BAJI: Black activists call for halt to deportation of 50,000 Haitians and 4,000 Somalis

by The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)

Washington, D.C. – The 60-day notification deadline for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) re-designation is rapidly approaching, on May 23, 2017, for Haitian nationals. If re-designation is not granted, as many as 50,000 Haitians living across the United States will be stripped of work authorization and will be prioritized for ICE removal.

The 60-day notification deadline for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) re-designation is rapidly approaching, on May 23, 2017, for Haitian nationals.

Local, state and national campaigns are working against the clock to ensure that Temporary Protected Status is re-designated for Haitian nationals living in the United States. Haitians living in Florida, New York and New Jersey will be hit especially hard as these states are home to the larger part of the Haitian Diaspora in the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for making decisions and releasing information on the re-designation of Temporary Protected Status. Thus far, DHS has not released a decision on re-designation, leaving members of the Haitian community unsettled, anxious and worried about their safety and well-being.

If re-designation is not granted, as many as 50,000 Haitians living across the United States will be stripped of work authorization and will be prioritized for ICE removal.

Nana Brantuo, policy manager for the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, states, “Considering the current Haitian migrant crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border along with the trials – post Hurricane Matthew – that continues to impede the progress of Haiti’s national development, stripping 50,000 Haitian nationals of TPS status, prioritizes them for removal and raises major concerns around the readiness of Haiti to handle such a large number of deportees.”

In discussing the trials faced by Haitian immigrants living in the United States, the intersections of race and nationality ground conversation on the ways in which the immigration system is explicitly biased against Black immigrants in the United States.

The intersections of race and nationality ground conversation on the ways in which the immigration system is explicitly biased against Black immigrants in the United States. ICE is deporting over 4,000 Somalis

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is currently removing over 4,000 Somalis residing in the United States, according to Ahmed Isse Awad, Somalia’s U.S. ambassador.

The deportations will impact the Somalis living across the nation, hitting the Somali population in the Midwest especially hard, as the largest population of Somalis lives in Minnesota.

The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for disseminating details around mass deportations. Thus far, DHS has not released any information on the pending mass removal, leaving members of the Somali community unsettled, anxious and worried about their safety and well-being.

As stated by Opal Tometi, executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration: “The pending deportation of Somali immigrants is a matter of ethics and morality. The current state of affairs in Somalia – a nation that has dealt with decades of political instability and is currently experiencing drought and possibly one of the worst famines in history – is one of fragility. To deport such a large number of nationals while the country is faced with issues of national, economic and food security is inhumane.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is currently removing over 4,000 Somalis residing in the United States.

As with Haitians, in discussing the trials faced by Somali immigrants living in the United States, the intersections of race, nationality and religion ground conversation in the ways in which the immigration system is explicitly biased against Black immigrants in the United States.

Understanding the essential role the news media plays in influencing the political and legal landscape of the nation, it is equally as essential that members of the media are aware of changes that are affecting citizens and non-citizens alike.

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) has been deeply committed to and engaged in racial justice and migrants’ rights organizing and advocacy over the past 11 years. With five offices in New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Oakland and Washington, D.C., BAJI works to address mass criminalization, economic inequality and the impact of immigration and law enforcement laws and policies on Black immigrant communities.

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) has been deeply committed to and engaged in racial justice and migrants’ rights organizing and advocacy over the past 11 years.

BAJI has also been actively engaged in work on the detention and deportation of Haitians in the U.S. as well as Haitian migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition, BAJI has also been actively engaged in discussing the impact of the shifting legal and political landscape in the United States on Somalia and several other African nations.

It is BAJI’s intention to shift the mainstream narrative of immigration – specifically immigration enforcement – by discussing the intersections of race, ethnicity, nationality and religion and the ways in which the immigration system is explicitly biased against Black immigrants in the United States.

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) is an education and advocacy group comprised of African Americans and Black immigrants from Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean. BAJI engages African Americans and other communities in dialogue that leads to actions that challenge U.S. immigration policy and the underlying issues of race, racism and economic inequity that frame it.