Our Principles

From its inception, the Haitian Lawyers Association (HLA) has provided pro-bono legal representation to Haitian immigrants in matters relating to immigration, family law, civil rights, criminal law, juvenile law, and housing. HLA has represented clients in federal, state and immigration courts.

Moreover, HLA has partnered with Legal Services of Greater Miami to provide free representation to families facing foreclosure and has conducted various community seminars to educate them on how to save their homes and to modify their loans. In addition to providing legal representation, HLA often appears on radio shows to educate members of the community about legal issues in the areas of immigration law, family law, unlicensed practice of law, and criminal law.

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, HLA focused a bulk of its pro-bono services in two areas: (1) processing Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) applications for immigrants in the U.S. and resolving collateral legal issues relating to TPS applications; and (2) unifying families by reconnecting parents living in Haiti with children who are currently receiving medical services in hospitals in the U.S. HLA assisted more than 500 Haitian nationals with their TPS applications.

Since then, however, the federal government under President Donald Trump decided to rescind TPS, leading HLA to file a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing that the decision was premature and based in racial discrimination. NAACP v. DHS is only one of the several lawsuits filed against the administration.

HLA is dedicated to the fight for the Haitian and Haitian-American community.