U.S. citizen finally returns to Rockland after years in Haiti
Born in Rockland County and raised in Haiti, U.S. citizen, now 34, is finally able to return to this country
Armed with her birth certificate, Nagurska Ducasse tried to leave Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. U.S. officials at the airport turned her away.Haiti has been under a U.S. State Department ‘Do Not Travel’ alert during the years that Nagurska Ducasse was trying to prove she was American-born.”She’s a product of this country,” Nagurska’s aunt, Daniela Ducasse, said. “She belongs and she’s home.”
HAVERSTRAW – Nagurska Ducasse is finally home.
That means back in the United States, the 34-year-old’s country of citizenship, for the first time since she was a 2-year-old and sent to live with a grandmother in Haiti.
Her return comes after several years of her aunt, Daniela Ducasse, fighting for recognition of her natural-born U.S. citizenship, something American officials had rebuffed for years, despite a fat folder full of documented proof.
Daniela Ducasse of Haverstraw, Nagurska’s aunt, had waged what often felt like a quixotic battle to bring her niece home. “This auntie is not playing,” Daniela said in her living room, next to the niece who now calls her “Mom.”
As violence in Haiti worsened, Daniela had reached out for help to federal and local government officials and nonprofits. But there was little progress.
Then she contacted the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.
“It made all the difference,” Daniela said of Schumer’s involvement. When the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince contacted Daniela for the last piece of proof they wanted — family pictures of Nagurska as a child in the U.S. — officials there mentioned Schumer’s office had been in contact. Within days, a U.S. passport was ready to be issued for Nagurska.
“After months of work, I am thrilled Nagurska Ducasse is finally reunited with her aunt Daniela and their family in Rockland County,” Schumer said.
Schumer and Daniela Ducasse have said other families face similar circumstances, and Haiti’s dangerous and deteriorating conditions make action imperative. Haiti remains under a U.S. State Department-issued Level 4 “Do not travel” alert, the highest level that is assigned to places with life-threatening risks. U.S. citizens there have been advised to leave the country “when considered safe,” according to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and are warned not to go to the country “due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure.”
Schumer said in a statement: “The Ducasse family’s story is one so many Haitians in New York have experienced, feeling the anguish for their loved ones abroad amid this period of unrest. I am working hard to deliver the resources needed to help Haiti bring an end to the gang-generated violence and restore stability and democracy.”
Born in Nyack Hospital, raised in Haiti
Nagurska Ducasse was born in 1990 at Nyack Hospital. She was baptized at St. Joseph Church in Spring Valley. She attended West Street Child Care Learning Center in Spring Valley as a toddler.
When Nagurska was 2, her mom took her to Haiti and left her in the care of her maternal grandmother. Her mother then returned to the U.S. for work. For many families, this is far from an unusual occurrence.
But a series of family misfortunes created barriers to Nagurska’s return.
Her parents were divorced. Nagurska’s father — and Daniela’s older brother — lives in the U.S. but has suffered serious health problems, which has precluded him from being able to help.
Nagurska’s mother, who had the baby’s U.S. passport, Social Security card and other documentation, wasn’t in contact with her ex-husband’s family. Daniela Ducasse struggled to find her former sister-in-law. Finally, she tracked Nagurska’s mother, who had fallen on hard times, through various New York City shelter and social services programs. When there was finally word of her location, just last year, Daniela found out Nagurska’s mother had recently died.
So, Daniela Ducasse went to Nyack Hospital to get a copy of Nagurska’s original birth certificate; she tracked down baptism records and other documentation. She gave all this to U.S. officials but still Nagurska’s claim of citizenship was rejected for years.
Finally, a path to a passport
There were many steps still to figure out, including getting a Social Security card. Daniela and Nagurska also decided to work on granting the aunt power of attorney — in English and French — so Daniela could pursue the passport application stateside.
With the help of the Rockland County Clerk’s office and armed with a power of attorney signed by Nagurska, Daniela Ducasse was finally able to apply for a new U.S. passport for her niece. “Hearing that a U.S. citizen was going through that in Haiti, they were very helpful,” Daniela recalled of the county clerk’s office in New City, abuzz with workers trying to help her ensure the application was in order.
Schumer’s office then worked on the U.S. Passport Bureau and the U.S. embassy in Haiti. An in-person interview was arranged for Nagurska in Port-au-Prince, a perilous trip during which her bus was stopped twice by gangs on the way there and once on the way back.
When the passport was ready, embassy officials advised Nagurska to pick it up on the way to the airport in the capital. This would minimize trips through the country.
On Sept. 6, Nagurska Ducasse finally got on a Spirit Airlines flight from Port-au-Prince to Ft. Lauderdale, then to LaGuardia. The first leg of the journey, from Haiti to U.S. soil, is around around 45 minutes shorter than the second leg from Florida to New York.
A hard and dangerous life in Haiti
Nagurska’s childhood in Haiti included several moves as elderly relatives became unable to care for her. She went from the care of her maternal grandmother to the home of her paternal grandfather. When he died, Nagurska’s uncle (Daniela’s older brother) took her in.
Her life was in danger several times. Twice, when she lived with her uncle, Nagurska was kidnapped and held ransom.
That uncle was killed in 2017.
That was when Daniela vowed to get her niece home.
But Nagurska had already been denied opportunities to return the the U.S.
After the 2010 earthquake, when the U.S. urged all Americans to leave, Nagurska tried but was rejected, Daniela recalled. Nagurska explained how she arrived at the airport in Port-au-Prince, where U.S. military airlifts were taking place, her Nyack Hospital-issued birth certificate in hand. Then pregnant with her first child, her husband at her side after the journey from Saint-Marc, U.S. officials turned her away. On the drive home, Nagurska and her husband survived a catastrophic car crash that killed others.
Meanwhile, Nagurska had built a life in Haiti. She has obtained training and credentials in nursing, Hotel/Hospitality Management, and Esthetician/Cosmetology. She and her husband have four young children. Her husband and kids remain in Haiti. The youngest just 2 years old.
“From here, I am going to help Nagurska claim (the kids) as citizens born abroad,” Daniela said. After she can bring the children to the U.S., Nagurksa will apply for her husband to join her.
Others also need help to return from Haiti
Rockland County includes one of the largest Haitian diasporas in the U.S.
Daniela said she’s met families facing similar hurdles to bring people in Haiti, including those with U.S. citizenship or residency status, home.
U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler’s office, whom Daniela had contacted earlier, said they had worked with other local families.
“We have helped numerous constituents with several issues ranging from kidnapping of family members to passport problems,” said Lawler Chief of Staff Nate Soule in 2023.
Among those still stuck in Haiti: Paul Pierrilus, a former Spring Valley resident who was deported to Haiti by the U.S. government in 2021, even though he’d never been to the country nor held citizenship there. Although Pierrilus’ parents were Haitian citizens, he was born in the Leeward Islands and is stateless.
Gov. Kathy Hochul granted a pardon to Pierrilus in May for a conviction many years ago. The advocacy organization Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights advocated for the pardon and continues to work for Pierrilus to win permission to come home to Rockland.
Former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones had championed Pierrilus’ case, as have immigration advocacy groups nationwide and in Spring Valley, which has the second-largest Haitian diaspora, per capita, in the United States.
Jones, a Democrat, is now running against Republican Lawler to represent the 17th Congressional District.
“We must do more to make sure law-abiding members of our community like Paul are not wrongfully deported,” Jones said, “and we are building an immigration system that prioritizes border security and a reasonable pathway to citizenship for otherwise law-abiding undocumented members of our community.”
For now, though, there’s celebration that one woman’s journey home has finally happened.
“Today I am happy my office was able to help bring together Nagurska and the ones she loves,” Schumer said in a statement. “It is a blessing. Welcome back home to New York.”
Daniela, all smiles on Monday as she discussed Nagurska’s journey home, agreed. “She’s a product of this country,” the Haverstraw resident said. “She belongs and she’s home.”
Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy for lohud.com and the USA Today Network New York. Reach her at [email protected]; follow her on X (Twitter), Threads and Instagram at @nancyrockland.
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Publish date : 2024-09-09 20:00:00
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