The Trump-Vance administration has made one factor clear in its first 100 days: the Caribbean is not a precedence — except it’s about deportations, commerce crackdowns, or pulling support. For these of us in New York Metropolis, dwelling to the biggest Caribbean diaspora in the US, this isn’t simply overseas coverage. It’s private.
Throughout Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, Caribbean People are watching because the hard-won ties between our communities and our homelands are quietly unraveled. Within the title of “America First,” this administration has paused important improvement support, accelerated deportations, and threatened financial stability within the area — all whereas ignoring the interconnectedness that binds the Caribbean and the U.S. collectively.
In January, President Trump signed Government Order 14169, pausing all non-emergency overseas improvement help. For Caribbean nations that depend on U.S. help to strengthen healthcare, construct local weather resilience, and get better from pure disasters, this freeze is devastating. And whereas some in Washington body this as a “cost-saving measure,” the truth is that pulling support from small island nations doesn’t simply harm these overseas — it ripples by means of communities proper right here in New York.
Many people have household again dwelling. We ship remittances, assist rebuild after hurricanes, help small companies, and advocate for immigration aid. When our dwelling nations wrestle, we really feel it — emotionally, financially, and politically. When Trump cuts support to Jamaica or the Dominican Republic, it means native clinics lose funding, jobs disappear, and folks have fewer choices — usually main them emigrate right here below much more determined situations.
On the similar time, the administration’s hardline immigration agenda is fueling worry and uncertainty in our boroughs. The specter of mass deportations looms massive, particularly for Caribbean nationals who’re longtime residents however might lack full authorized standing. The administration’s calls to ramp up removals, together with of people with minor or decades-old infractions, are tearing households aside and overburdening already stretched group assets.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about public security. It’s about racialized enforcement — and the Caribbean is a goal. Earlier this 12 months, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed his assaults on Cuba’s worldwide medical diplomacy, accusing the nation of “medical trafficking.” That may sound like overseas coverage enterprise, however right here in New York, many people grew up listening to tales of Cuban medical doctors saving lives throughout the area. These applications, whereas imperfect, crammed important gaps in underserved areas. Now, even these shared legacies are being politicized.
What’s most troubling, nonetheless, is that the administration’s stance doesn’t appear to acknowledge — or worth — the deep-rooted relationship between the U.S. and the Caribbean. Over 4.5 million Caribbean immigrants and their descendants stay in the US. New York Metropolis alone is dwelling to greater than 1 million Caribbean People. We’re educators, nurses, transit staff, enterprise house owners, and group leaders. Now we have contributed to this nation in each means conceivable — and but our histories, our struggles, and our futures are being sidelined.
This neglect doesn’t simply present up in coverage — it reveals up in silence. When Caribbean leaders name for fairer commerce phrases or a voice in local weather adaptation, Washington barely blinks. When the Dominican Republic faces rising power insecurity or Haiti cries out for assist rebuilding democratic establishments, U.S. engagement is inconsistent at greatest, and paternalistic at worst. And when our communities right here within the U.S. advocate for extra inclusive immigration reform, funding in Caribbean neighborhoods, or financial fairness, we’re informed to attend our flip — or worse, that our issues don’t matter.
Effectively, they do.
The Caribbean just isn’t a geopolitical afterthought — it’s a important a part of the Americas. And the diaspora just isn’t a silent voting bloc — we’re a pressure that shapes elections, tradition, and economies.
As somebody with roots within the area, as a former senior Biden-Harris administration official, and as a proud New Yorker, I urge our elected leaders — particularly in Congress and on the metropolis degree — to concentrate. We’d like public stress to revive overseas support to the Caribbean, shield immigrants from dangerous enforcement actions, and construct stronger financial and cultural partnerships that acknowledge our shared future.
And to our Caribbean American communities right here in New York: that is our second to arrange, to talk up, and to remind this administration — and the subsequent — that we’re watching, voting, and constructing a greater future for our households on either side of the ocean.
** Troy Blackwell is a former advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris, was President Biden’s Deputy Chief Communications Officer on the U.S. Division of Commerce, and served because the International Spokesperson for the U.S. Peace Corps.
