Republican attacks on Haitian immigrants in Ohio are echoing in Florida, where Democrats hope to mobilize the nation's largest electorate of Haitian Americans to close the gap in a tough statewide race. That's what I think.
That's all One-third of 1.1 million Haitian Americans More than half of the people living in Florida live in the three main counties in the southern part of the state: Palm Beach County, Broward County, and Miami-Dade County.
“We contribute so much to this country, and I think it's time for them to acknowledge our presence and our participation,” said Ronald Surin, president of the Haitian American Democratic Club of Broward County. .
Early last month, President Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), promoted a false conspiracy that Haitian immigrants in Ohio would eat dogs and cats, threatening Springfield and Haitians as a whole with national security. focused on. Surin said many Haitians in Florida are paying attention.
“We have recently been successful in motivating and persuading people, especially at the grassroots. [level]”To make people feel the need to not only register to vote, but to be ready and willing to go out and vote for the Democratic ticket,” Surin said.
No Democratic presidential candidate has won Florida since 2012, and Harris' chances of winning the state do not seem very high. The average poll from The Hill/Decision Desk shows Trump leading Harris by 4.7 points. A recent Siena College/New York Times poll found Trump with a 13-point lead.
Still, Rep. Sheila Chaffils McCormick (D-Fla.), who represents parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties and co-chairs the Congressional Haiti Caucus, said the remarks emboldened Vice President Harris. He said there was.
“At first I was angry at Trump and J.D. Vance, but then I walked away and said, 'Oh, you've made it personal,'” she said. said. “We're rallying and that's ultimately going to be the bottom line. No one needs to convince Haitians to vote for Camara. Trump did that.”
Chafferas McCormick and other members of the Haitian House of Representatives introduced a resolution last month condemning the Republican rhetoric.
“When I go to church and have a conversation with someone, [the Haitian community]you can see the anger on their faces. You can tell they want action,” she said.
President Trump's anti-Haitian comments date back to the beginning of his White House term. In 2017, he suggested that Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS.” He also called Haiti a “hole” country in 2018, along with El Salvador and some African countries.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Rep. Debbie Markcell Powell (D-Fla.), who is challenging Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), highlighted President Trump's comments.
“The former president has done nothing but attack, target and harass Haitian Americans in this country with hateful rhetoric,” she said at a rally in Miami last month. “It's about power. It's about dividing us. It's about diminishing us. We're not going back.”
Scott called the situation in Springfield “horrifying for the people who live there.” Interview with Breitbart News Network. Asked about the impact of President Trump's comments after a roundtable in Miami, Trump said Florida's Haitian community is full of “great leaders” and “great families,” before turning the topic to Biden.・Moved to Harris Border Crisis.
The Hill/DDHQ average has Scott leading Mucarsel-Powell by 3.7 points. A recent Siena College/New York Times poll found Scott with a 9-point lead.
Sharon Austin, a political science professor at the University of Florida, says the Haitian community's voting power has grown over the past two decades as more immigrants gain citizenship and start families. Austin said Haitians as a whole tend to lean Democratic, but are more likely to vote Republican than some other minority communities.
Haitian immigrants have deep roots in South Florida communities For over 50 years, They fled a poverty-stricken country and its dictatorial regime in the 1970s. Chantal Verna, a history professor at Florida International University, said that for decades, the politics of the Haitian community have been changed and shaped by U.S. policy toward Haiti.
“It’s important for people to realize that we haven’t always been a one-ticket community,” she says.
Verna said that in 2016, many Haitian Americans opposed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's appointment to the White House. Many Haitians viewed their voting decision as a vote against Clinton, not for Trump.
Ms. Clinton, along with her husband, former President Clinton, common among Haitian Americans The Clinton Foundation's major role at the time, along with Hillary's key support for disgraced former Haitian president Michel Martelly, is seen as complicit in the international community's largely ineffective recovery efforts after the 2010 earthquake.
But Democratic support grew in the years that followed, Austin said, as the Obama and Biden administrations supported expanding the status of temporarily protected immigrants and the DREAM Act.
Despite the uphill climb, some Democrats see an opportunity for Democrats to win in Florida, especially on abortion rights on this year's ballot.
Dayna Escarment, vice chair of the Miami-Dade County Haitian Democratic Caucus, said Democrats' switch to Harris as their presidential nominee in July brought a new wave of motivation.
Escarment, the daughter of Haitian immigrants and a small business owner in a large immigrant community, said hateful speech is nothing new, but hearing it from a presidential candidate is different.
“My heart is with the people. This election means everything to me. How we vote will determine how everything goes in this small community,” she said. “This rhetoric has woken everyone up.”
