Tuesday, April 1, 2025
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A View From the Ground
News and information about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from URL Media's network of Black and Brown publishers.
Good evening. In Springfield, Ohio, the Haitian community is not taking the Trump administration’s assault on immigrant communities lying down, and in fact is finding ways to motivate itself through organizing and culture.Meanwhile in Texas, plans by the Muslim community to build homes, schools and other facilities on a large parcel of land, are meeting opposition from authorities who openly oppose their presence and are investigating them, allegedly out of fear of Islamic Sharia law in the state.
Also, a woman in San Francisco who was getting shortchanged in tips finds a way to get what she is owed, thanks to an immigrant worker rights organization. Turns out that led to immigrans getting back more than $1 million that was ripped off from them.Finally, a new op-ed expresses the threat to African American federal workers by Trump’s push to fundamentally reshape the government through firings and turning agencies upside down.Plus, we’re bringing you the latest updates at URL-Media.com as events unfold. Have a question? Write to us at [email protected].
Credit: Macollvie J. Neel / The Haitian Times
The Trump administration is on the attack, but Haitians are determined: Remember when Trump supporters – including a group of white supremacists – deliberately spread unsubstantiated rumors about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eating dogs, cats, and even geese in public parks? Of course, all of that turned out to be nonsense designed to bolster his anti-immigrant agenda. But it did the opposite of intimidating Haitian-Americans. In fact, The Haitian Times says the rhetorical attacks strengthened the community’s resolve.Threatened by the Department of Homeland Security backing out on Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and other immigrants, many fear the consequence will be the government rushing to deport people randomly, despite many having green cards and legal residency in the United States.“People speak well of us here. I’ve personally never had any issues here,” Nicaisse Debras, a Lyft driver who has lived in Springfield for seven years, told The Haitian Times. “If someone leaves, that’s their choice. But I can tell you that there’s nowhere you can go that they [immigration] won’t find you if they really want to.”
But the community is responding with resolve instead of fear. Social content creators have ushered in #haitiantok on TikTok to share information and culture with one another. Groups like the Haitian Community Alliance have emerged as an empowerment space for Haitians and even a Creole hotline for people to use when in need. Trump’s election, many in Springfield feel, has been a catalyst for strength, rather than a reason to shudder in fear.“We’re really reaching a point, for a particular generation of Haitian people, where we have to be clear,” said Dr. Evan Auguste, a clinical psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Boston. “The ideas of uplift, representation, of achieving excellence, allowing for Haitian people to be better treated – it’s not grounded in a political reality.” Read more in The Haitian Times. →
Texas officials express concern about Islamic development: Texas authorities are putting Muslims under a microscope after the revelation of plans to build an Islamic-oriented facility and community despite local opposition. AsAm News, citing an article in Newsweek, said that a dozen agencies in the state are investigating what’s been dubbed as “EPIC City,” a 402-acre development of the East Plano Islamic Center that sits in portions of Collin and Hunt Counties.
Gov. Greg Abbott, claiming that adversarial foreign entities will purchase land in Texas, said that in addition to the investigation, state lawmakers are considering restrictive laws. Also, Attorney General Ken Paxton said that he told planners Community Capital Partners that he wants to look over its plans.
“My office has an open and ongoing investigation into EPIC City, which has raised a number of concerns, and this (demand) will help ensure that any potential violation of state law is uncovered,” Paxton told The Dallas Morning News.EPIC City is slated to build 1,000 homes, a K-12 faith-based school, a mosque, assisted living for the elderly, retail, a community college and even sports facilities, according to the Morning News. Imran Chaudhary, president of Community Capital Partners says he would cooperate with the investigation but was concerned about “rumor-milling and misinformation circulated by many who are uninformed.”At least some of that has come from Abbott, who was quick to point out on social media that “Sharia law is not allowed in Texas” in response to the development.
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Immigrant worker helps others fight wage theft: A Subway restaurant worker in San Francisco who was frustrated with her tips being stolen wound up helping other immigrants there get back $1.7 million that was taken from them as well.El Tecolote reports Ilsi, whose full name has been withheld to protect her identity, did the work of three people for $18.07 per hour. One customer saw her hard work and offered a $50 tip, but only if she would be guaranteed to get it. She never did. In fact, her paycheck was supposed to have a lot more money than it did. “I had calculated that I had made around $400 in tips, but when my paycheck came, it only showed $180,” she said. “I thought maybe I had miscalculated. But then the next paycheck came, and it was the same.”
Still, as a Guatemalan immigrant who spoke little English, Ilsi felt she had little recourse. One day she met with an organizer from Trabajadores Unidos Workers United (TUWU), which fights for immigrant worker rights.She learned that she was being ripped off.“I wasn’t even looking into the overtime, or the breaks, or the lunch, or the other things they were doing wrong. I just wanted to know about the tips,” Ilsi told El Tecolote. “The very next day after I visited that store, my boss came and fired me.” But TUWU intervened and she was reinstated.
Christopher Van Buren and Marta Gebreslasie, who own the restaurant, were cited by California Labor Commissioner’s office for labor violations to the tune of $1.7 million. Ilsi now has a job at another Subway where she is treated better and her tips are included in her check. But there are still other workers who could be in the same situation she was in.“I want them to pay,” said Ilsi. “Not just in money, but by stopping the exploitation of more workers.”Read more at El Tecolote. →
Trump's war on federal workers threatens Black Americans: African American federal government workers find themselves between a rock and a hard place as Trump administration upends the federal workforce through firings, downsizing, and buyouts in multiple agencies. Now, an op-ed for URL Media by Tyler Mitchell, president of the Morgan State University Political Science Association, and Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, remarks on both the threat to the federal workforce and the progress for Black professionals made through the federal system.
“Though wages in government positions are often less than in the private sector, the combination of job security and better benefits have proven to be a stronger path to wealth building than similar work in the private sector,” Mitchell and Asante-Muhammad write. “As the Center for American Progress reports, Black workers in the private sector have only about 10 percent of the wealth of white workers, but Black workers in the public sector have almost half the wealth of white workers. The radical changes in government policy proposed by the new Department of Government Efficiency threaten the progress found in the public sector and threaten to erase the public sector as an opportunity for greater African American economic security.”They point out that while the private sector lagged behind for years in opening opportunities for African Americans, the military and public sector opened doors that remained otherwise closed for people of color in America. Executive order 9980 and 9981, which ordered desegregation of the federal government and military provided the foundation for the Black middle class, which has seen years of growth.“The radical shake up of government employment and the adjoining attack on diversity, equity and inclusion threaten to turn back some of the gains of a growing Black Middle Class in the final decades of the 20th century,” the two wrote.Read more at URL-Media. →
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