Gang Violence in Homeland Strikes a Personal Chord for the Haitian Diaspora

Vivianne Petit Frere, a Haitian immigrant, left her home country for Brazil in 2019, later journeying through the Panamanian jungle to find refuge in Mexico. As gang violence ravages Haiti, Haitian migrants spread across Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the United States feel increasingly helpless. If once they believed in the possibility of returning home, they find that hope dwindling as the violence back home shows no signs of abating.

Disaster in the form of an earthquake in 2010 led to a mass exodus of many Haitians to South American countries like Brazil and Chile. Brazil’s economy, crashed in 2016, leading Haitians there to start off on a harsh journey through Panama’s Darien Gap to reach the United States. They entered the country mainly through the border from Tijuana to San Diego, joining previous migrants in Miami, New York, and Boston.

Amidst this crisis, Haitian Bridge Alliance, an advocacy group, has been reaching out to immigrants in the United States and Canada, whose families are trapped in the escalating gang warfare back home. Guerline Jozef, the executive director of the organization, shares that this is not a mere news story for most Haitians in the Diaspora but a tragic shared reality that has affected their families, a situation made very personal by their helplessness.

The U.S. appears to be the top choice for Haitian migrants, and the Biden administration’s approach to immigration has largely deterred illegal crossings. More than 151,000 Haitians successfully entered the U.S through an online application as of February, reducing the number of illegal land crossings from Mexico and leading to a decline in deportation flights back to the native country. Legal avenues like this are also available to Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants.

Despite their challenging circumstances, Haitian immigrants have been trying to assimilate and move forward in their new homes like Petit Frere, who now runs a restaurant in downtown Tijuana with her husband, another fellow Haitian migrant. Like many others, they have given up on the dream of returning to their homeland and are trying to make the best of their new reality, contributing to the local economy of their adopted countries.