Immigration is a Black Issue.
As we reflect on Black History Month, we’re struck by the resiliency and growing power of Black communities across the country. In a world that is forever changing, Black folks across the diaspora and in Tennessee continue to find ways to be resourceful and survive, even in the face of a government that often doesn't have our backs. And while we celebrate the ingenuity of Black communities and the history of freedom struggles in the United States, we must also call out the ways that our laws, systems, and structural injustices–and the powerful people behind them–continue to harm Black communities.
Our current immigration system disproportionately affects Black immigrants and refugees at every turn. Black immigrants make up only 7% of non-citizens in the country, but over 20% of people facing deportation are Black, in no small part due to the surveillance, over-policing, and police brutality aimed at Black bodies in this country. Black immigrants also face significantly longer detention times and are placed in solitary confinement six times as often as the detained population overall. Furthermore, Black immigrants are denied citizenship more often than any other racial and ethnic group . It is more important than ever for us to take action and advocate for the rights of immigrant communities, particularly Black immigrants, to build a world where everyone is free and safe regardless of color, gender, ability, immigration status, or income.
But it's not just the existing system. From state legislatures across the country all the way to Congress and the White House, power-hungry politicians are using our communities as bargaining chips, putting politics above humanity, and trying to divide us by the language we speak, the color of our skin, or where we are from.
For example, the Biden administration recently released a statement presenting their vision for a Bipartisan Border security bill. His “vision?” Cutting our existing legal immigration pathways, expanding the use of expedited removal in the interior, and creating a ban on majority Latinx and Black asylum seekers. This so-called plan would exacerbate chaos at the border, leaving thousands to face incomprehensible danger.
In our own state legislature this year, we are fighting a number of bills attacking our communities, including legislation that requires local governments to collaborate with ICE to detain and separate families. These policies would increase instances of racial profiling and discrimination, increasing harm to our Black immigrant neighbors and expanding the criminal immigration system.
No matter our color, gender, or our immigration status–we all deserve the freedom to live, work, and raise our families without fear. Now is the time to join together to demand fair and safe immigration processes for all families. Together, we can call on our leaders stop pushing harmful and ineffective policies and instead envision an immigration system built from a place of welcome, one that includes updated pathways to access citizenship and border policies that meet the incredible opportunity at our fingertips, to welcome the newest Americans to our country with dignity.