10/02/2021
The Missing Piece In the U.S. Immigration Debate
As the dust settled on President Trump’s ban on travelers from Islamic countries, the focus on immigration shifted to the southern border and the growing influx of Latin Americans. President Biden appointed Vice President Harris to focus on the uphill task of stemming the never-ending tide of immigrants. Recently, we observed the stark contrast of border enforcement for immigrants of darker complexions. Men on horseback chasing down Haitians — black immigrants. Using a public health law known as Title 42, which denies certain immigrants an opportunity to apply for asylum, the Biden administration rounded up and deported thousands of black immigrants. When it comes to black immigrants the results are conspicuously inequitable. This inequity is obvious in the current Congressional legislative agenda.
Earlier this year, Congresswoman Linda Sánchez (CA-38) and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the President’s U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which purports to address the cause of our enormous population of undocumented immigrants and migrant pressure on our southern border. The Citizenship Act makes a number of legislative improvements. One of the provisions most likely to have the largest impact allows undocumented individuals including “Dreamers,” Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries, and immigrant farmworkers to apply for temporary legal status (lawful prospective immigrant status), and later apply for “green-cards” (lawful permanent resident status) after a five year wait.
The Citizenship Act’s benefits are effectively restricted to people of lighter complexion. This is surprising because President Biden issued Executive Order 13985 in January, focused on advancing racial equity.
Inside the beltway, discussions of racial impact are eclipsed by a focus on ethnicity. Eschewing discussion of the racial impact of immigration policies and continuing to practice the immigration status quo of Light Privilege — immigration in favor of immigrants from Latin America and Asia — is contrary to advancing racial equity for African Americans.
The U.S. undocumented population is estimated to range from 10.5 million to 12 million. The majority of undocumented immigrants are from Latin America, representing over 80%. Asia represents about 14%, but Africa represents only about 2%, and blacks as a racial group only 5% (including Caribbeans and Afro Latinos). The majority of Latin Americans are considered white or mestizo (having a white and indigenous ancestry) and the majority of Asians are considered Asian or Other Pacific Islander, but neither group has a significant number who identify as Black or of African origin.
If we look at the last two hundred years, we see a clear discriminatory practice in favor of light complexion immigrants. Between 1820 and 2019 immigration statistics show some 86 million persons were issued green-cards by our government, but Africans represented only 3% of the beneficiaries. Most immigration benefits went to people with lighter complexions; Europeans, Latin Americans, and Asians.
In last few decades there has been a surge of Latin Americans gaining immigration benefits largely due to legalization programs and asylum benefits for undocumented migrants. The main reason why Latin Americans make up the bulk of the U.S. undocumented population is because of their geographic proximity. Latin Americans have enjoyed access to U.S. borders. Other minority groups such as Africans have to endure much longer and arduous journeys across oceans. It can be argued that this inequity is simply a random unintentional result of geography. While the argument might ring true, it fails to consider this inequity is also a result of policy.
To understand the full impact of U.S. immigration policies we need to look beyond the mere movement of persons across our nation’s borders. Immigration to the U.S. has significant and long term financial, cultural, and political implications for both the receiving and sending countries.
Immigrants in the U.S. send earnings home through remittance services. The World Bank’s 2019 remittance flow report shows that Asia and Latin America are the largest recipients, while Sub-Saharan Africa receives far less. In 2019, Latin America and the Caribbean received twice as much as all of Sub-Saharan Africa. A comparison of World Health Organization’s mortality rates reflects how this disparity affects lives.
Immigration policies also affect African American population, which has been declining over time. In 1790, when the first census was taken, African Americans represented about 19% of the population. Today, African Americans represent about 12% of the population. The current legislation will do nothing to stop further minoritization of African Americans, in fact, it will continue the practice. There are clear cultural and political implications. While it is true that America’s cultural fabric clearly benefits from Latin American and Asian immigrants, the extent of their inclusion should be balanced to not obscure our African American culture.
The Citizenship Act can be amended to address some of the racial inequities. Unfortunately for African Americans, the political will to make these amendments appears seriously lacking. Amendments that address the historical inequity that people of Sub-Saharan African origin suffered would be appropriate. Some first steps might include the establishment of a special immigrant visa classification for Sub-Saharan Africans and black people from Latin American and Caribbean countries, increased refugee processing in Africa, and a more significant expansion of the Diversity Visa program (a program established in the late 1980’s to offset immigration trends that clearly favored Asia and Latin America).
In light of the historical inequities in our immigration laws, how can we move forward with comprehensive immigration reform without a meaningful discussion on the racial impact for African Americans? What can be done to remedy 200 years of racially disparaging treatment? How many black immigrants should be admitted to bring the U.S. back to the roughly 20% or greater proportion of black citizens that should be in our country? If the issue is ignored, it will only demonstrate that Black lives DO NOT matter as much as politicians say.
