Letters are coming in from Haitian migrants

Her two daughters, who are now 29 and 18 years old, are long past the age of Santa Claus. Tropnas, now 55, never thought she would return to the holiday gift program, soliciting help for a new generation of family members seeking stability in a foreign land.

Globe Santa received hundreds of letters this year from families of Haitian migrants. The footage depicts families on the move, fleeing political unrest, natural disasters and widespread hunger. Newly settled families are looking for better schools, jobs, a safe home and, as shown in the picture. presented by Globe Santa, an unforgettable Christmas for their children.

“The most humane thing is to help each other,” Tropnas said in an interview. “Whether it’s an immigrant or even someone who was born here, the bigger picture is just helping each other.”

The increase in letters from Haitian families is not surprising, given this thousands of new migrants have arrived in Massachusetts within the past two years.

The Bay State is home to the third largest Haitian diaspora in America. About three out of four arrivals to Massachusetts during the most recent federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2023, were Haitian nationals, according to state data. Office of Refugees and Immigrants.

This is stated in the June press release of the office of US representative Ayanna Pressley over 4,700 Haitians with temporary legal status live in the state. The status allows recent arrivals to legally work or attend school. The The Biden administration extended temporary protected status for Haitian migrants through February 3, 2026.

Many of Santa’s letters to the world help explain why families settled in the United States. One is from a fifth-grade ESL teacher near Boston who writes for a mother and daughter who cannot speak or read English. The teacher wrote about parents’ work ethic and proven efforts to give their children a better future.

“Mom cares about their education and came to our open house,” the teacher wrote. “Mom is raising three kids and dad is trying to get a job here.”

The teacher, who declined to be identified out of concern for student safety, said Christmas can be a difficult time for classmates who are new to the U.S. and may not have much.

“When they come here and the kids are talking about getting a new Xbox, it’s really hard,” the teacher said. Thanks to Santa’s Globe donations, “my kids will be able to go back to school after the holidays and feel like, ‘Oh, I got something, too.’

Among those writing letters is Tropnas, who is asking for toys for her 4-year-old nephew, who she adopted last July “when the situation in Haiti got worse.” His mother died two years ago, and despite her limited finances as a school bus driver, she said she felt the need to help. “I also used a lot of my savings to get (him) to the US,” she wrote.

“There’s really no future, no hope, no opportunity for young people,” Tropnas said.

She said she was impressed and impressed by her nephew’s interests. He loves building blocks. He’ll dance to anything, whether it’s hip-hop or gospel. And he loves everything to do with Spider-Man. Globe Santa guarantees that toys and books will come to him for the holiday

“I would really like to give my nephew a real Christmas, unwrapping presents under the tree,” Tropnas wrote in her letter.

A fifth-grade teacher hopes the many letters sent to Globe Santa this year for Haitian migrant families will help the public imagine a part of the problem that is often forgotten: the stories of ordinary people who just want the best for their children.

“The same people who will complain about people coming here are the same people who might complain about having to wait for an Uber or wait for food delivery,” the teacher said. “Their parents work day and night to survive, and they work a lot harder than people, who I think often complain about.”

For 69 years, Globe Santa, a program of the Boston Globe Foundation, has provided gifts to children in need during the holiday season. Please consider sending by phone, mail or online at globesanta.org.

Tiana Woodard can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @tianarochon.