Two Haitian nonprofits among targets of Congressional immigrant influx probe | Breaking News

Two Congressional Republicans have launched an investigation of 200 nonprofit organizations, including Haitian Americans United for Progress (HAUP) and Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), saying the groups known for assisting immigrants helped spur ‘illegal immigration’ during the Biden administration. Catholic Charities, a longtime provider of immigrant services, is also named among those listed in the oversight inquiry.

New York-based HAUP received the formal letter requesting cooperation with the investigation on Wednesday, June 11, stunning executive director Elsie Saint Louis.

“This letter is from left field,” Saint Louis, who leads the 50-year-old organization, told The Haitian Times. “With the lay of the land now and the temperature of this administration, seeing your name on a formal communication, slightly alluding to something illegal is scary. It has been very unsettling.”

Indeed, a flurry of efforts to carry out the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts have been underway in immigrant communities across the country, triggering widespread fear and protests. Ever since the Supreme Court decided not to hear a legal challenge to Trump revoking humanitarian paroleTrump revoking humanitarian parole for 500,000 people, masked ICE agents have ratched up arrests by detaining immigrants at courthouses and raiding workplaces. According to the New York Times, their goal is to meet a reported quota of 3,000 arrests daily and 1 million deportations this year.

In the Haitian community, every day brings word of ICE approaching immigrants at bus stops heading to work and workers opting not to venture outside. Families are also grieving the loss of jobs at corporations such as Amazon, Walmart and Kroger that had hired thousands of immigrants granted TPS.

The Congressional Republican investigation marks yet another new salvo against immigrants and nonprofit groups, some of which had already feared their nonprofit status might be revoked for providing guidance and support to newcomers.

Border crisis support scrutinized 

The letter dated June 10 came from Representatives Chairmen Mark Green and Josh Brecheen, who chair the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability, respectively. The pair said they launched their broad investigation into the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to review the groups’ use of funds during the border crisis in 2021 through January 2025. They cited previous reports by their committees of federal agencies coordinating with non-government groups to help migrants with transportation, clothing, housing and legal services.

“​​The Biden Administration’s reliance on NGOs therefore created a pull factor by signaling to those who arrived illegally or without proper documentation that they could expect such assistance, all expensed to American taxpayers, once they arrived in the United States,” the letter reads.

Saint Louis said the funds HAUP received came from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) through a proposal process to provide legal consultation and ESL classes. She emphasized these activities were not considered illegal at the time, but part of the government’s integration process for new migrants to assimilate.

“I don’t really understand how we would facilitate immigrants,” she reflected. “The fight and the argument has always been for a fair and clear pathway to legalization, to lessen the risks and lessen the threats so that people are not under the radar, so we know exactly who we have and how to protect them, how to protect ourselves.”

Human toll persistent, but ignored 

She elaborated that the architects of these policies and inquiries are causing more “human collateral damage” than they realize, including infringing on the rights of the country’s citizens.

“We’re Americans too,” Saint Louis said. “All of a sudden, that [they’re] criminalizing all of us is beyond insane.”

Adding that HAUP already faces financial strain from late government contracts and resources, Saint Louis said this investigation may cause funders to hesitate for fear of retaliation. She plans to seek legal counsel and to partner with other organizations to take collective action. In the meantime, she hopes the Haitian community will support these organizations facing this “global attack on Haitian nationals.”

Another longtime activist, who chose to stay anonymous due to retaliation concerns, said that although the investigation is scary, it will likely not yield anything beyond causing fear.

“They’ll just do anything to keep you quiet,” the activist said.

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