By Susan Sherrell and Dave Welsh
February 13, 2026

San Francisco

On Feb. 2, 100 people rallied in front of the San Francisco Immigration Court at 100 Montgomery St. to protest the planned deportation of up to 340,000 Haitians. Their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — designed to protect people from dangerous conditions if they return to their home countries — was due to expire on Feb. 3. Fortunately, a federal court issued a last-minute stay in implementing the order, at least for now.

Pierre Labossiere, co-founder of the Haiti Action Committee (HAC), explained that “In Haiti it’s hell right now,” ever since the 2004 U.S.-sponsored coup d’etat and kidnapping of the overwhelmingly elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide. He said,“To deport these migrants and refugees back to Haiti now would be a crime.”

Judith Mirkinson, from the National Lawyers Guild and HAC, said: “We are a country built by immigrants and refugees. The U.S. creates conditions that produce migrants from countries like Haiti. It was a good sign when thousands of students walked out of American schools on January 31 — not just against ICE but also against U.S. imperialism. You can’t go into a country and say, ‘Your resources are mine now.’ But this is what the U.S. is blatantly doing in Venezuela and threatening in Greenland and Canada.”

Mirkinson called attention to the recent violent ICE raids in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Portland, saying, “How dare they bring the Gestapo into our streets!”
Palestinian activist Monadel Herzallah pointed out the connection between U.S. aid to Israel and the fact that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in this country are training with the Israeli military in techniques of intimidation.

Cuba solidarity worker Vicki Legion denounced U.S. sanctions on countries exporting oil to Cuba, for example, by trying to shut off oil shipments to Cuba from Mexico. The resulting power outages in Cuba mean that many children’s medicines cannot be refrigerated.

HAC veteran Robert Roth said that after the 2010 earthquake, many Haitian migrants came to the U.S. escaping the proliferation of private death squads. So it is understandable that these Haitians don’t want to be deported back into that life-threatening situation.