Hochul visits Caribbean community in Brooklyn, backs TPS for Haitians

In a special visit to the Caribbean community in Brooklyn on Thursday, July 30, Gov. Kathy Hochul reaffirmed her support for Haitians whose Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been terminated by the Trump administration.

The governor, accompanied by running mate, former New York City Speaker Adrienne Adams, described as a “tragedy” the US Supreme Court’s concurrence with the administration to end TPS for nearly 350,000 Haitians living in the United States.

“I will continue to stand up to the cruelty the Trump administration is taking,” Hochul told Caribbean Life exclusively at her first stop at Allan’s Bakery on Nostrand Avenue and Maple Street in Brooklyn, urging Haitian nationals: “Don’t give up hope. Our country is better than this.”

When asked about the feedback she has been receiving from the Haitian community since the termination of TPS, Hochul, who was also flanked by the Haitian-born representative for the 40th Council District in Brooklyn, Council Member Rita Joseph, said: “People are scared. They don’t know what to do.”

The governor, who also visited Hello Bar across the street from Allan’s Bakery — where she spoke with patrons — noted that she has passed legislation to rein in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in New York. 

Last week, Hochul launched the Office of Immigrant Trust (OIT) aimed at preventing collusion with federal immigration enforcement, such as ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). 

In making the announcement, Hochul and New York State Attorney General Letitia James said that OIT will be charged with investigating potential unlawful collusion by State and local government employees with federal immigration enforcement.

The governor and James also sent letters to the 12 local law enforcement agencies in New York that currently have 287(g) agreements with ICE, informing them that state law requires they unwind the agreements by Aug. 25.

“Nobody is above the law,” Hochul said. “In New York, we will not tolerate the diversion of local resources for federal civil immigration enforcement at the expense of public safety.”

She added: “That is why we passed a commonsense set of laws standing up against federal overreach and ensuring that local law enforcement is not deputized by the highest funded law enforcement agency in the country. My top priority is keeping New Yorkers safe. Ensuring our law enforcement remains focused on local crimes is essential to protecting our communities and maintaining public safety.”

Hochul and James said the new OIT is a first-of-its-kind statewide bureau within the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

Created as part of a legislative package championed and signed by Hochul on May 27, 2026, James said that OIT is “dedicated to enforcing New York laws that protect immigrant communities, strengthen public trust, and limit the use of state and local resources for federal civil immigration enforcement.”

As part of its duties, she said OIT will receive complaints, provide guidance to state and local agencies, conduct investigations, and take legal action when necessary to ensure compliance with state law.

“New York is strongest when every community is able to trust the institutions meant to serve them,” said Attorney General James. “The Office of Immigrant Trust will help ensure that schools, local governments, and public agencies remain places of safety and support, rather than agents of the federal administration’s campaign of fear and intimidation.

The letters notified the 12 local New York law enforcement agencies with existing 287(g) agreements that New York law now prohibits local governments and law enforcement agencies from participating in any formal or informal 287(g) agreement and using correctional facilities, juvenile detention facilities, and facilities for youth to house federal civil immigration detainees. 

Under the new state law, James said existing 287(g) agreements must be terminated by Aug. 25, 2026.

She said Section 287(g) agreements allowed local officers or employees to engage in or assist with federal civil immigration enforcement or otherwise perform the functions of federal immigration officers, “eroding trust between immigrant communities and local institutions, and making residents less likely to report crimes, seek help, or cooperate with law enforcement.”

James said the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act prohibits local governments and law enforcement agencies from entering into 287(g) agreements or similar arrangements that use local resources to detain people for federal immigration violations.

“This provision ensures that New York’s local law enforcement resources are directed toward local public safety priorities, rather than the federal government’s mass deportation agenda,” she said.

Through OIT, the attorney general said she will ensure that municipalities comply with New York law, and that “state and local institutions remain focused on protecting and serving New Yorkers.”

James said OIT was established as part of a package of state laws designed to limit state and local involvement in federal civil immigration enforcement, safeguard local resources and public safety, and protect immigrant communities across New York.

She said these laws restrict the use of state and local resources for civil immigration enforcement; limit sharing certain sensitive information with federal immigration authorities; implement new protections for students and families in schools; and ban local governments and law enforcement agencies from having or entering into agreements for civil immigration enforcement with ICE under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

James said the OIT is part of OAG’s Social Justice Division, and is authorized to investigate complaints and potential violations involving state and local entities, officers, employees, contractors, and schools. She said the OIT may issue subpoenas, interview witnesses, review records, and bring civil actions for potential violations when warranted.

In addition, the attorney general said the OIT will develop guidance and training recommendations to help state and local governments protect sensitive information from improper immigration enforcement consistent with applicable law.

“New Yorkers who witness federal enforcement actions anywhere in the state should report them to OAG through the federal action portal,” James urged.

In welcoming the establishment of OIT, Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), told Caribbean Life that “New York State is not in the business of doing ICE’s dirty work.”

NYIC is an umbrella policy and advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York.

“New Yorkers should have full confidence that State and local agencies are fully implementing recently enacted laws that limit collaboration with ICE and Border Patrol, and expand data protections in interactions with government agencies,” Awawdeh said. “The Office of Immigrant Trust, under the authority of the New York State Attorney General, will play a vital role in ensuring compliance with these laws, particularly in ensuring all local jurisdictions terminate all 287(g) agreements and that New Yorkers are not held in local jails for alleged immigration violations.

With Haitians increasingly under siege by the Trump administration, Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke said she’s standing firm with her “Haitian neighbors.”  

“As TPS for Haiti reaches its premature end and the latest chapter in Donald Trump’s cruel crusade against immigrant Americans begins, I stand with the nearly 350,000 Haitian nationals across the United States who we have come to call our friends, neighbors, and loved ones,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who co-chairs the US House of Representatives’ Haiti Caucus and Caribbean Caucus, told Caribbean Life.

“Since the instant they first joined our communities, Haitian TPS holders have asked only how they might contribute to them,” added Clarke, representative for the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Last week, James joined a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in urging the US Congress to extend TPS for Haitians.

The attorneys general also urged Congress to pass legislation to allow for judicial oversight of TPS decisions “to ensure TPS holders are not subject to illegal deportations.”

In June, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could move forward with stripping TPS from hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants.

The attorneys general said the decision threatens the nearly 350,000 Haitians who have spent years living, working and raising their families in the US, particularly in New York, which is home to one of the nation’s largest Haitian communities.

They said the Supreme Court’s decision also makes it “significantly more difficult to challenge TPS terminations in court, threatening these protections for other vulnerable immigrants nationwide.”

In a letter to Congressional leadership, the coalition urge Congress to pass legislation requiring judicial oversight of TPS decisions and extending TPS for Haitian immigrants who are facing deportation.

Attorney General James and the coalition also argue that preventing courts from reviewing legal challenges to sudden terminations of TPS threatens abuses of power.

They urge Congress to pass legislation that allows judicial oversight and pathways to legal residency for TPS holders.

“Judicial oversight would provide a needed check on the executive branch and ensure that TPS holders are not subject to illegal deportations,” James and the coalition say.

Joining James in sending this letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. 

US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, on July 23, urged Senate Republicans to “stand up to Trump’s vilification of Haitians,” demanding that they protect TPS for roughly 350,000 Haitians living in the US.

Schumer said he had heard warnings that if Trump expels Haitian TPS holders, it will strain the US health system and create a gap in the caregiving workforce that will be difficult to fill.

The San Diego, CA-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) also said it was “an S.O.S. moment for the Haitian community.”

“As our community faces widespread uncertainty and fear, we urgently need your help,” said HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef, noting that, on June 25, 2026, the US Supreme Court agreed with US President Donald J. Trump in allowing the termination TPS for Haiti to proceed, “placing approximately 350,000 Haitian TPS holders at risk of losing their work authorization, protection from deportation, and the lives they have built in the United States.