User:Blomeli/Black immigration in the United States

Black immigration in the United States has been ongoing since the founding of the nation, however data from the Pew Research Center states that "significant voluntary black migration is a relatively new development – and one that has increased rapidly over the past two decades." According to this data, roughly 45% of Black immigrants arrived in the United States after 2000 and when compared to other immigrants, are more likely to be married, have a college degree, and be proficient in the English language.

In 2015 there were 2.1 million African immigrants living in the United States, a significant increase from the 80,000 that were present in 1970. Immigrants from Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Egypt make up the majority of African immigrants in the United States. Although African immigrants make up a small population relative to other immigrant groups in the United States, they are the immigrant population with the highest educational attainment. In the article titled, “African Immigrants in the United States are the Nation's Most Highly Educated Group” found in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, data collected in 1997 showed that of the African immigrants living in the United States, 48.9% of those had earned a bachelor’s degree relative to 44.6% of Asian immigrants during this time.

Throughout the twentieth century, a series of immigration acts contributed to the increase of African immigrants to the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 passed by Lyndon B Johnson was an act intended to promote family reunification and to recruit immigrants with specialized skills. This act provided an opportunity for African immigrants to legally enter the United States. (source) Furthermore, The Refugee Act of 1980 allowed for immigrants fleeing conflict to enter the United States easily. Through this act, Somalian and Ethiopian immigrants were able to enter the United States by seeking asylum status. (source) The most impactful piece of legislation was the Immigration Act of 1990, also referred to as the diversity visa program, which encouraged peoples from under-represented countries to immigrate to the United States. Although intended to encourage European immigration, many African immigrants have used this act to legally immigrate into the United States. (source) These acts have proven to be successful at encouraging African immigration to the United States. According to the Pew Research Center, 19% of Sub-Saharan African immigrants entered the United States via the Immigration Act of 1990 while 28% have entered through the Refugee Act of 1990.

Anti-Blackness in Immigration

Immigration status and racial identity are considered as potential barriers for Black immigrants living in the United States. During the post- World War II period, anti-blackness was found to be prevalent in western immigration. In 1952, the Walter- McCarran Immigration Act established an immigrant preference system that set quotes to limit immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere but not the Western Hemisphere. The quota for European immigrants was set at 149,667, while the quota for all Asian immigrants was set at 2990 and all African immigrants was set at 1400. After much protest from the NAACP, the Roman Catholic Church, the New York Times, and President Truman, Congress modified the act in 1965. While the modified act placed an immigration limit on the Western Hemisphere, it also introduced new immigration classes that unfairly targeted black immigrants. Natives of independent countries of the Western Hemisphere were given quotas that other nations in the hemisphere were exempt from. These independent countries were primarily Black and included Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Jamaica. They were now forced to share quotas with nations who were sending white immigrants.

Today, the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 203 (c) includes a program, the Diversity Visa Lottery, that allows for increased immigration to the United States. This program was created to accept up to 55,000 immigrants as permanent residents annually from diverse countries that have historically had a low immigration rate. Natives from 53 African nations, 32 Asian nations, 57 European nations, 25 American nations, and 13 Oceanic Nations are eligible to receive permanent visas. In 2018, of the 14,692,258 applicants to the Diversity Visa Lottery, 42.6% of visas were granted to immigrants from African nations. Meanwhile, 36% were granted to European immigrants, 13.8% to Asian immigrants, 4.3% to American immigrants, and 3.3% to Oceanic immigrants. While the program makes it possible for African immigration to the United States to continue, nations with the highest Black populations are excluded from qualifying: Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Nigeria.

Black Immigration Rights Organizations

Black Alliance for Just Immigration

Founded in 2006, The Black Alliance for Just Immigration is an organization that advocates for various immigrants of the Black diaspora such as African-Americans, Afro-Latinos, African and Caribbean immigrants. The organization holds chapters in California, Arizona, New York, and Georgia. Their aim is to connect other organizations led by African-Americans and Black immigrants to advocate for just policies that pertain to racism, immigrant rights, and class issues. This organization has a total of 8 programs that each provide specialized training related to the advocacy work of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. The first program is known as the BAJI Organizing Committees which is responsible for providing internal political education and campaign work that addresses policies that directly affect Black immigrants and African Americans. The second is known as the Black Immigration Network (refer to the next section.) The third program is known as the Technical Assistant and Training Program (TAT) which provides training to community organizers and leaders in approaching immigrant rights through a racial and economic justice lens and providing this information to immigrant audiences. The Communications and Media Education on Race in America (CAMERA) program uses a variety of media to further advocate and educate people on just immigration policies for Black immigrants and African-Americans alike. Advocacy STAND (Solidarity and Taking Action for New Directions) Program is focused on advocacy and direct action approaches to impact public policy on all political levels. The Faith Advocacy for Immigrants and Refugees (FAIR) project, works with faith-based organizations to advocate for just immigration policies. The African Diaspora Dialogues (ADD) and African American-Immigrant Dialogues (AAID) is a joint program with Priority Africa Network and brings together Black Americans with Black immigrants to discuss common experiences and common public policy agendas. Lastly, The State of Black Immigrants Research Institute, produces research to provide information to various key stakeholders such as elected officials and media outlets and also provides tools for Black organizations and other advocacy groups.

Black Immigration Network

The Black Immigration Network is dedicated to bringing people of African descent together to advocate for racial justice and migrant rights with the mission of achieving social, economic and political power. It is a Black-led organization that connects a series of people and organizations that work towards bringing racial justice and migrant rights to the Black community. BIN provides the following 7 guidelines that outlines what the organization’s mission consist of:

1 Reflects the communities it serves by having a leadership body made up of people of African descent 2 Plays an active role in fostering dialogue on policy formation and implementation and ensuring perspectives of African-American and Black immigrants are included. 3 Fosters education and alliance building between communities of African descent. 4 Assists communities in examining critical issues surrounding relations between U.S. born Blacks and Black immigrants & refugees. 5 Creates, promotes, and initiates strategies to address immigration and refugee issues facing communities of African descent. 6 Undertakes documentation and issue periodic reports that focus on the unique experiences of migrant communities of African descent and/or receiving African American communities. 7 Fosters alliance building between communities of African descent and progressive organizations committed to racial equity, gender justice, economic justice and immigrant rights.

According to the scholarly article “National ‘Black Love Beyond Borders’ Convening to Unite the African World Community: African Americans and U.S. Black Immigrants”, from April 8th to 9th in Los Angeles California, the Black Immigration Network (BIN) brought together many places around the globe such as Canada, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Venezuela, Mexico and the United States. It was stated that “BIN, the nation’s only black-led national organization of more than 40 immigrant rights groups, brought the activists together to help tackle myriad issues facing Black immigrants and African Americans in the fight for justice in the U.S.”. In addition, “the assembly addressed a wide variety of topics including immigrant rights, refugee rights, physical and mental health, labor and workers’ rights, international human rights/land struggles, LGBTQ issues, mass criminalization—detention, deportation, incarceration and surveillance,

Islamophobia and international feminism”.

Priority Africa Network

The Priority Africa Network (PAN) works to “inform and mobilize people of African descent and their allies in the US in support of the peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora for sustained peace and democracy as well as economic, political, racial, gender, and social justice”. Beginning in April 2003, PAN has combated issues such as HIV and Aids, debt cancellation, and globalization. PAN primarily aims to make change through programs such as Speakers Series, African Community Forum, African Diaspora Dialogues, Africa Moves, and Ubuntu. The Speakers Series has focused on social justice and inspiring the community to be resilient and have hope. The African Community Forum works to “share information and resources to address needs”, of which include employment, legal services, housing, health, and immigration. The African Diaspora Dialogues work to bridge the gap between new African immigrants and Black communities in the US through conversations about common history and the different expressions of Black culture. Africa Moves is a globalized platform to help Civil Service Organizations to mobilize and expand alliances between organizations working towards the common goal of securing human rights for refugees and migrants. Africa Moves also works closely with the Women in Migration Network. Ubuntu is Priority Africa Network’s annual fundraising gala that invites the community to celebrate and learn about the African Diaspora. According to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ubuntu can be translated to “I am because you are”.

UndocuBlack Network

The UndocuBlack Network (UBN) is an immigrants’ rights organization and network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that focuses on fostering community, the provision of resources and advocacy for Black undocumented folks. The Network was formed at the conclusion of The Undocumented and Black Convening in Miami, Florida on January 15-17, 2016. Their current work focuses on establishing chapters in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C. Additionally, they are also working on establishing a mental wellness initiative to address the trauma within the undocumented Black community caused by political uncertainty.

According the Pew Research Center, there were an estimated 619,000 undocumented Black immigrants in the used as of 2015. This makes up for 15% of the total Black immigrant population. Though making up for the smallest part of the collective undocumented population in the United States, undocumented Black immigrants face a higher likelihood of deportation. Since Black people in general are subject to higher likelihood of being stopped, arrested, and incarcerated by police, undocumented Black immigrants are especially vulnerable to deportation. The UndocuBlack Network initiatives focus on advocating against the increased criminalization and vulnerability of undocumented Black people as well as addressing the trauma that accompanies said experience.

Notable people

• Opal Tometi, a notable Nigerian-American activist that is attributed to being a co-founder of the #BlackLivesMatter movement
• Jonathan Jayes-Green is a queer, undocumented Afro-Panamanian and one of the co-founders of the UndocuBlack Network
• Nunu Kidane, founder and current Director of the Priority Africa Network
• Dikembe Mutombo, retired NBA player and a humanitarian
• Ilhan Omar, politician, public speaker, and advocate from Somali
• Lupita Nyong’o, Hollywood actress known for her roles in Black Panther, the Star Wars Triology, and 12 Years a Slave
• K’naan, poet, rapper, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist from Somalia.
• Wyclef Jean, rapper, musician and actor
• Bambadjan Bamba, film and television actor.
• Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, novelist, writer of short stories and nonfiction.

References

Category:Immigration to the United States