
Any candidate seeking to understand the Haitian community must understand the three tenets of Haitian life, he said: Lekòl, legliz, lakay. Or, school, church and home.
Woody said he supports public education and better salaries for teachers. He worries about immigrants who could be forced to leave the country because of their legal status.
« It just fills me with a lot of sorrow, honestly, » he said. « It makes me feel very sad. »
How political leaders talk about immigrants and other groups is also upsetting, he said.
« I feel like when you’re in a high position, you shouldn’t be resorting to ad hominem attacks against anybody, » he said.
Nerlande Joseph came from Haiti in 2006 and became a U.S. citizen a decade ago. Joseph, 45, is the vice president of the Haitian American Nurses Association of Tampa. She said there’s a lot of stress in the Haitian community. However, ‘people cannot just sit still and watch what’s going on’, she said. That’s why she’s ready to vote.
« What matters most is putting our voices together and going out to vote, that’s mostly what we can do, » Joseph said. « If each of us votes, that’s how we can bring change. »
Judith Celestine, 44, is worried and frustrated as a Haitian American voter because her community « has not been treated fairly. »
« I have family members who aren’t able to go to work, and people are falling into depression, » she said.
Celestine lives in St. Petersburg and works as a medical interpreter at Children’s Hospital. She said immigration and the debate surrounding it are affecting how she thinks about the election.
« I don’t know which candidate is telling the truth or what they are willing to do for the Haitian community, » she said. « But people don’t want to go back to an unstable country. »
Celestine came to the U.S. in the late 1990s and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2007. She said what’s really important to Haitian American voters is stability in immigration policies for people who have been in the country for years and have worked hard.
She plans to vote Tuesday in person to feel the atmosphere, meet other voters and hear what they have to say.
« I like to see how the whole setup is going, » she said.
Haitian American Jorgensen Charles, 29, an accountant from Gibsonton, said he also is concerned with how Haitians are talked about and portrayed.
« There has been a lot of talk and people saying bad things about Haitians, like the rumor about eating dogs, » he said. « Some people don’t realize how that can lead to discrimination. »
Charles worries about immigration and its impact on Haitians in the U.S., but he sees other issues that need attention, such as healthcare.
« We all need leaders and representatives who are willing to listen, communicate and protect access to quality care for everyone, » Charles said.
Ricardo Pierre, a Haitian American pastor at True Lovers of God Ministries, a congregation with parishioners in Spring Hill and Tampa, spends time in the community focusing on educating people to make the best decisions during an election year.
Pierre said he was careful not to sway people’s opinions about which direction they should go. But one thing is clear, he said: He wants to make sure Haitian American voters in his community participate in the elections.
« We want people to understand the power of their vote and analyze what every candidate is offering to determine what is best, » Pierre said.
