Trump’s Quiet War On Black Migrants
A really close friend of mine, who is Ethiopian, has lived in New York City since she was 16. Now, in her mid-30s, she’s being threatened with deportation after making the city her home for more than half of her life. Sadly, she’s not alone in her fight to stay in America, as Trump’s immigration agenda is quietly impacting Black migrants while most of the media turns a blind eye.
What’s often missing from the national conversation around immigration is how Black migrants, from Haiti, African nations, and the Caribbean, are being disproportionately targeted under Trump-era policies. From travel bans to asylum shutdowns to disproportionate deportations, the war on Black migrants has long been a hidden front in Trump’s immigrant crackdown.
President Trump recently announced a new travel ban that mirrored the one he implemented during his first term, which primarily targets African and Asian nations. As previously reported by NewsOne, the new ban fully bars entry to nationals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Others, such as Sudan and Somalia, were designated for inadequate cooperation with U.S. counterterrorism screening protocols. In addition to the outright bans, seven countries face partial visa restrictions: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Many of these countries are Black African nations and this is no coincidence.
In May, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Haitian, Venezuelan, Cuban, and Nicaraguan immigrants who were granted humanitarian parole under the Biden administration, according to the Guardian.
Many things haven’t changed since Trump’s first term when it comes to the harsh treatment of Black migrants. Title 42, which was implemented in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was a policy that allowed Border Patrol to stop migrants from seeking asylum. The policy led to Black migrants being subjected to racial profiling and discrimination by Border Patrol Officers, who were routinely deported without access to legal counsel or support.
Together, these policies paint a clear picture of how Black migrants have been targeted by the Trump administration. The data makes the reality even harder to ignore.
According to analysis by the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Black undocumented migrants make up only 5.4% of the undocumented population in the U.S., but make up 20.3% of migrants facing removal based on criminal convictions.
From Capital B:
This stark disparity exists despite data that shows all migrant populations commit crimes at similar rates.And it feels especially acute as millions of Black migrants are at heightened risk of detention and deportation. According to the analysis, one study found that 24% of the people in solitary confinement were Black migrants even though they make up less than 4% of detainees in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Once in federal custody, Black migrants are twice as likely to experience abuse inside detention compared to non-Black migrants, according to Freedom For Immigrants. The organization also found that 28 % of all abuse-related reports made to the FFI hotline come from Black migrants, despite accounting for only 6 % of the total ICE detention population.
These numbers tell a story of disproportionate harm as Black migrants remain the most vulnerable yet still the most invisible.
It’s time the media did more to shine a light on the quiet war surrounding Black migrants. They deserve our help as much as anyone.
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