Haiti Extends Candidate Registration Process as Country Moves Toward December Elections

The U.S. Department of Justice is expanding what states are required to report to federal immigration authorities. Under a new legal opinion issued by the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, states that participate in federal programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) must report people they know are not lawfully present in the United States to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The change affects all agencies within a participating state, not just the agencies that directly manage TANF or SSI programs. The DOJ says states that fail to follow the reporting requirement could face serious consequences, including the loss of federal program funding. The new opinion reverses a 1998 Office of Legal Counsel interpretation that had taken a narrower approach. Under that earlier interpretation, only the specific state agencies administering TANF or SSI were required to report information to federal immigration authorities. The DOJ says the new interpretation does not create a new law or new reporting requirement. Instead, the department argues that it is restoring what it believes Congress already required under the 1996 welfare reform law. The opinion applies going forward, meaning states will not face retroactive penalties for following the older 1998 interpretation. The financial stakes are significant. The DOJ says all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and several U.S. territories currently participate in TANF and SSI, while federal TANF grants total more than $16.4 billion annually. The change could also mean more state agencies may have to review what information they have about a person’s immigration status and determine when they are legally required to share it with DHS. For immigrant communities, the policy adds another layer to the federal government’s ongoing immigration enforcement efforts. However, the DOJ opinion itself does not say that every undocumented person will automatically be reported. The requirement applies to people a state knows are not lawfully present and is tied to the federal reporting rules outlined in the law. #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

The U.S. has extended restrictions on certain flights over Haiti through March 2, 2027, as security concerns continue around Port-au-Prince.⁠ ⁠ The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restriction prevents U.S. airlines, commercial operators and certain U.S.-registered civilian aircraft from flying below 10,000 feet in designated areas of Haiti, including the airspace around Port-au-Prince.⁠ ⁠ The restriction was first put in place after gunfire targeted a Spirit Airlines flight approaching Toussaint Louverture International Airport in November 2025. A flight attendant suffered minor injuries, and other aircraft were also damaged.⁠ ⁠ The latest extension comes as gangs continue to control large parts of Port-au-Prince, keeping the capital's airspace under heightened security restrictions.⁠ ⁠ For Haitians and travelers, the decision is another sign of how the country's ongoing security crisis continues to affect transportation in and out of the capital.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

#LunionSuiteExcellence 🇭🇹 Haitian-American soprano Melissa Joseph is heading to one of the most prestigious music schools in the world. The Brooklyn-based lyric soprano announced she has been accepted into The Juilliard School’s Artist Diploma program in Opera Studies, one of only four singers selected, and the spot is fully funded. “One of four singers, and it’s fully funded. God is INCREDIBLE! I’m overjoyed!” @Meli_joe posted, tagging the school. The Artist Diploma in Opera Studies is Juilliard’s most advanced, highly selective two-year pre-professional program. It is designed for already accomplished singers and focuses on intensive acting, vocal technique, coaching, and career placement at the highest level. Acceptance is rare. Fully funded spots are rarer still. Music was never optional in Joseph’s house. Her father played in the church band. Her mother sang in Haiti. Both of her sisters played the violin. Her godfather and pastor had been a member of the well-known Haitian group Le Souffle Divin. At age 4, she was already singing Haitian hymns in church. Her parents, who immigrated from Haiti to Pennsylvania in the early 1980s, had a more cautious vision. Like many immigrant families, they hoped she would choose a “safe” profession, doctor, nurse, or lawyer. Joseph grew up between Haitian church communities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The house was filled with music, including her father’s recordings of Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. She received a full-ride scholarship to Georgia State University to study music and later returned for her Master of Music in Vocal Performance. Those years, she has said, taught her how the opera world actually works and connected her with artists who poured into her. The path after that was long: competitions, young artist programs, cover roles, and mainstage debuts. Joseph made her Opera Philadelphia debut as Musetta in La Bohème; The Washington Post called the performance “show-stopping.” She appeared with Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Lily in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Awakenings, sang Mrs. Gleaton in Susannah, and covered the title role in Treemonisha. 📸 @jjfecik #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

September is National S**cide Prevention Month. It is a reminder that looking out for each other is not extra work. It is part of how a community stays alive. All month, mental health advocates, prevention organizations, survivors of s**cide loss, people with lived experience, and ordinary community members come together to talk about something too many families still keep behind closed doors. The goal is not to scare people. The goal is to make help visible, make the signs easier to recognize, and make it normal to reach for support before the pain becomes unbearable. This matters in the Haitian community. Many of us were raised to be strong, to pray, to work, and to handle family business inside the house. Struggle gets called weakness. Depression can many times gets called everything else but what. it is. Pain can gets explained as a spiritual attack or something only God should carry. That silence can leave people isolated when they needed a hand, a call, or a safe place to say they were not okay. S**cide is preventable when people know what to watch for and where to turn. What this month is asking of us. It is asking us to do small things that save lives: - Check on the people who look fine. - Ask how someone is doing and wait for the real answer. - Listen without lecturing, comparing pain, or saying prayer is the only option. - Share resources instead of rumors. - Take talk of hopelessness, being a burden, or wanting to disappear seriously. Signs someone may be in danger - Pulling away from family, church, or friends - Hopelessness about money, immigration status, or the future - Talking as if other people would be better off without them - Sudden calm after a long stretch of distress - Giving away important belongings - Not sleeping, not eating, or not caring about appearance - Increased drinking or risky behavior If someone says they want to die, believe them. Asking directly does not plant the idea. It can open the door. If you or someone else is in crisis: Call or text 988. It is free, confidential, & available 24 hours a day. Ask for a Haitian Creole interpreter if you need one. You can also text HOME to 741741. #lunionsuite

Before she took Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night, the four-time Grand Slam champion had already given Flushing Meadows a full fashion week: sculptural white bags, orange tulle, ruched caramel minis, fuzzy blue mules, money-print Timberlands, distressed Evisu denim, and a custom Who Decides War hoodie-gown stitched with her own newspaper clippings. Then she walked out looking like Allen Iverson’s tennis cousin cornrows, red headband, one black sleeve, one red wristband and still needed two tiebreaks to beat world No. 101 Anastasia Zakharova 7-6(6), 7-6(3). Style first. Steel second. Both required. Match night was the one built to travel. Styled by Law Roach and made by Who Decides War in about 30 hours, Osaka walked out in a distressed gray sleeveless hoodie with a white tulle train. Newspaper clippings from her own career were sewn into the fabric her name, her photos, “Osaka showed strength.” Cornrows. Red headband. One black compression sleeve. One red wristband. Allen Iverson. The Manhattan Bridge photos of that same look hoodie up, hoodie down, tulle against the skyline made the entrance feel like a fashion film, not just a walk-on. The clothes got the gasps. The match almost got away. Osaka, the No. 13 seed and two-time US Open champion, beat Anastasia Zakharova 7-6(6), 7-6(3) on Monday night in just over two hours. She led both sets. Zakharova, ranked 101, kept coming. Two tiebreaks. Eleven aces from Osaka, including one on match point. A lot of rust. She had not played since Toronto, where Elena Rybakina beat her in three sets in the quarterfinals. First rounds in New York always make her nervous, she said, because she wants to do well, and because she wants to show more outfits. That next match is Kateřina Siniaková in the second round. Osaka leads the head-to-head 2-1. After that the draw gets serious: a possible Mertens meeting, then maybe Rybakina again in a brutal section of the bracket. She is 26-10 this season, 10-2 at the slams, still hunting her first title since the 2021 Australian Open. Last year she made the US Open semifinals. 📸 @NaomiOsaka #lunionsuite #haitianamerican #haitian

[TRIGGER WARNING] Pierre Damas Bel came to the United States to go to school. On Monday morning, the 20-year-old Haitian TPS holder was pronounced dead on Interstate 70 after he was struck by a semi-truck near South Vienna. The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Springfield Post said troopers were called at 8:45 a.m. to the 66 mile marker of westbound I-70, near Ohio 54. Bel was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash remains under investigation. Bel was a recent graduate of Springfield High School, class of 2026. During his senior year he played soccer for the Wildcats as a forward and midfielder. After graduation, he was looking ahead to college sports. On July 30, Bel wrote on Instagram that immigration authorities had placed a GPS monitor on his leg, and that the device had stripped him of the future he thought he was building. “I came to this country to pursue my education. I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone,” he wrote. “Yet now I’m walking through the streets of the United States with a GPS monitor on my leg, carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience.” His father, Pierre Ronal Bel, told L’Union Suite in an interview Monday that the monitor went on his son’s left leg only a few weeks ago and that Pierre Damas was traumatized & depressed. The last conversation between father and son was at 8:03 a.m. Monday, 42 minutes before troopers were called to I-70. Pierre Ronal said his son was sitting in a car and told him he was struggling. The father told him to come home so they could talk, sit together, eat, and work through it. Minutes later the phone cut off. He kept calling. He could not reach his son. Pierre Ronal said police told him today his son’s death was intentional but he’s having a hard time processing it all. L’Union Suite has not independently confirmed the official manner of death. The Ohio State Highway Patrol investigation is ongoing, & the truck driver has not been publicly identified. What is not in dispute is the pressure Pierre Damas Bel was under. Rest In Peace Pierre. We extend our deepest condolences to Pierre Ronal & the Bel family. 💔🕊️#lunionsuite

From White Rice To Mangoes! 😩🥭⁠ ⁠ Panorama Produce of Mamaroneck, New York, is recalling 302 boxes of Martina-brand mangoes sold at select Walmart stores after U.S. Food and Drug Administration sampling detected Salmonella on fruit grown on the same farm in Mexico.⁠ ⁠ The mangoes that tested positive never entered U.S. commerce. The company issued the voluntary recall because the fruit that reached stores came from that same source. The recall was announced August 28 and posted by the FDA on August 29. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the product, and the recall has not been expanded.⁠ ⁠ The recalled mangoes were distributed and sold between August 10 and August 21, 2026, in four Northeastern states: Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They were sold only at select Walmart locations in those states. Shoppers who bought mangoes at Walmart in those four states during that window should check their kitchens now. Fruit purchased in mid-August may still be sitting on a counter or in a refrigerator.⁠ ⁠ The fruit shipped in Martina-branded cases. Individual mangoes can be identified by a light blue sticker labeled Agrofepac, Produce of Mexico, PLU number 4584, and UPC 07503061948050. The mangoes are size 9.⁠ If the identifiers match, do not eat the mangoes. Throw them away or return them to the store where they were purchased. Wash hands, cutting boards, knives, and any surfaces that came into contact with the fruit.⁠ ⁠ Salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea that may be bloody, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Healthy people usually recover. Young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems face a higher risk of serious or life-threatening infection. In rare cases the bacteria can enter the bloodstream and cause arterial infections, endocarditis, or arthritis. ⁠ ⁠ Symptoms typically begin six hours to six days after exposure. Anyone who ate the fruit and feels ill should contact a healthcare provider.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

We Love To See It!! 😍💍 Haitian-American entrepreneur @NeekBey and his wife, former Black Ink Crew: Chicago star @CharmaineBey, marked a decade together and seven years of marriage with an intimate vow renewal at Ubuntu Kreative Village in Kenya, the country they now call home. The couple have been longtime supporters of L’Union Suite, and L’Union Suite has followed their journey since day one. Neek, a Howard University alum, first connected with Charmaine years after they met on campus. They began dating in July 2016. About three years later, the couple eloped in a courthouse ceremony on their own terms. Over the following years they welcomed two daughters, Nola and Charli. Charmaine, who is from the New Orleans area, lost both of her parents during her pregnancies, her mother while expecting Nola and her father while carrying Charli. The couple has said those losses tested and ultimately strengthened their partnership. In mid-July 2026 the family relocated from Los Angeles to Kenya, arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with 13 suitcases. What began as an anniversary trip became a permanent move after they researched several African countries and chose Kenya for its hospitality, culture, family-oriented pace, and opportunities. They have described Nairobi as feeling like “the New York City of Africa.” The vow renewal took place at Ubuntu Kreative Village, an eco-lodge and farm retreat near Nairobi. They exchanged handwritten vows in front of their daughters, family, and close friends. Neek said the setting felt natural and peaceful, matching the tone of their relationship. Charmaine called the ceremony a celebration of everything they had built while stepping into a new chapter. Both are entrepreneurs. They run Bey Moss and Love Loc Bey and have developed television projects together. They have said they plan to explore business opportunities in Kenya without rushing, focusing first on learning the country and adding value. “Through all of it, we never lost the love,” Neek told Essence. After more than 3,650 days together, they describe love as a choice they continue to make. 📸 @Essence #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

Facing mounting security threats and rumors of a possible gang incursion, the municipal administration of Léogâne announced Saturday, August 29, a package of measures meant to tighten control of the commune and protect residents. The Town Hall framed the steps as prevention: stronger territorial control, clearer identification of who is moving through the city, and a public hotline so residents can report threats without delay.⁠ ⁠ Night circulation is suspended. Vehicle traffic is halted from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Residents who must move through the streets are asked to carry identification at all times.⁠ ⁠ Drivers face new restrictions. Motorists and motorcycle operators may not travel with their faces hidden by a balaclava or behind tinted helmets. Owners of cars and motorcycles must obtain authorization from Town Hall before allowing anyone else to drive their vehicle.⁠ ⁠ Housing and visitors must be declared. All house-rental agreements are to be registered with municipal services. Residents are also asked to notify Town Hall when they host someone in their home, whether for a short stay or a longer one.⁠ ⁠ - From 10 p.m., Vodou ceremonies, religious services, wakes, and night Masses are to end.⁠ - Clubs, restaurants, bars, hotels, and other entertainment venues must close at that hour.⁠ - Children living in the streets are to be placed under observation in a dedicated space for a period set by competent authorities.⁠ - Anyone who shelters wanted persons or people involved in criminal acts may face intervention by security forces under applicable law.⁠ ⁠ Town Hall urged residents to work with municipal authorities and to report anything suspicious. The emergency number is 32 32 32 94, available by WhatsApp, direct call, or SMS.⁠ ⁠ Léogâne sits about 30 kilometers west of Port-au-Prince. The new rules come days after the deadly August 23–24 attack on Kenscoff, which underscored how quickly violence can jump from one hillside or coastal commune to the next.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

A federal court has struck down a State Department policy that paused immigrant visa issuance for Haitians and nationals of 74 other countries. The pause is no longer in effect as of August 21, 2026.⁠ ⁠ That ruling does not lift the separate presidential travel ban that still fully restricts Haitian nationals.⁠ ⁠ U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas ruled that the January 2026 “public charge” pause, a State Department instruction to refuse immigrant visas based on nationality, exceeded the Secretary of State’s authority. The Department of State has confirmed the policy ended on August 21. Consular officers can no longer deny an immigrant visa solely because Haiti was on that 75-country list. Applications must be judged under ordinary immigration law. Visas already issued were not revoked.⁠ ⁠ Haiti remains on the full-restriction list under Presidential Proclamation 10998, which took effect January 1, 2026 and covers 39 countries. Under that proclamation, Haitian nationals are generally barred from immigrant visas and from most nonimmigrant visas. Limited exceptions exist, including lawful permanent residents already in the United States and rare case-by-case waivers. Immediate-relative and adoption exceptions that existed under the prior 2025 proclamation were removed.⁠ ⁠ The August 21 ruling therefore removes one nationality-based barrier. It does not guarantee a visa, restore Temporary Protected Status, or override the presidential entry ban still in force against Haitian nationals.⁠ ⁠ Applicants should treat each case as subject to both remaining statutory grounds of ineligibility and Proclamation 10998 unless they clearly fall under an exception.⁠ ⁠ #lunionsuite #haitianamerican #haitian

Lionel Messi announced Monday that he is retiring from the Argentina national team, ending a 21-year international career that produced a World Cup title in 2022 and closed with a runner-up finish this summer. The 39-year-old posted the decision on Instagram, calling it a choice that “hurt, and still hurts, deep in my soul.” “I love, have loved, and will always love being part of the national team,” Messi wrote. “I’ve given everything I had. I have nothing left to give, and besides, there are some great young players coming up who deserve to be here.” His last match for La Albiceleste was the July 19 World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Spain beat Argentina 1–0 in extra time on a 106th-minute goal by Ferran Torres. Messi said he wrote the retirement letter on July 21, two days after the final, and waited to publish it. The death of his father, Jorge Messi, on August 8 confirmed the decision. “Today, after what happened with my dad, I’m even more convinced than before.” He leaves as Argentina’s most-capped player and all-time leading scorer, with 207 appearances and 125 goals. He played in six World Cups, reached three finals, won Copa América in 2021 and 2024, and captained Argentina to the 2022 Finalissima. He first stepped away from the national team in 2016 before returning. Messi will continue playing for Inter Miami. “Thank you for all the love over these 20 years,” he wrote. “I’m going to miss hearing you all from the inside so much. Now I’ll be just one of you, cheering and supporting from the outside.” The announcement comes weeks after FIFA sanctioned several Argentina players and staff for the post-match clash that followed the final. Leandro Paredes received a 10-match international ban and a $90,000 fine. Defender Nahuel Molina was banned for seven matches. Thiago Almada received one match. Assistant coach Roberto Ayala was suspended for three. FIFA also fined the Argentine Football Association about $321,000 and ordered capacity limits at upcoming home games after additional incidents during the tournament, including a political banner after the semifinal win over England. #lunionsuite #haitianamerican

Former Haitian President Michel Joseph Martelly registered as a voter on Sunday, August 30, at the Lycée national de Pétion-Ville, one of the voter registration and polling centers opened by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) in the West department. A senior member of the DEBLOKE political grouping, contacted by phone, said the former head of state’s registration signals his support for restoring the functioning of democratic institutions across the country. DEBLOKE is the political structure associated with Martelly. The CEP launched voter registration in Pétion-Ville, Delmas, and Tabarre on July 30. Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé registered at the same Pétion-Ville lycée on August 4 and called on citizens holding a valid national identification card to do the same. The first round of general elections is currently scheduled for December 13, 2026. Martelly returned to Haiti on July 15 after living in the United States. Registering as a voter is a civic requirement to participate in the vote and does not constitute a candidacy. No presidential bid has been announced. Candidate filing deadlines remain later in the calendar. Voter registration nationwide has been slow, and insecurity continues to limit operations in many communes. Martelly’s appearance at the center adds another high-profile name to the roll as political actors weigh whether and how they will engage the process. #lunionsuite #haitianamerican