[News] Black activists call for halt to deportation of 50, 000 Haitians and 4, 000 Somalis

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://sfbayview.com/2017/04/baji-black-activists-call-for-halt-to-deportation-of-50000-haitians-and-4000-somalis/ 



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

April 26, 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*/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 <http://blackalliance.org/stand-with-haiti/> 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 
<http://blackalliance.org/blog_memorandum-potential-impact-of-recent-executive-orders-on-black-immigrants-refugees/> 
in the United States on Somalia and several other African nations 
<http://blackalliance.org/blog_mohamed_whyyoushouldbetalkingaboutfamineinafrica/>.

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)/ 
<http://blackalliance.org/>/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./

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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