WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) – Jamaican-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke on Tuesday joined lawmakers and immigration advocates in calling on the Joe Biden-led US administration to protect black immigrant communities during the lame duck session.

The legislators said they were particularly concerned about how President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policies will impact black communities and families of mixed status.

Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants who represents the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, on Tuesday held a press conference with congressional colleagues and advocacy groups at the capitol in Washington.

The press conference came on the heels of a letter Clarke and her colleagues sent to Biden, urging him to exercise his existing legal authority and adopt several executive actions.

These include, extending and re-designating Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for currently designated countries; clearing the TPS processing backlog; finalising a rule to provide auto-extensions for work permits; taking immediate steps to prioritise the processing of work permits across all categories; and designating special student relief (SSR) to Nigerian F-1 students studying in the United States.

“During President-elect Trump’s previous term, we saw the Trump administration enact detrimental policies, such as expanding migrant detention programs and building a wall along the US-Mexico Border,”
lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Further in 2019, we witnessed Immigration and Customs Enforcement detain migrants at record-high levels with Black detainees facing abuse at disproportionate rates.”

“With his pledge to conduct the largest mass deportation in history and enlist the military to carry out this plan, we are extremely concerned that people of African descent will be targeted at higher rates,” they added. “These actions are imperative to protect innocent people and families from further disruptions to their lives.”

The advocacy groups that joined the congressional representative to show support and solidarity for this effort included Nils Kinuani, African Communities Together (ACT); Ronald Claude, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI); Gbenga Ogunjimi, Nigerian Centre; and Daniel Tse, Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA).

“The scapegoating of immigrants and immigration has placed Black immigrants at a dangerous crossroads, where they are both targeted by harmful rhetoric and policies, while simultaneously having their needs and contributions rendered invisible,” said Nils Kinuani, federal policy manager of African Communities Together.

“With President-elect Trump’s promise of a mass deportation agenda, the clock is ticking for proactive action to protect our communities,” he said. “We urge President Biden to use his authority to ensure that Black immigrants are safeguarded in an increasingly xenophobic and racist immigration landscape,” Kinuani said.

Gbenga Ogunjimi, executive director of the Nigerian Centre and lead of the TPS Coalition for Nigeria, urged the Biden administration to grant Nigeria Special Student Relief (SSR) designation, or, if possible, TPS.
“We request that the Biden administration extend these critical protections to Nigerian nationals and students in the US before its term concludes,” Ogunjimi said. “As the United States transitions to a new administration, we recommend prioritising this request as a policy recommendation for the incoming administration, particularly given its stated commitment to favouring merit-based immigration. This approach is especially relevant for individuals with skills in demand in the US economy.”

Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the first Black woman to represent Florida’s 20th Congressional District, said that renewing TPS is “advantageous for both the United States and the individuals who hold this status.”

She said TPS holders contribute more than US$4 billion in taxes and are “vital to our nation’s economy.”

“If TPS is not renewed, this will create a massive socio-economic disruption and force thousands of people to leave their families behind,” Cherfilus-McCormick warned. “The answer is clear: we must extend TPS.”
Besides Cherfilus-McCormick and Clarke, the letter to Biden was signed by about three dozen congressional representatives.

Meanwhile, the San Diego, California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance has strongly condemned Trump’s reported plans to declare a national emergency to enact a mass deportation programme, involving Haitian immigrants.

“Such a proposal represents an alarming threat to human rights, the rule of law, specifically those seeking asylum and safety,” said Haitian Bridge Alliance Executive Director Guerline Jozef, applauding the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for filing a lawsuit to gather specific details from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on how Trump will carry out his plan.

According to reports, the proposed programme would target undocumented immigrants.