Haiti are looking forward to their first World Cup appearance for 52 years, with games against Brazil, Morocco and Scotland on the horizon. But it is a different story for their fans.
Haiti is the only Western hemisphere country whose supporters are banned from traveling to the U.S., and a significant proportion of those already in the country face an uncertain future.
“Being a Haitian in America right now is pretty frightening,” says Wanda Tima, founder and CEO of two networking platforms: L’Union Suite and the Haitian American. “Everything feels like we’re on a pause. Fear, limbo and a whole lot of uncertainty.”
Tomorrow, approximately 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. will closely monitor a Supreme Court hearing centred on their right to remain in the country.
President Donald Trump ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians after being re-elected, but a Columbia District Court decision issued an 11th-hour reprieve in February. Now, Supreme Court justices will decide the next steps.
Lawyers claim Trump and key members of his administration have openly displayed “disdain for Haitians” and showed a “desire to eject” them from the U.S. They point to “extreme anti-Haitian invectives (highly critical language)” as “strong evidence” that the cancellation is “motivated by animus (prejudice or ill will).”
Documents submitted prior to the hearing by the Haitian American Lawyers’ Association argue that forcing Haitians to return to “highly dangerous conditions in their country” shows a “disparity in treatment” and continues a “shameful tradition” of “demonising” people from the Caribbean island nation.
Trump claimed Haitians were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, in a live presidential debate with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in 2024 before his re-election. He has also used offensive terms to describe the nation. The pet claims — which amplified a baseless online rumour — led to the speech being sampled in songs that received millions of views.
“This stuff is viral for people and then it goes away,” says Tima, who engages with thousands of Haitians on her online platforms. “But they don’t understand, for us it doesn’t go away. It remains a stench on who we are.”
