From Island to Island: Haitians in New York City

History of Haitian Immigration: Late Twentieth Century                                                                    Haitian immigration to the United States is fairly new. Haiti’s tumultuous political history has greatly impacted its immigration trends and status in the United States. To understand these trends, it is imperative to first establish the political nature of Haiti’s present and past. Haiti became an independent republic in 1804, shortly after the United States. From 1867 to 1915, Haiti’s political and economic world was filled with instability and corruption. In this time over twenty different presidents ruled the nation. This economic instability caused European nations to intervene and collect Haiti’s debt. However, as World War I beckoned, the Monroe Doctrine was established. This states that the US was in opposition of European involvement in the Western Hemisphere. As a result, the US Marines occupied Haiti for 19 years, from 1915 to 1934. This occupation fostered great resentment from the Haitian people towards the Americans. They wanted to restore their nation. Although the middle class brought many efforts forward, a solid leadership did not exist until 1957 when Francois Duvalier was elected president. His reign of terror and dictatorship caused Haiti’s economy to crumble. In 1971, when he died and his son took over, Haitians began to flee. In the following 30 years of more rule by terror, the people of Haiti began to immigrate to neighboring nations. After his rule, the nation had four different provisional governments until the election of Reverend Jean-Bertrand Artistide in December of 1990. In 1991, however, his rule was overthrown but later got reinstated in 1994. Since then their national elections have determined their presidents. Currently, Michel Martelly is serving as the Haitian president.

The Waves of Haitian Immigration The first Haitians in America can be traced back during the 1790s. At that time, Haiti was one of the wealthiest French colonies. It was when the black populace revolted against slavery, known as the Haitian revolution, that the people of the land began to migrate elsewhere. Thousand of Haitians fled to American seaports. In New Orleans, Norfolk, Baltimore, New York City, and Boston, there were now large communities of Haitians. (Countries and Their Cultures)

From 1957 to 1986, the period in which the Duvalier ruled, a major immigration wave of Haitians arrived in America. They wanted to flee the dictatorial rule that their leader imposed. They were in search of political asylum or permanent residence status in various countries such as the US, France, etc. The majority of the immigrants from Haiti stayed in New York City and Florida. In fact, they were known as the “boat people” who arrived by boat on the shores of Florida. After much discrepancy about the Cuban-Haitian entrant program in 1986, 40,000 Haitians seeking political asylum were given permanent residency status. (Countries and Their Cultures) The U.S. became more involved in Haitian affairs, and with the implementation of the 1965 Immigration Act, nearly 7,000 Haitians became residents and another 20,000 obtained temporary visas annually.

Similarly, in 1991, when the overthrow of President Aristide occurred, there was another influx of Haitian boat people. Under Bush and Clinton, however, they were not allowed in. Between 1995 and 1998, however, 50,000 Haitians were given asylum and temporary legal status. In 1998, the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act was adopted and those immigrants were given the opportunity to apply for permanency.

The most predominantly utilized form of visas is the family-based immigration visa, which was established by the Hart-Cellar Act. In 1990, there was another Immigration Act which continued to promote family reunification and refugee/asylum admittance, but it placed more significance on skilled workers and diversification than before (The Newest New Yorkers 2000) The annual average of foreign born Haitian immigration to New York City was about 3,049 between the years of 1990 to 1999. Douglas Massey, who studies theories of migration, focuses on the reasons of retaining family ties in the receiving country. His studies show that Haitians are very family-oriented and the importance of family duties and ties are tied to their religion and culture as in other Caribbean cultures hence the large number of family preference visas used. Between 2002 and 2011, the total number of Family Preference Visas for Haitians living in New York was 10,988. It came in eighth amongst other immigrant nations. Eighty-seven point four percent of these immigrants benefited from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Amongst this percentage of Haitians, 40 percent, or 10,988 people, are categorized under family preferences while the other 47.4 percent, or 13,016 people, are under immediate relatives (The Newest New Yorkers 2013).

While most Haitians entered the United States through family reunification, many others entered through different methods. The Immigration Control and Reform Act of 1986 and the Immigration Amendments of 1988 greatly increased the diversity of people allowed to enter the States at first, but the most recent statistics show that no diversity visas have been awarded in the last decade. In the previous two decades, only 142 Haitian immigrants used a diversity visa to enter New York City. About 0.6%, or 158, Haitian immigrants came over to America under employment preference visas and 4.4% under refugee and asylum visas. The other 7.6% was not specified because the Haitian population does not make up the top twenty of the other divisions. However, based on the graphs provided by The Newest New Yorkers, the other possibilities are Green card lotteries, illegal immigrants, and “other” methods of entry such as the Cuban Haitian Entrant Program (U.S.CIS). After the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, there was an obvious increase of asylum and refugee admissions, however, the main means of entry is still family reunification. Over the last decade even, there has been a 1.5 percent decrease in foreign-born Haitian immigrants, which stood in contrast to the overall foreign-born population trend. The flow of immigrants is also waning due to a drop in second preference visas, which are the most commonly used visa by the Haitian foreign-born. This decline may be related to the increase in employment and diversity visas from the 1990 Immigration Act as well as an increased use of intermediate relative visas. More recently, Haiti has fallen to 8th place from its spot as one of the dominant source countries, but in the 1980s and 90s, it was 5th largest on the top 10 list of source nations with 48,518 immigrants admitted from 1982 to 1991(The Newest New Yorkers 2013). Overall, the data shows that there has been a general decrease of Haitian immigrants. The most popular visas, immediate relative visas, have decreased in use by 19% citywide. If refugee and “other” visas were not granted, the total number of Haitian immigrants would have decreased even more drastically.

Haitians in America Today                                                                                                         The greatest concentrations of Haitian immigrants are found in New York City, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Boston. However, until 1977, Brooklyn was the heart of the Haitian American people. Between 1977 and 1981, 60,00 Haitian boat people landed in South Florida. As they set up their community with mom-and-pop businesses and their lively culture, South Florida is now known as “Little Haiti.” Still, Brooklyn is the heart of the Haitian American people and you can hear typical Haitian music in the streets. According to NYC Department of City Planning, as of 2011 the majority of Haitians lived in Brooklyn and Queens. 65% of the Haitian population lived in Brooklyn and 27% of the Haitian population lives in Queens. The highly populated Haitian-Queens community includes Queens Village and Springfield Gardens-Brookville. The densest neighborhoods of Brooklyn include Flatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate, East Flatbush-Farragut, Crown Heights, and Rugby-Rumsen Village. (This information is represented in the graph below.) Since 2000, however, these Brooklyn neighborhoods experienced a drop in the Haitian population by 15% or more. Simultaneously parts of eastern Brooklyn like Canarsie and Flatlands experienced gains of 20% or more. Initially, Haitians grew in these neighborhoods but as the renter occupancy began to increase rates, the population moved to the eastern parts of Brooklyn.

Why NYC?
While the majority of Haitian immigrants choose to settle in Brooklyn and Queens, as mentioned, the two most concentrated neighborhoods for Haitians are both in Brooklyn, in Flatbush and Canarsie. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the period of 2007 to 2011, the percentage of Haitian immigrants living in the Flatbush and Canarsie neighborhoods make up about 10.8% and 9.8%, respectively, of the total number of Haitian immigrants residing in New York City. This information is represented in the graph to the right. In his book American Odyssey: Haitians in New York City, Michel S. Laguerre closely examines the Haitian community within the Brooklyn neighborhoods. According to Laguerre, the especially concentrated Haitian neighborhoods in the borough are made distinct by businesses are created and developed by Haitians to attract a Haitian clientele. It is not unusual to see buildings full of Haitian immigrants in Haitian-concentrated neighborhoods, as members of the community are usually informed about vacancies in such buildings, and some Haitians are also building owners or superintendents. The creation of such ethnic enclaves by the Haitian communities helps them maintain their cultural and family traditions, and such niches can be seen throughout all the immigrant neighborhoods of New York City and act as a means of adaptation and transition. Religion also plays a major role in the formation of Haitian neighborhoods. As stated in the CIA World Factbook, 80 percent of Haitians are Roman Catholic. The Catholic churches in Brooklyn serve as a means of union among Haitians, and many Haitians choose to live within walking distance of a Catholic church. Easy access to hospitals and public transport is also another reason why Haitians choose to reside in Brooklyn (Laguerre 52). Haitian people identify strongly with their community and are often at the center of events, like the West Indian Day parade below, in which we see the vivacity of the Haitian culture and people.

The Newest New Yorkers’ census data indicates that for every 100 Haitian women that move to New York, only 79 men immigrate. This can be combined with the Migration Policy Institute’s data about the origins of the occupants of jobs in specific areas of the labor force to draw some interesting conclusions. Forty-one percent of Haitian immigrants in the civilian labor force hold service occupations, which is much higher than the all-immigrants average of 25%. Their numbers for other professions are close to the all-immigrants average for sales, office, production, and transportation occupations, but significantly differ again in two more areas. They hold only 22% of management and business jobs, compared to 30% for all immigrants, and only 5% of construction and maintenance jobs, compared to 13%. The fact that Haitian immigrants are mostly older women might explain why they do not hold many jobs in construction and maintenance. Their propensity for service and lack of management occupations, however, may be due to the fact that those born in Haiti were among the least likely of Caribbean-born immigrants to report having completed a high school education and least likely to speak English “very well” (MPI). These trends do not show Haitian immigrants as being very successful at integration, as many end up in low-paying jobs, unable to communicate well with other Americans due to language difficulties. Interestingly, a higher percentage of the Mexican immigrant population is not English-proficient and has not completed high school when compared to the Haitian immigrant population’s percentages. The percentage of the Mexican immigrant population that works in service is also higher than the Haitian one, perhaps validating this speculation. Below is the story of a Haitian woman, Ifonia, finding her way through difficulties of American culture.