By Staff Reporter | NewsAmericasNow.com
News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Mon. June 1, 2026: It’s officially National Caribbean American Heritage Month here in the United States, even though the White House has not said so as yet. As of today, Monday, June 1, the Trump administration has issued no proclamation recognizing Caribbean American Heritage Month – a signal many see in line with a series of executive orders (EOs) targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the public and private sectors. The absence of a Caribbean American Heritage Month proclamation follows a similar pattern – the Trump White House also issued no proclamation recognizing Haitian Heritage Month in May, which is observed annually to honor the contributions of Haitian Americans to the United States. The back-to-back silences on both Caribbean observances represent a sharp departure from the tradition maintained by previous administrations. Traditionally, proclamations recognizing CAHM are released on or before May 31st.
What The Silence Says
Previous administrations – Democrat and Republican alike – have consistently issued proclamations recognizing June as Caribbean American Heritage Month, acknowledging the cultural, economic, and civic contributions of one of America’s most vibrant immigrant communities that total over 10% of the nation’s foreign-born population.
The Trump administration’s failure to issue that recognition in 2026 comes as:
- The USS Nimitz – one of the world’s largest nuclear-powered aircraft carriers – sits docked at the Port of Kingston, Jamaica, 90 miles from Cuba, which many see as part of an escalating military pressure campaign against Havana.
- Anti-immigration hardliner Kari Lake – who has campaigned for mass deportations of immigrants – awaits Senate confirmation as US Ambassador to Jamaica
- Secondary sanctions expanded against Cuba put Caribbean businesses and banks at direct risk of exposure to US sanctions.
- Green Card rule changes threaten to force thousands of Caribbean and other immigrants already living and working in the United States to leave the country to apply for permanent residency.
- Mass deportation operations continue to target Caribbean and immigrant communities across the country
The Caribbean Community
Caribbean American communities across the United States have built extraordinary legacies in medicine, education, law, business, the arts, and public service. They pay taxes, vote, serve in the military, and contribute to every sector of American life. Caribbean American Heritage Month exists precisely to recognize that legacy. According to the US. Census data from 2020, the first Census when Caribbean people were able to write in their ancestry thanks to CARIBID, the movement founded by NAN publisher, Felicia J. Persaud, to get Caribbean nationals accurately counted. Some 13 million people of Caribbean descent live in the US. That is 10.2 percent of the country’s immigrant population. Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Haiti account for most of that number. Geographically, Caribbean Americans are most heavily concentrated in Florida (30%), New York (25%), and New Jersey (6%). The data also show that most Caribbean Americans fall within the 45–64 age range, reflecting a well-established and mature population.
According to historian and archivist Damani Davis, tens of thousands of Afro-Caribbean, or “West Indian,” immigrants migrated to the U.S. between the 1910s and 1930s, and in some cases, even earlier. In his publication Ancestors from the West Indies: A Historical and Genealogical Overview of Afro-Caribbean Immigration, 1900–1930s, Davis documents how these immigrants primarily settled in northeastern port cities – particularly New York City, which became the epicenter of West Indian cultural life in the U.S. At the same time, South Florida attracted a substantial number of Bahamian migrants, who established vibrant communities in areas like Broward County and Miami.
Caribbean American Heritage Month
Caribbean American Heritage Month was established by Congress in 2006 after advocacy by the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Washington, D.C., and former Democratic Congressmember Barbara Lee of California, now Mayor of Oakland, CA, to recognize the significant contributions of Caribbean Americans to the United States, and was signed into law by President George W. Bush.
FAMOUS CARIBBEAN AMERICANS IN US HISTORY
The demographic footprint of Caribbean Americans remains undeniable in the United States. Caribbean presence in the U.S. dates back centuries. Historians like Jennifer Faith Gray of the Scottish Centre for Global History note that enslaved Africans were brought from the Caribbean to the U.S. as early as the 1660s, with one-third to half of enslaved persons in the Carolinas during the colonial era coming directly from the Caribbean. Harvard University, among others, profited from Caribbean slave labor through financial instruments and loans.
One of the most notable acts of Caribbean American resistance in U.S. history came in 1822, when Denmark Vesey, a Caribbean-born former slave, led a planned slave revolt in Charleston, South Carolina – one of the largest of its time.
Caribbean immigrant and US founding father, Alexander Hamilton, was born in Charlestown, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and became the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury. A key architect of America’s financial system, Hamilton served under President George Washington from 1789 to 1795. He also co-founded the Federalist Party and the African Free School, and played a pivotal role in shaping the early United States. Hamilton was married to Elizabeth Schuyler and was tragically killed in a duel in 1804. His legacy as a Caribbean-born visionary and American statesman endures.
NewsAmericasNow.com will update this story if the White House issues a proclamation.
