‘I’m an immigrant and I would like the president to take me in:’ Local Haitians share story

As Haitians find a refuge in Petaluma, their homeland is thrust into a national immigration debate.|

When Petion Jean Charles’ brother-in-law was killed in a bloody family altercation, he knew it was time to flee his home in Haiti’s capital city.

After escaping in 2014 and living in Brazil for nearly two years, his construction job ended and his family was forced to leave when money dried up. With his two small children in tow, Jean Charles and his wife crossed 10 countries via an excruciating maze of bus, boat and plane rides and a perilous five-day trek through a Panamanian rain forest.

After being detained for five days at the Mexican-American border, he finally arrived in Petaluma by bus on Feb. 23, 2017 as a refugee. After staying with a friend, the former math and French teacher attended the Petaluma Adult School while his family has bounced from house to house, before landing in a Committee on the Shelterless family shelter Nov. 7.

He’s attended night school and landed a temporary job packaging medical supplies and is leaning heavily on the kindness of the community as he creates a stable life for his wife and their children, ages 4 1/2, 3 and 2 months. Working with representatives from Petaluma’s branch of the Rapid Response Network, which responds to and documents immigration raids and aids immigrants, he’s received rides to doctor’s appointments and assistance with housing and other issues.

It’s a slow process, but he knows it’s not easy to piece together a new existence in a foreign country.

“I am a man who is very patient,” the 36-year-old said. “Life is a ladder; there are a lot of steps you have to do until you can arrive at the top of the ladder. I am below for now, but I will continue up the ladder because sometimes, life is very simple and sometimes life is complicated, but you have to be patient. You can’t be in a hurry to do all the things together; you have to do it step-by-step.”

The family arrived in a tumultuous time for refugees and immigrants, many of whom are living in fear of rapidly shifting federal immigration policies. Last week, President Donald Trump reportedly questioned why America should continue to accept immigrants from “shithole” countries such as Haiti. That comment came as a larger battle over immigration policies hit a boiling point as Democrats and Republicans attempted to reach a deal over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which safeguards children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents.

“I had a lot of concern when I heard that the president doesn’t like to see immigrants here,” he said. “I’m an immigrant and I would like the president to take me in, not send me back to my county. It’s terrible for me if I go back to my country - the reason I left my country is because I want to live without trouble, and for now my country has a lot of problems and trouble.”

Jean Charles shared his story at a Jan. 15 gathering of Petaluma activists at Aqus Café, a rally to honor the legacy of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. The message of those gathered was clear: a year into Trump’s presidency, Petaluma remains a liberal bastion and a hub for resisting federal policies it views as a threat to the city’s diverse community.

“One year ago, we were standing in Lucchesi Park with candles lit and fears galore about the election results and I guess we could say consistency is important, because the fears are all still here,” Petaluma Community Relations Council Coordinator Committee member and B’nai Israel Jewish Center of Petaluma’s Rabbi Ted Feldman said. “It’s amazing what we are living with now.”

Feldman’s rabbi and teacher Abraham Joshua Heschel marched with King in Selma, Alabama in 1965, and Feldman has long held their teachings close to his heart.

“I had inspiration … to stand up for what Dr. King stood for, to push the notion that nonviolence is the way to get there,” he said. “When we heard these remarks this past week from our president about race and what this means in our county, I felt it was such a dishonor to this day we are gathered on right now. I know that our work is not over and I know that if Dr. King saw the world as it is right now, he would be marching and have many, many, many people walking with him proudly to stand up for what is just and right in our world.”

Representatives from the Rapid Response Network encouraged residents to attend trainings and join the effort to protect the city’s immigrant community.

“I think it’s become very clear to all of us in the words we’ve heard from our president that the whole issue of immigration has become an issue of racial justice,” organizer Sam Tuttelman said. “Many of us have struggled over the years with how we as white folks can become allies to that struggle, it’s not directly our struggle, but we can perpetuate it. I think the Rapid Response Network is a very concrete way each and every one of us can stand up for racial justice.”

After speakers delivered their messages of resistance and unity, the room swelled with a chorus of voices joining together in the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”

It was an inspirational night for Linda Felix, a Hatian immigrant who has lived in Petaluma for 12 years. Originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, Felix and her family were forced to leave 20 years ago after she was confronted with violence for her work with a nurses’ organizing group.

She was attending law school in Haiti, and did not want to leave, but knew a better life awaited her and her children in the U.S. Her children are pursing careers in the legal and public health fields as she and her husband live in Petaluma, where she’s been working as a nurse. An injury has knocked her out of the field, but she has dreams of returning to law school and reentering the medical field.

She visits Haiti when she can, where her family has been faced with violence and fear. The president’s recent messages have only reinforced her desire to facilitate positive change.

“I’m not surprised because everything on his mind, he says … you know him, he didn’t hide,” she said. “He didn’t want us, but we have to work hard and don’t be distracted. We have to do whatever we can do.”

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