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Queens leaders rally in solidarity with immigrant communities amid TPS rollbacks

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A group of local immigrant and advocacy organizations held an immigrant rally at Queens Borough Hall on Monday, July 28.
Photo by Athena Dawson.

Multiple community organizations and leaders gathered at Queens Borough Hall on Monday, July 28, for an immigrant solidarity rally. 

The rally, which united organizers of various backgrounds, was in response to the Trump Administration’s rescinding of Temporary Protected Status from individuals of numerous nations who are legally in the United States within recent months. 

 Organizers included representatives from Queens Community Boards 1, 2, 6 and 8, Voces Latinas, the Minority Empowerment Network, New York Immigration Coalition, Make the Road NY, DSI International and the Jewish Community Relations Council.

The current presidential administration has reversed the TPS for immigrants of various nations, including Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Afghanistan and Cameroon, leaving many of these individuals in limbo as they wait for the legal decisions regarding their status in the United States to take effect. 

Organizers also spoke about the impact increased ICE activity has had in their neighborhoods across the borough. 

“Trump’s cruel immigration policies are not actually about national security. They’re not about protecting those who live in the U.S. from criminals; these policies, such as the rescinding of TPS, are and have always been rooted in racism, the fear of the other, and white supremacy,” said Vanessa Ordonez, the borough president’s director of immigration affairs. 

During the rally, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said that for many of his constituents, there is an air of fear surrounding ICE’s presence at public events. 

Richards said at the Colombian Day parade the day prior, there was a noticeably smaller crowd that he believes was tied to heightened ICE activity.

“When we think of the turnout last year last year [it was] thousands of people, this year we saw less people at that parade. We believe it has to do a lot with people going into hiding, and really, people are fearful that ICE is dragging them off the street. We see people being kidnapped,” he said. 

QBP Donovan Richards spoke during the immigrant rally. Photo by Athena Dawson

Richards said Queens’ message to president Trump is ‘we’re not going  anywhere,’

“They see communities like ours in Queens and fear what we’re all about…but what they really hate is that we don’t share their hate, they hate that we are living proof that their theories and conspiracies about immigrants are straight ‘B.S.,'” he said. 

He also reassured residents that Queens will always be a place that is welcoming of immigrants.

“This is still the place where people from all over the world can come and live the American Dream. This will always be the place where immigrants are welcomed with open arms, not closed fists,” Richards said. “Queens stands with our immigrant communities no matter what.”

Emmlynn Taylor is a Haitian-American immigrant who’s lived in the U.S. for nearly 50 years and became a citizen in 2010. Taylor was able to send for her niece and nephew, who live in Haiti, to come to the U.S. in April of 2024. Taylor said that before the current administration’s cancellation of the program, they should have been under legal parole until 2026.

“We applied, we waited, we paid thousands of dollars for airfare. They came and they were supposed to have two years of peace, two years not to worry, but that was taken away from them”, she said.

Taylor said that due to the cancellation of the parole program, her family members essentially have no status. “They lost their parole program, they lost their work permits, so they can’t work. Now them and millions of others are trying to figure out what the next [steps look like.]

Taylor said Haiti is an unsafe place for her family members to return to. 

“What’s hard is they’ve gotten a taste of normality. Back home in Haiti, they don’t have lights all the time, running water all the time… they didn’t always have a means to work. Both of them graduated from college back there… It’s very hard,” she said. 

Emmlynn Taylor(left) spoke about the experience her family members have had within their TPS.Photo by Athena Dawson

Taylor said she is trying to figure out the next steps for her family members and relies on her faith.

“We do not want them to stay here illegally because of this administration and how they’re doing things. That’s why this was not a protest it was more a prayer vigil, letting the immigrant community know the government might say they don’t want you, the government might say you don’t belong here, but that’s not all of us. We are saying you belong, we want you here,” she said.

Marie Adam-Ovide, CB 8 district manager, is a Haitian-American immigrant who shared that the political uncertainty she fled in her home nation is becoming a current reality for her in the United States. Adam-Ovide became a U.S. citizen 30 years ago while attending university, saying that for the first  14 years of her life, she was living in Haiti under a dictatorship.

Photo by Athena Dawson

“It saddens me that I no longer recognize the country that I now call my own, that I decided that I now wanted to be apart of because of the rules of law. Unfortunately, this administration is not heading in the right direction. It is attacking migrants, green card holders, naturalized citizens, and even the American-born,”  she said.

Adam-Ovide said that in response to these “attacks,” citizens cannot be silent. 

“These people that are being mistreated, they are human beings. Before being a Haitian, before being a Cuban, a Nicaraguan… we are humans first. When you look at each other, we should see each other’s humanity, and we are losing that day by day. Let’s stand together against tyranny,” she said. 

Photo by Athena Dawson

Namreata Rimal, a TPS holder, has spent the last 20 years living in the United States. The former business owner shared her fears regarding the president’s rescission of TPS status for her and millions of others. “I am a TPS holder. After I got TPS, I started my business in Texas. I live 20 years, with my community, I pay taxes.  We deserve dignity, we deserve protection, and we deserve justice. Due to this administration, people are living in fear. People are stuck with no time to address our status. We need TPS, we need to organize, and we need to stand strong,” she said.