Haitian Immigrants in New York Describe Perilous Escape

As a young man, Dieu-Nalio Chéry fell in love with photography while working in his uncle’s photo studio in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. But after a powerful earthquake devastated the country in 2010, he turned what had been a freelance pursuit into a profession, going to work for The Associated Press in Haiti.

For the next decade, he crisscrossed the island nation, documenting major news events and focusing on human rights issues as they emerged. In a country with a literacy rate of 61 percent, Mr. Chéry’s photographs were a potent means of informing the public. Last year, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for photography for his images of unrest there.

Then in July, he had to flee Haiti after gangs threatened his life. He is now living in New York on a cultural exchange visa and has turned his attention to documenting Haitians who have been living in the city since the federal government extended special protections to them under the Temporary Protection Status, or TPS, program.

His subjects had previously been threatened with deportation, and he wanted to capture their fears and dreams at a moment when they are relieved to be in the United States as Haiti grapples with the continuing upheaval caused by another earthquake and the assassination of the country’s president.

“It is a boon for those undocumented Haitians who can now legally work, be educated and receive health care in the U.S.” Mr. Chéry, 39, said. “I am one of the examples of people who left Haiti under threat and insecurity. I didn’t pass the same way with these people, but I am one of them. I feel what they are feeling.”

Here are his subjects’ stories in their own words, translated from Haitian Creole, condensed and edited for clarity.

“I will never forget this trip.”

Jerry Mondestin, 23

I spent one month on the trip because I didn’t have a visa to go straight to Mexico. We were around 100 Haitians together. Sometimes we took buses and walked. The worst part of this trip is between Colombia and Panama.

I left them and walked with five friends, but the road was very difficult. I walked up to the mountains and crossed rivers, and there was a lot of mud. I saw a dead body in the river, but I drank that water later anyway. It was my only option until I crossed the forest.

When I arrived in Mexico, the authorities took me along with the others to jail, and after 13 days they gave us papers to go to immigration for legal entry papers.

On July 23, I crossed the border via Yuma, Ariz. The U.S. authorities put us in jail, and after 10 days they released us with legal entry papers.

“In Haiti, it’s a struggle every day.”

Joanne Joseph, 38

Even if I am safe here, I am suffering because my father and my sister, are still in Haiti, and the situation of Haiti is more complicated than you can imagine.

First, it’s a different lifestyle, a different culture. Here in New York, everything is very accessible. Opportunities are limitless.

In Haiti, it’s a struggle every day. Even some of the things as simple as going to a grocery store, going to the bank, going to a gas station to fill the tank of your car, can be complicated with the kidnappings that can happen anytime…