The Open Society Foundations has announced grants totaling $1.3 million in support of frontline organizations working to assist Haitian and Black migrants who are dislocated, detained, and expelled upon seeking asylum at the U.S. southern border.

The emergency response to the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis will help provide legal services to Haitian asylum seekers and support advocacy to protect their rights. It will further enable Black-led organizations to champion more broadly the humane treatment of all Black immigrants seeking safety and stability in the United States. Recipients include the Haitian Bridge Alliance, UndocuBlack Network, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project, which are advancing strategies to protect rights, bolster legal services, and promote policy change, while building the capacity of Haitian diaspora and other Black-led immigrant justice organizations that have historically been underresourced.

"The treatment of Haitian migrants at the southern border is unconscionable and a stain on our country's standing across the region and among Black Americans," said Open Society Foundations deputy chair Alexander Soros. "The damage done by these policies will last long after headlines fade. These policies must change, accountability must be served, and the basic dignity and rights of the tired and poor, yearning to be free are honored here. We are proud to support organizations working on overdrive to help thousands through this crisis — and through our policy arm and efforts of the foundations’ leadership, are advocating directly for an end to expulsions and deportations of Haitians as well."

(Photo credit: Gettyimages / Juan Monino)