{"id":460045,"date":"2026-09-11T02:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460045\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T02:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:28:19","slug":"haitian-community-speaks-out-following-recent-ice-arrests-in-san-diego-and-across-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460045\/","title":{"rendered":"Haitian community speaks out following recent ICE arrests in San Diego and across the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just days after U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a Haitian student near San Diego City College<\/a>, the Haitian community made their voice heard through peaceful protest Thursday.<\/p>\n

They were accompanied by dozens of people who support their cause, gathered outside the San Diego Immigration Court downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re sending a strong signal to ICE, DHS \u2014 hands off of our community,\u201d Wister Gaetan said.<\/p>\n

\"Wister<\/p>\n

Wister Gaetan and Wismick Saint-Jean speak with Willia Caillo outside the the San Diego Immigration Court downtown, Sep. 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s cofounder of Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit community organization which advocates for fair and humane immigration policies for those who need it.<\/p>\n

Gaetan said ever since a June Supreme Court ruling allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants, fear has washed over their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s terrifying, it is heartbreaking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

TPS allows people to live and work in the United States when conditions in their home country prevent them from returning.<\/p>\n

\u201cMothers are afraid to drop their kid at school, children cannot go to school, parents cannot leave their house to get basic necessities for their American children,\u201d Gaetan said.<\/p>\n

\"Willia<\/p>\n

Willia Caillo sits with her newborn in a car seat under a blanket outside the the San Diego Immigration Court downtown, Sep. 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

Willia Caillo is a mother of three; that includes a 3-week-old son.<\/p>\n

Her husband was arrested by ICE in City Heights when the baby was just a week old, back on Aug. 28. It left her alone with the children.<\/p>\n

She was at Thursday\u2019s rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the one who drives the car. But I don\u2019t have anyone to take me to buy things,\u201d she told KPBS in Spanish, with her newborn in her arms. \u201cI\u2019m scared, too. I just stay inside. I\u2019m not taking my son to his doctor\u2019s appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immigration attorney Wismick Saint-Jean said what\u2019s happening now by immigration enforcement is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone has asylum pending, when somebody comes here to seek asylum they cannot be deported until there is a final decision being made on their asylum cases by a judge,\u201d he said. \u201cSo to that extent Haitians who have TPS who have been detained, those detentions are illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Haitian<\/p>\n

Haitian community members and other locals supporting their efforts gathered outside the the San Diego Immigration Court downtown, Sep. 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

Saint-Jean said the Haitian community is being hunted down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I’m hoping will take place right now is ICE to put a foot on the break, put a pause on this mass arrestation being done in the Haitian community. I think it’s harmful what they’re doing,\u201d Saint-Jean said.<\/p>\n

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said that the Haitian student arrested near City College will have all his claims heard \u201cby an immigration judge, and he will receive due process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saint-Jean said \u201cIf due process is not reasonable, if it is insignificant, then it’s not due process at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wismick<\/p>\n

Wismick Saint-Jean speaks with other Haitian community members outside the the San Diego Immigration Court downtown, Sep. 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

Haiti remains under a Level 4 – Do not travel advisory<\/a> from the State Department due to the \u201crisk of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest, and limited health care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country has been under a national state of emergency since March 2024.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in San Diego, KPBS has previously reported<\/a> there are thousands of Haitians in limbo, after losing TPS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just days after U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a Haitian student near San Diego City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-460045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}