Immigration reform, and the politics surrounding it, have become synonymous with Hispanic-Americans.
Never mind the fact that the vast majority of Latinos in America are already citizens, born in the United States, and that not every immigrant — documented or otherwise — is Hispanic. The easy stereotypes make for simplified storytelling. But the issue of immigration, as you might expect, is far more complex.
For black America, the conversation about comprehensive immigration reform has often seemed disconnected from the core experience of most members of the community.
So it might come as a surprise to some that Ben Jealous, head of the NAACP, will keynote today’s Washington D.C. rally calling on Congress to pass an immigration bill.
African-American leaders rally to the cause
“We need common sense solutions that uphold our nation’s values and move our nation forward,” Jealous said of his reasons for participating in the Wednesday rally. “It is time to put to rest far-right-wing delusions about mass deportations and massive racial profiling programs like those in Alabama and Arizona. The very idea of America demands and deserves that we fix our nation’s broken immigration system in a way that would make Lady Liberty proud.”
Jealous is not the only African-American engaged on the issue. On Tuesday, New York representatives Yvette Clarke and Hakeem Jeffries, along with Nevada Congressman Steven Horsford, co-chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus’ immigration task force, held a form on “immigration reform in black America” at Howard University.
And on Saturday, CBC member Rep. Donald Payne will participate with the SEIU union in a pro-immigration reform rally at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ.
“America is a nation of immigrants. Nowhere is that more evident than in the 10th Congressional District. We have welcomed large populations of different immigrant groups from Africa, Asia, Central America, and the Caribbean,” Payne said in a press release Tuesday. “It is our diversity that is our incredible source of strength, and we must remember that many of our parents and grandparents faced the same challenges immigrants face today – opposition, incredible prejudice, and the challenge of learning a new language.”
It’s the economy, stupid
So why should black America care about immigration reform? It’s simple — the numbers, and the economy.
According to the Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Immigration Policy, which released a series of recent studies on black immigrants to the U.S., black Africans are among the fastest growing U.S. immigrant groups — comprising 3 percent of all foreign-born Americans — some 1.1 million people. Their numbers have grown at accelerating rates in recent decades — up 200 percent during the 1980s and 90s, and up nearly 100 percent since 2000.
Diversity visas — a program whose goal is to increase the share of immigrants from underrepresented countries, are the most common way African immigrants come to the U.S., and in recent months, black caucus members have fought to save the program, and its approximately 55,000 annual visas, from sequestration cuts.
An even greater number of black immigrants come to the U.S. from the Caribbean, with black migrants from places like Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and the Dominican Republican immigrants numbering some 1.7 million, making up more than half of all black migrants to the U.S., according to MPI.
More than 90 percent of the immigrants from the English and French-speaking Caribbean are black, compared with less than 15 percent of black immigrants form the Dominican Republic and just 3 percent from Cuba, according to the D.C.-based think tank. But in part because the vast majority of black Caribbean immigrants speak English fluently, they tend to do well — very well in fact — earning more on average than African-Americans and having higher average levels of educational attainment.
And while the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that black Caribbean immigrants are the least likely to be undocumented of any black immigrants in the U.S., the fact remains that 16 percent are estimated to be in the country without authorization. That’s also true of 21 percent of black Africans and nearly one in three black immigrants from other places, like Europe and South America.
Black immigrants in need of protection
Comprehensive immigration reform would directly impact those undocumented black immigrants, as would the extension of programs like Temporary Protected Status, which currently — and tenuously — protects some Haitian immigrants from deportation.
Black immigrants clearly have a stake in immigration reform. But so does black America.
The deals being reached on minimum pay and worker protections for low skilled workers not only would impact immigrants working in the service industries, they also would safeguard the wages of American workers and the unemployed — making it harder for employers to troll for the lowest common wage denominator, or to avoid hiring American workers at all. With black unemployment hovering at above 13 percent, that means reform could have a direct impact on black households, even if black immigrants don’t represent a majority of the undocumented.
As Antonio Gonzalez, of the William C. Velazquez Institute explained in an interview with NBCLatino.com, “the truth is while the main beneficiaries of legalization might be Latinos and Asians, in a broader sense it’s really about our economy, and everyone benefits from the boost of millions of underground workers coming to the surface.”
Gonzalez said Jealous’ participation in Wednesday’s rally was important:
“The human and civil rights of the undocumented is the modern-day civil rights movement,” says Gonzalez. “You can’t have 10 million people excluded from society and have a health democracy.”
Velazquez says that while there are tensions in some communities between Latinos and African Americans over issues like jobs, “the African American leadership has been terrific and in solidarity with the undocumented rights movement, more than any other constituency,” says Velazquez. ”They get it.”
And in fact, African-American support for immigration reform is a logical progression from the historic fights for civil and equal rights in America.
A modern-day civil rights movement
“Comprehensive immigration reform is a continuation of the civil rights movement, which many African-Americans have been the protectorate over since the beginning of our nation’s history,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) said. “It’s about equality for all and the elimination of second class citizenship”
Clarke, whose background is Jamaican, represents New York’s 9th Congressional District, co-chairs of the CBC’s Immigration Taskforce. “I believe we must highlight the similarities and encourage African Americans to become more involved in the national discussion,” Clarke said.
“The legacy of the Civil Right Movement and the impact of African Americans on this country in perpetuity rely on everyone’s engagement. Many of us know someone who will benefit from comprehensive immigration reform and the time has come for us to stand with them and advocate for their right to fully participate in our civil society.”
Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @TheReidReport.