Speaker 1: Hey, this is any and Samantha, what come to stuff?
Speaker 2: I ever told you a prediction of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1: And today we are highlighting the amazing works of Garlin Joseph,
Speaker 1: a Haitian activist who's been working to fight for our
Speaker 1: community and other refugees around the world. And yes, obviously
Speaker 1: we're still carrying on and making sure we are talking
Speaker 1: about all the people's no matter what month, it is,
Speaker 1: more feminists around the world, and we will never stop.
Speaker 1: It's Women's History month now, so we're talking more women's surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise,
Speaker 1: And yes, we were talking women's as an inclusive of
Speaker 1: every person who identifies as women and according to Amnesty
Speaker 1: dot org, as of July twenty twenty three, she runs
Speaker 1: the the only black and Haitian women led organization that
Speaker 1: works to help migrants on either side of the US
Speaker 1: Mexico border, which is the Haitian Bridge Alliance or HbA
Speaker 1: were also known as the Bridge. Joseph has been outspoken
Speaker 1: about the needs of the migrant community and the racist
Speaker 1: and inhumane treatment of the refugees. She's been at the
Speaker 1: forefront of not only working to educate the public and
Speaker 1: migrants of the knees and dangers the migrant community faces,
Speaker 1: but she's been a political activist working to seek political
Speaker 1: and social change.
Speaker 2: Joseph started her advocacy activism as a child, witnessing the
Speaker 2: inequalities and its treatment of so many of her community.
Speaker 2: In the twenty twenty one Forbes article titled a Black
Speaker 2: Immigrants Mission to center Black Migrants at the Southern Border,
Speaker 2: they quote Joseph remembers when her father took her to
Speaker 2: meet Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant wrongfully arrested, handcuffed, and
Speaker 2: forcefully sodomized with a broken broomstick by two New York
Speaker 2: City Police Department officers. As a little girl, I had
Speaker 2: a chance to bear witness to real violence against black bears.
Speaker 2: I remember holding my father's hand as he took me
Speaker 2: to visit mister Louima in the hospital, said Joseph, co
Speaker 2: founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. While
Speaker 2: a Haitian just like me, it was clear that those
Speaker 2: two officers saw his color before they ever considered his
Speaker 2: immigration status or country of origin. Joseph continued seeing Abner
Speaker 2: Luima laying in that bed, barely breathing and missing most
Speaker 2: of his teeth made it clear that my blackness and
Speaker 2: my immigration status are interconnected, and the article continues. That
Speaker 2: moment in nineteen ninety seven, coupled with a twenty fifteen
Speaker 2: phone call from a colleague about Haitian migrant seeking asylum
Speaker 2: on the US Mexico border, turned Joseph from an outspoken
Speaker 2: immigration advocate to a black immigrant woman on a mission
Speaker 2: to center black immigrants, those already in the United States,
Speaker 2: and especially those praying and hoping for entry and refuge
Speaker 2: on America's southern.
Speaker 1: Border, and with that she started her organization, the Haitian
Speaker 1: Bridge Alliance. Oh here's what their website says. The Haitian
Speaker 1: Bridge Alliance HbA, also known as The Bridge, as a grassroots,
Speaker 1: nonprofit community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration
Speaker 1: policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal and
Speaker 1: social services, with a particular focus on black people, the
Speaker 1: Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA plus individuals and survivors
Speaker 1: of torture and other human rights abuse. It goes on,
Speaker 1: we focus on the issues unique to black migrants and
Speaker 1: build solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. We work
Speaker 1: closely with the black migrant communities throughout the United States
Speaker 1: progressive coalitions fighting anti blackness and advocate locally, nationally, and
Speaker 1: internationally for fair and just immigration policies. We're working to
Speaker 1: end racist border policies like the Remain in Mexico policy
Speaker 1: Title forty two and the Border to Prison and Deportation Pipeline.
Speaker 1: We advocate for the expansion of TPS, protection for more communities, DACA,
Speaker 1: and an overhaul of the asylum system that centers dignity
Speaker 1: and passion, not cruelty. Since twenty sixteen, HbA has regularly
Speaker 1: brought delegations of lawyers, doctors, and other volunteers to the
Speaker 1: same Diego Tijuana border to provide humanitarian relief to Haitian
Speaker 1: and other black migrants from Africa. We also work with
Speaker 1: Haitian migrants in Tapatula, Mexico, and were the first organizations
Speaker 1: on the ground during the Del Rio emergency. We aim
Speaker 1: to transform the perception of the border from the misguided
Speaker 1: stereotype that it only impacts a certain set of people
Speaker 1: to Transamerican global space that includes black people, because immigration
Speaker 1: is a black issue.
Speaker 2: And here is a bit directly about Joseph and her
Speaker 2: work within the organization quote with many hands, that work
Speaker 2: is light. This Haitian proverb serves as Garlin Joseph's inspiration
Speaker 2: and the vision behind the Haitian Bridge Alliance in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2: Garlin is a human rights advocate who dedicates her life
Speaker 2: to bringing awareness to issues that affect us all locally
Speaker 2: and globally, such as immigration, domestic violence, child sexual abuse,
Speaker 2: and other human rights issues. And she and her organization
Speaker 2: have been doing their continuous work in order to get
Speaker 2: justice and help for the migrant community, and part of
Speaker 2: that work has been to fight against Title FI two
Speaker 2: in the US, which was finally lifted in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 2: but a lot of heavy stipulations were still put into place.
Speaker 1: Right and just a note, Title forty two is quote
Speaker 1: created to address public health and social welfare and grants
Speaker 1: the government the ability to take emergency action in numerous ways,
Speaker 1: including to stop the introduction of communical diseases. While the
Speaker 1: code has been in place for decades, it was used
Speaker 1: widely beginning in March twenty twenty by the administration of
Speaker 1: then President Donald Trump in order to regulate border crossings
Speaker 1: under the premise of increased COVID nineteen precautions. The Trump
Speaker 1: administration used Title forty two essentially to override immigration law
Speaker 1: that allowed people to ask for asylum after entering illegally
Speaker 1: and said we could send them back across the border,
Speaker 1: arguing that taking micros into custody and federal facilities would
Speaker 1: create more of a public health risk. And that was
Speaker 1: from the PBS article.
Speaker 2: And recently, Joseph and the bridge helped bring a lawsuit
Speaker 2: against the current administration for quote, racial discrimination and rights
Speaker 2: violations of Haitian asylum seekers. In truthout dot org, they
Speaker 2: write the suit was brought on behalf of eleven Haitian
Speaker 2: asylum seekers who were abused by US border agents as
Speaker 2: more than fifteen thousand people, mostly from Haiti, were forced
Speaker 2: to stay in a makeshift border encampment on the banks
Speaker 2: of the Rio Grande near the Acuna del Rio International
Speaker 2: Bridge in Texas. One of the plaintiffs is Mirard Joseph,
Speaker 2: the asylum seeker whose image went viral after being photographed
Speaker 2: while a border patrol agent on horseback lashed him with
Speaker 2: split reins, grabbed his neck, and gripped Joseph by the
Speaker 2: shirt collar.
Speaker 1: Right, And they quoted Joseph in that article, as her saying,
Speaker 1: this is a critical junction in our country here in
Speaker 1: the United States, as we make sure to uphold human
Speaker 1: rights and understanding seeking asylum is a human right. We
Speaker 1: will continue to push forward and make sure that accountability
Speaker 1: is served, but also we have systematic change in the
Speaker 1: way that we receive people in the United States, and
Speaker 1: just as a side, the lawsuit was originally filed in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, but was just her last week, and according.
Speaker 2: To the transcript from the hearing, Joseph testified for what
Speaker 2: they were asking for in that hearing quote, there are
Speaker 2: a few things we are asking for. We'll be able
Speaker 2: to share more as the case continues, but one of
Speaker 2: the things we are asking is accountability, justice for those
Speaker 2: people to be able to get a fair access to
Speaker 2: protection as they continue to barely survive because the conditions
Speaker 2: in Haiti continue to be extremely difficult, and the deportation
Speaker 2: and expulsions of those people were found to be unacceptable.
Speaker 2: So we will continue to fight and we are grateful
Speaker 2: that the judge listened to our request to continue this case.
Speaker 2: And even though the government said that our case had
Speaker 2: no basis, and what the world saw is that what
Speaker 2: we witnessed, but we will continue to push forward and
Speaker 2: make sure that accountability is served. But also we have
Speaker 2: systematic change in the way that we receive people in
Speaker 2: the United States and making sure we have a fair,
Speaker 2: just immigration system where people can continue to seek asylum
Speaker 2: and seek protection.
Speaker 1: Obviously, she and her organization are quite busy again, like
Speaker 1: we said, last week was the hearing in front of
Speaker 1: the judges. And just to add to her mini roles,
Speaker 1: here's a bit of information on other things that Joseph
Speaker 1: has been a part of and continues to do. According
Speaker 1: to her biography on docs dot house dot gov. Miss
Speaker 1: Joseph created Tales from the US Mexico, Borderlands and Beyond
Speaker 1: and Immigration Information Session focusing on Black immigrants and the
Speaker 1: Borderlands and Beyond. She is also a co creator of
Speaker 1: Faith and Action and Immigration Justice Movement in Southern California,
Speaker 1: a four part immigration program for both impacted communities and allies.
Speaker 1: Miss Joseph uses her platform FYI for Your Inspiration Radio
Speaker 1: located in Mission Behill with correspondence in Africa to give
Speaker 1: a voice to the voiceless coast to coast and around
Speaker 1: the world. Miss Joseph also served as an advisory member
Speaker 1: to Voices against Violence and their efforts to prevent domestic
Speaker 1: violence in California and around the world. She was a
Speaker 1: chairwoman of Award and Action from twenty thirteen to twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: a nonprofit organization that aims to prevent and decrease the
Speaker 1: occurrence of child sexual abuse.
Speaker 2: And here are some accolades she has received. According to
Speaker 2: the National Alliance for Advancement of Haitian Professionals quote, Miss
Speaker 2: Joseph was named one of Politico's twenty twenty one forty
Speaker 2: most Influential people on race, politics, and policy in the
Speaker 2: United States for her leadership and is the recipient of
Speaker 2: prestigious awards, most recently the LOSS America's twenty twenty one
Speaker 2: Border Heroes Award, the twenty twenty one Robert F. Kennedy
Speaker 2: Human Rights Award, the twenty twenty two National Haitian American
Speaker 2: Elected Officials Network Community Champion Award, and the twenty twenty
Speaker 2: two American Immigration Lawyers Associations Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award.
Speaker 2: That's quite unmouthful, but she deserves all of those awards.
Speaker 1: And war you know, I know these awards are great,
Speaker 1: but the fact that we have to attach people's names
Speaker 1: on it and make it even longer instead of vagueous
Speaker 1: America Immigration Lawyers Association Human Rights Award. I feel like
Speaker 1: I nailed the last You nailed everything about that anyway.
Speaker 1: And by the way, these are just her recent awards.
Speaker 1: She has a bigger list like started like way back
Speaker 1: early two thousands, like twenty nineteen, like she received so
Speaker 1: many more that were just not going down the list.
Speaker 1: She doesn't have a Wikipedia page, which is horrifying to
Speaker 1: me because I'm like, she's one these accolades I don't understand.
Speaker 1: And she's doing so much work with Haitian community and
Speaker 1: the immigrant situation. Obviously again doing some amazing things. She
Speaker 1: was testifying in front of the White House as well.
Speaker 1: I think she actually had a whole thing where it
Speaker 1: was presented to President Biden as well in these conversations
Speaker 1: and again had a huge part in taking down or
Speaker 1: making sure that title forty two was autsigned, resigned, or renewed.
Speaker 1: And I think it actually went away in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: So it was supposed to go in a way in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, but it stuck around the under the
Speaker 1: guys at COVID. This is a COVID measure, which is
Speaker 1: abhorrent anyway, But yes, amazing works from garyln Joseph, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure we're gonna hear a lot more, especially with
Speaker 1: that case.
Speaker 2: Yes, and if any listeners, because I know we've talked
Speaker 2: about this before, if you have the time and the
Speaker 2: interest of making a Wikipedia page, you can. Here's a suggestion.
Speaker 2: And if you have any suggestions for us for people
Speaker 2: we could cover in the segment or organizations we could cover,
Speaker 2: you can let us know. You can email us at
Speaker 2: Stephanie momsteffantiheartmedia dot com. You can find us on Twitter
Speaker 2: at momsue podcast or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff
Speaker 2: One Ever Told You. We have a tea public story
Speaker 2: and we have a book you can get wherever you
Speaker 2: get your books. Thanks us always to our super producer Christina,
Speaker 2: executive producer Maya, and your contributor Joey. Thank you and
Speaker 2: thanks to you for listening. Stefan Never Told You is
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