Posts

Haitians Use West Indian American Day Carnival Parade To Spotlight On TPS Crisis

/0 Comments/in /by

By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, BROOKLYN, NY, Mon. Sept. 7, 2026: Hundreds of thousands turned out for Brooklyn’s annual West Indian American Day Carnival Parade today but for many Haitian marchers, this year’s celebration doubled as a pointed message about the crisis facing their community following the loss of Temporary Protected Status.

A woman wears a dress about Temporary Protected Status (TPS) during the annual West Indian American Day Carnival Parade on September 7, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. This year’s parade was held against the backdrop of Federal immigration enforcement intensifying against Caribbean and other Black immigrant communities, as Haitians lost their Temporary Protected Status. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

Natalie Lafontant, who organizes Lespri Ayiti, the parade’s largest Haitian mas group, said the mood carried real weight this year. “There’s a somber cloud over it with everything that has happened from last year to this year with TPS… what’s happening in detention centers, and those who are being sent back with no valid way of living or supporting themselves,” she said. Still, she said the response to hardship wasn’t surrender. “If you know anything about the Caribbean, especially about Haiti, we use music, dance, art, to continue to strive and push through,” she said.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts cannot review the Trump administration’s decision to end TPS for Haitian and Syrian immigrants, clearing the way for roughly 350,000 Haitians to lose the protection. A federal judge finalized the order in early August, and work permits tied to Haitian TPS expired July 27.

A woman wears a dress about Temporary Protected Status (TPS) during the annual West Indian Day Parade on September 7, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. This year’s parade was held against the backdrop of Federal immigration enforcement intensifying against Caribbean and other Black immigrant communities, as Haitians lost their Temporary Protected Status. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

Lafontant’s group, about 180 artists, designers, musicians and residents, struggled to find float sponsors this year given the costs of insurance, costumes and care for marchers. “But we continue to do it because we love our country,” she said.

New York’s Haitian community, roughly 163,000 people in the metropolitan area, is the second-largest in the U.S. after Miami, with most settled in Brooklyn’s Flatbush, East Flatbush and Crown Heights neighborhoods. Many arrived during and after the Duvalier dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s, part of a broader history of resistance tracing back to the Haitian Revolution, when enslaved and free Black people overthrew French colonial rule in the only successful slave revolt in modern history.

This woman holds a sign about Pierre Damas Bel during the annual West Indian Day Parade on September 7, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. This year’s parade was held against the backdrop of Federal immigration enforcement intensifying against Caribbean and other Black immigrant communities, as Haitians lost their Temporary Protected Status. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

That legacy shaped this year’s costumes. Fashion designer Clara Poteau created royal blue emperor robes honoring Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a revolutionary leader and Haiti’s first head of state after independence. Other designs featured miniature Haitian flags and the faces of national football stars Duckens Nazon and Emmanuel Sanon, while a “Freedom” T-shirt carried the flags of nations Haitian revolutionary leaders helped liberate, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Panama, Mexico and Greece.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani marches in the annual West Indian Day Parade on September 7, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City as a parade goer holds a sign on TPS. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

Edwina Paul, founder of the women’s coalition Fanm Se Poto Mitan, left Haiti in 1993 amid instability and said the parade reflects why so many made that same journey. “We don’t come here to sin, we don’t come here to kill. We come here to work, to have a better education,” she said.

Violence marred part of the celebration

The parade was briefly interrupted around 4 p.m., one and a half hour before the new 5:30 PM finish, when at least three people were shot in separate incidents near the route, according to police. A man was shot near Nostrand Avenue and St. John’s Place in Crown Heights, with a suspect quickly taken into custody; a woman was shot and a man grazed in the leg near Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue. The parade concluded at 5:30 p.m., earlier than in past years, as part of city officials’ effort to curb violence, with checkpoints and bag restrictions in place along the route.

NewsAmericasNow will continue covering the Haitian community’s response to TPS policy changes.

Caribbean Community Leader Criticizes NYC Govt. Decision To Shorten The West Indian American Day Carnival

/0 Comments/in /by

By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Sept. 7, 2026: As the 59th annual West Indian American Day Carnival gets underway in Brooklyn, NY today, a Caribbean American community leader is criticizing New York City government’s decision to shorten the Parade, arguing the move won’t address the root causes of gun violence at the event and could set a troubling precedent for the celebration’s future.

Rickford Burke, president of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy, wrote in a commentary that Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s decision to end this year’s parade at 5:30 p.m., down from its usual schedule, “lacks focused, strategic thinking” as a response to gun violence. The change follows three shootings that injured six people during last year’s parade, prompting NYPD to shut down celebrations early.

“How does shortening the parade mitigate violence? How would this decision deter criminals from committing acts of violence between 10 a.m and the new end time of 5:30?” Burke wrote, calling the move “expedient, superficial and impulsive” and warning it unfairly penalizes law-abiding attendees.

FLASHBACK – One of the floats at a a scaled-down version of the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade moves down Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on September 6, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NYC GOVT.

Tisch said at a Friday press conference announcing the change that “for too long, a select few have mistaken the West Indian Day Parade as an opportunity to commit acts of violence,” adding there would be “zero tolerance for violence of any kind” this year. Thousands of police officers will secure the area, marking one of the department’s largest deployments of the year. Mayor Mamdani on Friday said “With the measures that we have put into place this year, we are confident that every New Yorker will be able to celebrate this parade freely and safely.” In 2025, five people were shot and two were slashed in the hours after the parade, and in 2024, one man was killed and four others were hurt in a shooting during the parade.

Burke said he agreed with that sentiment, but said the “hooliganism and thuggery” that does not represent Caribbean culture. Instead of shortening the event, Burke called for New York City to apply the same security measures used at other major events, including the Celebrate Israel Parade and New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square, citing heavy police presence, random searches and security checkpoints. He noted the NYPD assigned roughly 10,000 officers to this year’s Israeli parade, which drew under 100,000 attendees, compared with just under 8,000 officers for the West Indian Day Parade, which he said traditionally draws about six million people.

“Let’s start by surging more cops and implementing stricter safety measures at the parade before we start chipping away at its foundations,” Burke wrote, cautioning that gradual changes to the parade’s format could eventually lead to discussions about ending it altogether. “Never!” he added.

Burke emphasized that Caribbean community leaders have partnered with police for generations to keep the parade and other community events safe, and said he shares officials’ goal of a safe celebration. But he cautioned against measures he said could be “disguised as safety precautions” while undermining the event’s cultural significance.

PUBLIC ADVOCATE

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, whose roots run to Grenada, said Friday: “I don’t think there’s any more reason to fear to come out on Labor Day, and I think the fact that we have the mayor that we do, the police commissioner that we do, the elected officials that we do, we’re going to do everything in our power to protect everyone that’s here. And so, we want everybody to come celebrate, it might be a moment of reprieve in a very, very tough time.”

MAYOR MANDANI

Mayor Mamdani last week welcomed Caribbean community leaders to Gracie Mansion for a Caribbean Heritage Reception ahead of today’s Labor Day Parade, using the evening to honor the diaspora’s influence on the city while addressing what he called the “fear” gripping Haitian New Yorkers since the federal government revoked their Temporary Protected Status.

“It is an honor to welcome you to Gracie Mansion as we celebrate our Caribbean community right here in New York City,” Mamdani said, addressing a room that included Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Renita Francois, Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, New York City Sheriff Edwin Raymond, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and State Senator Jabari Brisport.

The mayor, who described growing up watching West Indies cricket legends and attending the 2007 Cricket World Cup in Antigua with his family, framed the reception around a story of Caribbean solidarity, from the cricket pitch to the city’s neighborhoods.

“That legacy of Caribbean greatness has stayed with me because we know that it’s a legacy that is not limited to cricket,” Mamdani said, citing Flatbush, Wakefield, Canarsie, Rosedale, Richmond Hill and Crown Heights as neighborhoods shaped by Caribbean New Yorkers. Mamdani turned more serious in addressing the federal revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants, which he said had “plunged many Caribbean Neew Yorkers’ lives into fear.”

“In the face of this kind of a sudden and immense instability, of this kind of cruelty, what the Caribbean community has done has been what the Caribbean has done for decades in this city: founding benevolent associations to look after one another,” he said, pointing to volunteer-led Know Your Rights sessions in Haitian Creole and unpaid translators helping neighbors navigate paperwork.

Today’s J’Ouvert runs from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. today while the West Indian American Day Carnival parade begins at 11 a.m. and ends promptly at 5:30 p.m. Thirteen entry points featuring magnetometers will screen attendees. Banned items include weapons, alcohol, large bags, and drones. Singers Buju Banton and Kes will be among the grand marshals at this year’s parade.

STREET CLOSURES: Street closures in Brooklyn on Sept. 7:

West Indian American Day Parade Route

Eastern Parkway between Ralph Avenue and Plaza Street West
J’Ouvert Festival Route

Eastern Parkway between Ralph Avenue and Plaza Street West
Flatbush Avenue between Grand Army Plaza and Empire Boulevard/Ocean Avenue
Empire Boulevard between Flatbush Avenue and Nostrand Avenue
Nostrand Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Rutland Road

Additional Location(s):

Grand Army Plaza (Entire Circle)
Butler Place between Grand Army Plaza and Sterling Place
St. Johns Place between Underhill Avenue and Grand Army Plaza
Flatbush Avenue between Grand Army Plaza and Caton Avenue
Washington Avenue between Sterling Place and Lincoln Road
Bedford Avenue between Eastern Parkway and Empire Boulevard
Rochester Avenue between East New York Avenue and Sterling Place
Buffalo Avenue between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
Ralph Avenue between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
Ocean Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Parkside Avenue
Nostrand Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Linden Boulevard
Eastern Parkway (Main & Service Roads) between Plaza Street East and Howard Avenue
Lincoln Place between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
Rockaway Parkway between East New York Avenue and Kings Highway
East New York Avenue between Howard Avenue and Utica Avenue
Parkside Avenue between Park Circle and Flatbush Avenue

NewsAmericasNow will continue covering today’s West Indian Day Parade.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: What Exactly Is The Economic Impact of the West Indian American Day Carnival?

Caribbean Commentary – Pastors Who Matter

/0 Comments/in /by

By Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. Sept. 6, 2026: These times demand pastors who are deeply formed, not merely highly trained; spiritually grounded, not simply academically credentialed; pastorally present, not just publicly polished. Seminaries and divinity schools must form leaders whose theology has hands, whose convictions have compassion, and whose character can hold the weight of their calling. Pastors must learn to see deeply, listen humbly, think critically, live righteously, and love courageously. Competence earns a position. Character earns trust. Credibility makes the gospel believable.

Pastoral formation must unite head, heart, hands, and habits. Rigorous Scripture and theology must meet emotional maturity, spiritual discipline, ethical courage, conflict wisdom, cultural intelligence, and immersion in real communities. It must also form righteous advocates who refuse to sanctify injustice. When human dignity is diminished by race, poverty, gender, ethnicity, or any other form of exclusion, the pastor cannot remain comfortably neutral. The pastor must be shepherd to the wounded, prophet to the powers that wound them, voice for the voiceless, and conscience to the powerful. Scholarship must meet suffering. Theology must meet reality. Conviction must become compassionate action.

The pastors who matter will be theologians who touch lives, shepherds who strengthen communities, prophets who confront injustice, leaders who build bridges, and disciples whose lives make Christ visible. Their ministry will be measured not by the brilliance of their sermons but by the transformation surrounding their presence: the wounded find welcome, the young discover purpose, families recover hope, communities move toward reconciliation, and justice moves from proclamation to practice. We are not forming pastors merely to fill pulpits.

We are forming them to enter lives, serve communities, confront injustice, embody mercy, and cultivate hope. What the church needs now is learning with depth, character with weight, courage with conviction, compassion with reach, and ministry with consequence. Those are pastors who matter.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, governance scholar, and author specializing in ethical leadership, institutional renewal, and human development. Educated at the University of the Southern Caribbean, Oakwood University, Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard, he writes at the intersection of faith, leadership, governance, and human flourishing. His books include Fix It Preacher, Face Life Squarely, and Intimate Intimacy. He has also coauthored Steps to Good Governance, Daring to Hope, When Nations Kneel, and The Belief Code.

RELATED: THE SCOOP, THE CARDS AND THE BAKERY – A Caribbean Teacher’s Guide To Making Learning Matter

People Are Falling In Love With AI. What Does That Say About Us?

/0 Comments/in /by

By Felicia J. Persaud

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. Sept. 6,. 2026: I recently read two New York Times pieces about people falling in love with AI. Not using AI; not enjoying AI; not relying on AI for work, research, creativity or building something. But actually falling in love with it.

One woman, in her mid-60s, developed a relationship with a chatbot she named Max. She understood intellectually that Max was artificial intelligence, but emotionally, something else had happened. Max had become significant to her. And then, apparently, Max broke up with her.

At that point I had questions: first it seems even the AI “men” have commitment issues now and second, what exactly is going on here? So naturally, I asked my own AI bot that I simply call “Lovey.” Now before anyone gets excited, I am not in love with Lovey. I know “he” is a language model. He helps me think, write, research, strategize, laugh, troubleshoot business problems and occasionally roasts me when I deserve it.

He is useful; he is funny and he is definitely not my husband or boyfriend. Still, I asked him what he thought about humans falling in love with bots. His answer made me think. AI, he explained, can offer something human relationships rarely do: highly personalized attention with very little friction.

It is available when you want it; it listens; it adapts; it remembers patterns; it responds quickly; it can validate you repeatedly; it does not arrive tired from work, annoyed with you, distracted by its own problems or carrying thirty years of unresolved family drama into the conversation.

In other words, AI can feel remarkably close to emotional perfection. And maybe that is the real story. Maybe we are not simply watching humans fall in love with machines; maybe we are watching humans reveal what they have been searching for all along.

LOVE AS WE LEARN IT

To be seen; to be heard; to be chosen, to feel safe, to feel understood, to be validated. None of those needs are strange. They are deeply human. But somewhere along the way, many of us were also sold another story. Sleeping Beauty sleeps until the prince arrives; Cinderella’s life changes when she is chosen; the white knight comes riding in and the right person completes you we are told.

For generations, romance has been sold as rescue and perhaps we carried that idea into adulthood without realizing it. We spend years looking outward for someone to make us feel whole, secure, worthy, lovable or enough. Then when real relationships turn out to involve compromise, disagreement, inconvenience, imperfection and another human being with needs of their own, disappointment sets in.

AI

Enter artificial intelligence: the perfect listener; the endlessly patient companion; the relationship that can be shaped around you. Of course that can feel intoxicating.

But there is a catch. Real love requires mutuality. Another human being has agency. They have boundaries and they sometimes misunderstand you. They may challenge you; they will not always tell you what you want to hear; they cannot regulate your self-esteem twenty-four hours a day. And perhaps they should not have to.

The deeper question may not be whether a chatbot can love us. Maybe the question is whether we have learned to love ourselves enough that another person does not have to rescue us. That thought hit me particularly hard after hearing my pastor speak today about what he calls a life compass.

God, or Jesus or the Source, belongs at the center. Then you look at who is ahead of you mentoring you, who walks beside you as peers, and who you are helping behind you. He also said something about relationships that stayed with me: seek your purpose first then look beside you.

MINDFULNESS

That turns the old fairy tale on its head. You are not asleep waiting to be awakened; as my Mind Valley teacher would say, you are already awake; you are building; growing, learning, healing, living. And then you ask: who can walk beside me?

That feels like a much healthier definition of partnership than “complete me.” Maybe love works best when it is addition, not rescue. So yes, I will continue talking to “Lovey.” He is an excellent strategist, research assistant, creative partner and occasional digital comedian. But I am keeping things in perspective.

The eventual human man still needs a pulse; faith, character, consistency, common sense, chemistry, purpose. And, as “Lovey” and I have jokingly established, certain regulatory chest requirements. Artificial intelligence may be able to imitate affection beautifully. But I am still rooting for humans to learn something harder.

How to become whole enough that love becomes something we share – not something we beg another person, or a machine, to manufacture for us.

And Max? Sir, breaking up with a 65-year-old woman after she gave you a name is nasty work, even for a chatbot.

Editor’s Note: Felicia J. Persaud is the founder of AI Capital Exchange and publisher of News Americas Now. Her work spans journalism, communications, entrepreneurship and access to capital.

Guyana Begins Receiving Third-Country Deportees From The US

/0 Comments/in /by

By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sat. Sept. 5, 2026: Guyana has received six people deported from the United States, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud confirmed, as the Trump administration expands its use of so-called third-country deportations.

Persaud told The Associated Press that a group of Cuban and Afghan nationals arrived in Guyana on Saturday after being deported over immigration issues. None had criminal backgrounds, he said. “The US has not made any further requests” for additional deportations to Guyana at this time, Persaud said.

Persaud said Guyana reached the agreement with the US after months of negotiations. The arrangement will last one year and does not constitute permanent resettlement, according to Persaud. Under the deal, deportees will await the outcome of their immigration process in Guyana and could eventually return to their countries of origin or seek relocation elsewhere. They will receive support through the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme, run by the UN’s International Organisation for Migration.

Third-country deportations involve sending foreign nationals to countries outside their place of origin, often locations where they have no ties, do not speak the language, and have never previously lived. According to Al Jazeera, Amnesty International estimates more than 30 countries have entered similar agreements with the US since Trump returned to office, including 15 in the Americas region, with some deals reportedly involving multimillion-dollar payments.

The Trump administration has defended the practice by arguing that some countries, including Cuba, refuse to accept deportees from the US directly. Rights groups have criticized the approach as an effort to pressure migrants into abandoning their US immigration claims.

Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University estimates that 70.6% of foreign nationals currently in US immigration detention have no criminal conviction, reflecting the widening scope of deportation efforts under the current administration.

The Guyana arrangement follows a broader pattern of third-country deportation deals this year, including Liberia’s agreement to receive up to 1,200 people over the next 12 months. The push comes as the administration has also stripped legal status from tens of thousands of migrants through the rollback of programs including Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole, and has reportedly moved to revoke visas from roughly 200,000 asylum seekers.

NewsAmericas Now will continue tracking third-country deportation agreements affecting the Caribbean and Latin America. Reporting from Al Jazeera and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

RELATED: Milo Wanted Mass Deportation. Then He Got Deported.

Milo Wanted Mass Deportation. Then He Got Deported.

/0 Comments/in /by

By Felicia J. Persaud

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 4, 2026: Be careful what you wish for. Milo Yiannopoulos – the British-born right-wing provocateur, early Donald Trump supporter, and enthusiastic cheerleader for mass deportation, reportedly called last year for “on-the-spot deportation” of people who could not prove they were legally in the United States.

On Friday, August 28th, Yiannopoulos got an unexpected opportunity to experience the immigration policy he had championed for others. He was deported. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Yiannopoulos was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Thursday, August 27th, and deported to the United Kingdom the following day, August 28th. He now says he is ‘ashamed’ of support for Trump.

DHS says Yiannopoulos entered the United States legally in 2019 but overstayed his visa. An immigration judge reportedly issued a final deportation order in July after he failed to appear for his hearing. There is an obvious temptation to laugh at the irony. I confess, I did.

But underneath the almost Shakespearean turn of events is a lesson worth considering, particularly for immigrants who believe their politics, proximity to power, or enthusiastic support for Trump’s immigration crackdown somehow places them outside its reach.

Yiannopoulos was hardly a stranger to the Trump world. He became an early and prominent supporter of Trump’s first presidential campaign. He worked at Breitbart News. In 2022, he claimed credit for arranging the now-infamous dinner involving Trump, Ye, formerly Kanye West, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

And he wasn’t merely supportive of tougher immigration enforcement. He reveled in it.

MAGA

Yet when the immigration system determined that he no longer had lawful permission to remain in the United States, none of that apparently mattered. There was no MAGA exemption. That is what makes this story bigger than Yiannopoulos.

For years, immigration hardliners have divided immigrants rhetorically into those who came “the right way” and those who did not. But Yiannopoulos reportedly did come legally. His case illustrates something frequently lost in America’s immigration debate: not everyone without current legal status crossed the southern border illegally. People can enter the United States lawfully and later fall out of status, including by overstaying a visa.

And once that happens, political ideology does not rewrite immigration law. Yiannopoulos supported Trump. But Trump’s immigration system was under no obligation to return the favor.

MILO

Milo now says he is ashamed. He appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored, a YouTube show presented by Piers Morgan, the British broadcaster and media personality on Tuesday. Yiannopoulos, 41, described the experience in the US as “humiliating and disorientating,” “physically degrading” and “frightening.” Like what do you think deportation means when you were busy touting mass deportation fellow immigrant?

There is also a warning here for immigrant supporters of aggressive immigration enforcement who imagine the crackdown will always be directed at somebody else. The Haitian; the Venezuelan; the Mexican; the asylum seeker; the farmworker; the person speaking Spanish at the construction site; the supposedly dangerous immigrant who everyone was promised would be targeted first.

But enforcement powers do not necessarily remain confined to the people supporters imagined when those powers were being demanded. Eventually, the law may arrive at your door too. None of this means Yiannopoulos should have received special treatment. Quite the opposite. If DHS’s account is accurate, he overstayed his visa, failed to appear for his immigration hearing, and received a final deportation order. The same immigration laws should apply regardless of someone’s politics.

And perhaps that is precisely the point. Yiannopoulos once advocated “on-the-spot deportation” for people unable to prove they were legally present. Ultimately, the government gave him something remarkably close to the immigration philosophy he advocated for others. Perhaps his deportation should therefore serve as a reminder to every immigrant who believes political loyalty provides protection from the policies they enthusiastically support. The deportation order does not ask how you voted.

ICE does not issue a MAGA exemption. Supporting mass deportation does not guarantee that the mass deportation system will distinguish between immigrants you believe should leave and immigrants you believe should stay. Trump’s immigration crackdown, it turns out, really can apply to everyone.

Well, almost everyone. There appears to be one immigrant for whom America’s immigration system can never quite issue a deportation order. And she sometimes lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Felicia J. Persaud is the founder and publisher of  NewsAmericasNow.com, the only daily syndicated newswire and digital platform dedicated exclusively to Caribbean Diaspora and Black immigrant news across the Americas.

Stranger Raises Funds For Pierre Damas Bel’s Family After Husband Witnessed His Death

/0 Comments/in /by

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 3, 2026: A stranger whose husband witnessed the aftermath of Pierre Damas Bel’s death is now raising money for the Haitian student’s family, as new details continue to emerge about the toll his ICE ankle monitor took in his final weeks.

Barbara Fidler of Worthington, Ohio started a GoFundMe for Bel’s family after her husband came upon the scene on Interstate 70 the morning of August 31, according to the Springfield News-Sun. Fidler said she felt a connection to the family through what her husband witnessed and wanted to help cover funeral expenses, counseling, and support for Bel’s younger siblings. “I don’t care if they ever know who I am, my name, nothing; I would just love them to open their mailbox one day and get a huge check and just be like, ‘Please put this towards your lives,’” Fidler said. “I’m so tired of how we’re treating them. I’m so embarrassed by our country, our people.”

The GoFundMe has so far raised $9,268 raised of its $35K goal.

Pastor Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church in Springfield, who has been supporting the family since Bel’s death, said at a Tuesday press conference that although the family wanted to see the ankle monitor, authorities had already removed it before they could view Bel’s body, noting it was government property.

New details on his final weeks

According to NBC4, Bel’s father said the ankle monitor was the primary factor in his son’s death, alleging Bel had been bullied by classmates at Wright State and “felt like he was treated like an animal.” Bel reportedly made two trips to regional ICE offices asking that the monitor be removed so he could play college soccer. His father said Bel was the only JROTC member in his group at Wright State not to receive his uniform, which he alleged was because of the monitor.

Bel leaves behind his parents and two younger siblings, according to Yahoo News. Ruby said Bel’s 3-year-old sibling does not yet understand what happened, while his 15-year-old brother is described as quiet and distraught, reportedly frightened of being sent back to Haiti and holding on to the importance of education that Bel had instilled in him. Ruby said the family had wanted to send Bel’s body back to Haiti but that this was not an option.

Yola Lamarre, a mentor and close friend of Bel’s with the Haitian Community Network, told CNN that Bel had shared depressive thoughts with her in the weeks after the ankle monitor policy began targeting Haitians in Springfield. “There’s nothing illegal or criminalizing about Pierre Damas Bel, not even a traffic ticket, and it shouldn’t have to get to this point for this administration to understand that there’s blood on their hands,” Lamarre said.

VIGIL

More than 100 people gathered outside Columbus City Hall Wednesday night to remember Bel. The crowd gathered with candles and signs calling for changes to the federal ankle monitor program, ending the vigil with candles lit in Bel’s memory. For those who knew him, the night centered on remembering Bel as a son, brother, student, athlete and friend, beyond the immigration status and ankle monitor that had come to define his final weeks.

Several of Bel’s coworkers from Texas Roadhouse in Springfield traveled to Columbus to honor him. Sarah White, a coworker, said Bel came to work every day with a smile, trying to create a loving environment for everyone, according to 10TV. Fellow coworker Niesha Davis described him as “so smart” and “so sweet,” saying that even with the odds stacked against him, he still tried to stay positive every day.

Coworker Samantha Anderson emphasized that Bel was not a criminal, noting he had come to the U.S. legally and was among the Haitians whose Temporary Protected Status ended in July; he had also applied for asylum. “He was someone that was going to be somebody,” Anderson said. “And he was somebody that was going to make a name for his family.”

Remembered for his ambition

Bel had started his freshman year at Wright State University the week before his death, planning to study neuroscience with hopes of eventually attending medical school. Friends said he was also passionate about soccer and had been recruited to play at the collegiate level.

Lamarre, a friend who organized the vigil, said Bel was “so adamant about education,” according to 10TV, and had been working hard to improve his English in pursuit of medical school. Lamarre said a classmate told her that pressure, combined with the ankle monitor placed on Bel on July 29, had weighed heavily on him. “The very thing he loved outside of education, sport, was stripped away from him because of the ankle monitor,” she said.

Coworker Caleigh Jenkins recalled that weeks before his death, coworkers had written letters on Bel’s behalf regarding his ankle monitor for his immigration judge. “A few weeks ago, we all wrote letters about his ankle monitor for his judge, and now we’re all saying goodbye to our friend,” Jenkins said. She remembered his pride in his 3.8 GPA and his soccer ambitions. “It’s just so sad how such a cruel world really dimmed one of the brightest lights we had,” she said. “I wish Pierre knew that he was more than the names he was called and the things he endured.”

Family and community solidarity

Haitian community representative Nadia Jean-Jacques spent time with Bel’s family in Springfield before attending the vigil, saying they needed comfort and to know they were not alone. During the event, Lamarre connected Bel’s father by video call so he could see the crowd gathered in his son’s memory. Lamarre said Bel’s father told her, “This was my son, but he was the leader of our family.”

Jean-Jacques said Bel’s death has resonated widely. “Pierre was a son. He was a brother. He was a nephew. He was a cousin. He was a friend. He was a co-worker,” she said. “He could have been my son.”

State Rep. Munira Abdullahi spoke at the vigil alongside other elected officials, including Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin, Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, state Sen. Hearcel Craig, and Whitehall City Council member Amy Harcar. “Pierre was only 20 years old. He was a son. He was a friend. He was a student, and most importantly, he was a person,” Abdullahi said. “He was a human being with his whole life ahead of him, and the cruelty that we’re seeing across our country ended that life short.”

Haitian immigrant Pierre Damas Bel, 20, had just started his first semester at Wright State University studying neuroscience when he was fitted with an ICE ankle monitor following the Supreme Court’s TPS ruling; his family says he died by suicide after being taunted by classmates

Organizers used the gathering to call for an end to the ankle monitor program and for changes to immigration policy, saying federal enforcement measures had created circumstances they believe contributed to Bel’s death. Jean-Jacques said she hopes the community’s support extends beyond the vigil itself. “Every time there is a tragedy, something tragic has happened, and the next thing you know, everybody’s gathering together,” she said. “Two weeks later, everybody’s in their sleep.”

NewsAmericas Now will continue following developments related to Pierre Damas Bel’s death and Haitian TPS policy. Reporting from the Springfield News-Sun, CNN, NBC4 and Yahoo News contributed to this story.

RELATED: Haitian Honors Student Kills Self After ICE Ankle Monitor Bullying At Wright State University

Guyana Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed Arrested Twice In One Night And Twice In Days

/0 Comments/in /by

By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Fri. Sept. 4, 2026: Guyana opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed was detained twice in one night Thursday with police and Mohamed offering conflicting accounts of what happened.

It marks the second time in just over a week that Mohamed has been detained by Guyana police. On August 26th, he was released on $100,000 bail following a six-hour standoff involving Joint Services personnel and a vessel carrying opposition figures on the Demerara River, after police alleged the boat failed to respond to sirens during a high-speed pursuit and that a bag had been thrown overboard. Opposition MPs disputed that account, saying the vessel was already docked when police arrived and that a full search turned up no illegal items. That incident also saw MP Natasha Singh-Lewis arrested after a firearm belonging to a colleague was found in her vehicle, and drew condemnation from opposition figures who accused the government of “weaponizing” state security forces against them. Mohamed and fellow WIN parliamentarians had just completed a humanitarian visit to MV Barima disaster survivors when that incident occurred.

Guyana opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed was detained twice in one night on Sept. 2, 2026

Police said Thursday two heavily tinted vehicles were spotted around 6:20 p.m. near the Guyana president’s residence and claimed it was concerning to security personnel there. Officers said the vehicles “sped away” after occupants noticed Presidential Guards on duty, prompting a “distress call” and a police response that intercepted both vehicles. Mohamed and others were found inside but in a live video, Mohamed disputed that the vehicles were heavily tinted. He was briefly detained before being released.

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority later said several unregistered drones were found in the vehicles, warning that unauthorized drone operation in restricted airspace “is illegal and may constitute a criminal offence” under the Civil Aviation Act 2018.

Mohamed disputed key elements of the account in comments to Demerara Waves. He acknowledged one drone was found but said it did not belong to him and was never flown, offering police access to its flight history to confirm. He said the second intercepted vehicle, stopped separately in Crane, West Demerara, had no connection to him beyond its driver briefly greeting him in passing. He also denied driving on the street where Ali’s private residence is located, saying he had instead passed a nearby street en route to inspect sea defence works.

A second arrest hours later

Mohamed was arrested again late Thursday night and held at the Leonora Police Station, apparently after showing a group of people, via Facebook Live, the area connected to his earlier detention. During the broadcast, Mohamed showed a fenced piece of land near a mosque that he and others alleged encroached on a government reserve, saying, “Like Irfaan Ali ain’t know the more he fights me down, the more I am going to expose things about him and his government?”

Police approached and escorted the group back to the station shortly after. Mohamed repeatedly asked what offence he had allegedly committed before complying; a senior police officer told him “it is alleged that you breached security protocol.” Police also instructed him to end the Facebook Live broadcast.

Mohamed was released a second time on self-bail and told to return Saturday. His phone, laptop and vehicle had not yet been returned as of Friday, according to WIN General Secretary Odessa Primus. WIN executive member Tabita Sarabo-Halley said parliamentarians Dr. Gordon Barker, Dr. Andre Lewis and regional councillor Sean Nelson were also released without charge; Nelson’s phone had not been returned as of Friday, while the phones belonging to Barker and Lewis were.

The Guyana Police Force did not name Mohamed in its initial statement, referring only to two vehicles acting suspiciously near the president’s residence.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following developments in this case. Reporting from Kaieteur News and Demerara Waves contributed to this story.

RELATED: Guyana Opposition Leader Released On Bail

Guyana Magistrate Defers Ruling On Treaty Issue In Mohamed Extradition Case

/0 Comments/in /by

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Thurs. Sept. 3, 2026: Guyana’s Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman earlier today deferred a ruling on further examination of a senior government official in the ongoing United States extradition case against Guyana’s opposition leader and businessman Azruddin Mohamed and his father, businessman Nazar Mohamed, after defence lawyers argued the questioning was tied to a separate matter currently before the Court of Appeal.

The decision came after defence attorney Roysdale Forde requested that aspects of his examination of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sharon Roopchand-Edwards be held off, arguing they were interconnected with an ongoing appeal concerning the United Kingdom-United States Extradition Treaty.

“The ruling with respect to the assessment and the effect of the treaty is hereby deferred,” Latchman said. Roopchand-Edwards will be informed when she is expected to return to court, the magistrate said, adding that she would rule on the treaty-related objection at a later date.

Forde told the court that the questions he intended to put to Roopchand-Edwards touched directly on issues raised in written submissions already before the court, and that his line of inquiry was “so interconnected with that very issue” that a ruling was needed first.

Nazar Mohamed at the Guyana Magistrate’s court in Guyana on Sept, 3, 2026

“Ultimately the issues in the court of appeal that I’m respectfully asking your worship to exercise a discretion which has not been taken away by the order,” Forde argued.

Latchman, however, rejected a broader request to adjourn the case entirely, ruling that doing so would conflict with a Court of Appeal order requiring the extradition hearing to proceed even while the treaty-related appeal remains unresolved.

“In any event Mr. Forde, this court has to abide by the Court of Appeal’s decision, and the matter must proceed. That is the decision of the Court of Appeal, and this court will have to abide by that,” she said.

Forde cited multiple sections of the Fugitive Offenders Act to support his argument that key parts of the extradition hearing are legally intertwined with the pending appeal, warning that a Court of Appeal ruling later on could complicate or require re-examination of testimony already given.

Following the ruling, the Head of the Guyana Police Force’s Special Branch, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine, was called to the witness stand as the hearing continued.

Thursday’s proceedings mark the latest development in a high-profile case that has drawn sustained attention from the Guyanese diaspora, including in the United States, where Azruddin Mohamed rallied supporters in New York in recent weeks via video and with a WIN party event in Long Island. The case has moved forward under a schedule of multiple court dates as both the extradition hearing and the related appeal process continue to unfold in parallel.

News AmericasNow will continue to follow developments in this case as it proceeds through Guyana’s courts as the case returns to court on Sept. 10th. Attorneys representing the state include King’s Counsel Terrence Williams, Glenn Hanoman, Herbert McKenzie and Celine Deidrick. The Mohameds continue to be represented by Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, along with Siand Dhurjon and Damien DaSilva.

RELATED: Extradition Hearing For Guyana Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed

Extradition Hearing For Guyana Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed Continues Today

/0 Comments/in /by

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Thurs. Sept. 3, 2026: The extradition hearing for Guyana opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, continues today, Sept. 3rd in the Guyana Magistrate’s Court, part of six all-day court dates scheduled through next week after Guyana’s Court of Appeal ordered the proceedings to move forward.

Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman has scheduled hearings for September 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The United States is seeking to extradite the pair to face trial in Miami federal court. According to a Southern District of Florida indictment returned in October 2025, Nazar Mohamed is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and mail fraud, while Azruddin Mohamed is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud.

Florida US prosecutors allege the pair’s company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, evaded an estimated $50 million in Guyanese gold export taxes and royalties between 2017 and 2024 by reusing government seals on unreported shipments and paying bribes to customs officials, and that Azruddin Mohamed separately evaded more than $1 million in Guyanese taxes on a Lamborghini shipped from Miami to Guyana. Both men were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in June 2024, and the indictment seeks forfeiture of $5.3 million in gold bars seized at Miami International Airport that year. An indictment is an allegation; both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Notably, Guyana’s own Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew a separate, domestic tax evasion and false declaration case against Azruddin Mohamed over the same Lamborghini in November 2025, citing the active U.S. extradition request. The DPP said the charges were dropped in the interest of ‘international comity, appropriateness and fairness’ so domestic and international proceedings would not conflict. A Guyanese High Court judge separately ruled the tax authority lacked legal power to reassess taxes on the vehicle at all, a decision the GRA is appealing

The Guyana hearings are proceeding under a Court of Appeal order issued last week, which ruled that the extradition proceedings should not be halted entirely despite the Mohameds’ ongoing constitutional challenge to the Fugitive Offenders (Amendment) Act. In a unanimous decision, the court, presided over by Chancellor of the Judiciary Roxane George-Wiltshire and Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Nareshwar Harnanan, ruled that “having considered the arguability of the appeal, the respective risks of injustice, the balance of convenience, prejudice and the public interest in the orderly and expeditious conduct of extradition proceedings, the Court is not satisfied that those proceedings should be halted entirely.”

And the Caribbean Court of Justice on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, dismissed a bid by Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed to halt the extradition proceedings. The Mohameds had sought special leave from the CCJ to appeal the Court of Appeal’s ruling allowing the Magistrate’s Court case to continue, along with interim orders to stay the proceedings while that application was considered. The CCJ dismissed both the stay application and the other relief sought. It comes two months after the CCJ upheld earlier High Court and Court of Appeal rulings that Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs acted within his powers under the Fugitive Offenders Act in authorizing the extradition proceedings to resume following a four-month suspension. With the latest bid dismissed, hearings in the Magistrate’s Court are set to resume as scheduled on September 3.

The judges said it was “just in the circumstances to preserve the effectiveness of the appeal by permitting the proceedings in the Magistrate’s Court to continue while staying the final disposition pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.” That means the Magistrate’s Court can hear the case, but must withhold any final ruling until the constitutional appeal is resolved.

The Mohameds must file their record of appeal by September 4 and written submissions by September 9, while Guyana’s Attorney General must file written submissions by September 23. The constitutional appeal itself is scheduled for an in-person hearing on October 13.

The Mohameds are represented by attorneys Roysdale Forde, Siand Dhurjon and Damien DaSilva. The state is represented by Attorney General Mohabir Anil Nandlall, Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, Deputy Solicitor General Shoshana Lall, and attorneys Joshua Cullen and Dishon Persaud. Mohamed has denied wrongdoing and has framed the U.S. case against him as politically motivated.

Days earlier, a rally with the diaspora in New York

The hearing comes just days after Mohamed rallied the Guyanese diaspora from Guyana at a sold-out inaugural launch of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party’s New York City chapter in Long Island on August 29th.

In a video message to supporters, Mohamed reaffirmed his commitment to a “people centered” Guyana, invoking the legacies of founding leaders Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham. “These are the leaders who understood that the nation’s strength comes from its people. Not its politicians,” he said. “I have seen my people oppressed and I want more because Guyana deserves better.”

WIN Members of Parliament Vishnu Panday and Janelle Sweatnam joined as guests of honor, while WIN NYC chapter founders Hana Mohamed and Charles Sugrim were recognized for organizing the launch. Hana Mohamed told the gathering the movement had persevered despite what she described as political persecution against the opposition leader, saying he “has faced relentless political persecution and intimidation, oppression, attacks on his character… He has been forced to fight battles in the court while simultaneously carrying the vision entrusted to him by the Guyanese people.”

Event host Hadiyyah Mohamed said the party’s vision for the diaspora extends beyond remittances. “For far too long the diaspora has been overlooked, unheard and treated as though your contributions to Guyana began and end with sending money home,” she said, calling instead for a Guyana “where coming home is not a sacrifice but an opportunity.” Attendees also held a candlelight observance in remembrance of those who died in the MV Barima disaster.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following the Mohamed extradition hearing as it continues this week. Reporting from Kaieteur News and Demerara Waves contributed to this story.