‘Haiti don’t deserve that,’ Rockford man worries about hometown amid President Trump’s travel ban

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A Rockford man expressed his personal concerns with President Trump’s travel ban on 12 countries.

One of the countries impacted is Haiti, where James Casimir was born. Casimir said he moved to Rockford in 1994 for a better life and because of a political downfall in the country, but his family still lives in Haiti.

“I love Haiti, and I love to live there,” Casimir said. “I always go back to Haiti twice a year. I have brothers and sisters, my mom is here, but all my family, nieces and cousins, people I grew up with are still over there.”

Casimir said his house is in Port-au-Prince and his friend is living in it. Within the last two months, Casimir said gangs have taken over the neighborhood, forcing his friends and family members to live on the street.

Between this and President Trump’s travel ban, Casimir said he doesn’t think he’ll be able to see them for a long time.

“It’s going to affect everybody,” Casimir said. “A lot of Haitian who been here, they got their green card, got their Haitian passport. They need to go back to their country, see their family and come back. There’s a problem.”

Chris Weickert is the Executive Director for Hope for Haitians, a Rockford-based organization that provides services to people in Haiti. Weickert said it will be difficult to get work done with the ban.

“Not being able to have our country director, who is a native Haitian physician down there, come into the country and do those meetings will be difficult,” Weickert said. “It’s a very unhelpful thing to do to one of our closest neighbors that has the greatest needs.”

Casimir said he hopes the ban will be over sooner rather than later.

“I hope it ends today,” Casimir said. “This come right now about President Trump is very bad for the country. I know Haiti is bad. I know Haiti has terrorist people, but Haiti not a terrorist country. Haiti don’t deserve that.

It is unclear how long the travel ban will last, but Weickert said he plans to continue supporting the people of Haiti in any way he can.

Hope for Haitians will be having its 23rd annual “Evening in the Tropics” fundraising event on August 23 at Prairie Street Brewing Co. to raise money to create a new village in Haiti.