Black Immigrant Organizations File FOIA and Texas PIA Requests Demanding Transparency Around Treatment of Haitian and other Migrants at the Border  

   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 1, 2021

Contact: Taisha Saintil, tsaintil@haitianbridge.org

Today, Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), UndocuBlack Network (UBN), and African Communities Together (ACT) filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Texas Public Information Act (PIA) requests demanding transparency from the the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State of Texas, respectively, around the horrific treatment of Haitian and other migrants fleeing political violence, instability and environmental disaster. While the encampment at Del Rio, Texas has been cleared, DHS has been putting Haitian children and families on airplanes and deporting them en masse, returning them to the exact danger from which they fled. Since September 19, 2021, more than 6,000 Haitian migrants have been expelled back to Haiti under Title 42 without access to asylum protection as required under U.S. and international law. Many others felt compelled to return to Mexico due to the cruel actions by the U.S. government.

The organizations urgently seek information pertaining to reported civil rights violations including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers verbally and physically harassing migrants, preventing migrants from accessing food and medical attention, using horses and motorcycles to intimidate them, and the use of whips or whip-like devices to assault migrants. The requestors also demand a DHS and CBP investigation and transparency on the use of law enforcement to close any Texas ports of entry or closure of the international bridge between Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, as well as the manipulation of water flows by government actors through the Rio Grande River that endangered lives. 

Notably, the FOIA underscores the racist, anti-Black violence inflicted by federal and state agencies against migrants at the border. While this is not the first mass expulsion of Haitian and other Black migrants, the FOIA notes, it is “the first accompanied by images that evoke the era of slavery” and is a “mass expulsion of thousands of women and children conducted under Title 42 summary expulsion policy,” employed by the federal government in Del Rio just one week after a federal district court ruled the policy was likely unlawful and, at a minimum, should not be applied to families with minor children. 

Justice Action Center, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Innovation Law Lab, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Texas Civil Rights Project are serving as counsel for these requests.


Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance said: 

“We are horrified by the ongoing events occurring under the Biden Administration. On the campaign trail, President Biden went to Little Haiti in Miami and assured the Haitian community that he will be a friend and an advocate. Since September 19, 57 expulsion flights carrying babies and families have been sent to Haiti. This is not how friends should treat another seeking refuge and safety. While on the ground last week in Del Rio, it was clear from speaking with the very few Haitian migrants who were paroled that severe human rights violations took place. The same can be said for the many that were pushed back to Ciudad Acuña that could not properly exercise their rights to seek asylum. With this request, we hope to be one step closer to shining light on the anti-Blackness embedded in the immigration system. 

Breanne Palmer, Interim Policy and Advocacy Director of the UndocuBlack Network said: "Although the rapid news cycle means coverage has died down, we continue to be outraged by the anti-Black atrocities happening to Haitian and other Black migrants at the border. We will see the Biden administration and DHS held accountable for their heinous actions, including the continued use of the reprehensible and unsound Title 42 policy. Given yesterday’s horrific news that Title 42 expulsions can continue while litigation proceeds, we are discouraged but undeterred. These information requests will help us determine exactly what DHS did to the thousands of Black migrants who gathered in Del Rio seeking protection and assistance in September 2021. This is just the next step in our efforts to end the war on Black immigrants."

Diana Konaté, Policy Director of African Communities Together said: “To ask for transparency around the horrific treatment of migrants at the border, in particular towards our Haitian sisters and brothers, is to ask for the bare minimum. DHS and the State of Texas owe migrants and the American public much more than that. For years, the plight of Black migrants at the border and throughout the U.S. has been left in the dark and without real solutions. We demand that leadership center the safety and security of Black migrants and take these steps towards laying the groundwork for a safer, more humane future for our communities.”


Links to the requests: 



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Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is a nonprofit community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. Since 2015, HBA has provided services to asylum seekers and other migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, in U.S. detention, and during U.S. immigration proceedings. www.haitianbridge.org 

UndocuBlack Network is a multi-generational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access to resources, and contributes to transforming the realities of our communities, so that all people are thriving and living their fullest lives. www.undocublack.org

African Communities Together is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for African families in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT connects African immigrants to critical services, helps Africans develop as leaders, and organizes African immigrant communities on the issues that matter. www.africans.us 


UndocuBlack Network: Dems Have Senate Majority Power And Must Use It For Immigrant Justice

Senate Parliamentarian Continues to Stand in the Way of Justice but Senators and VP Harris Have a Way Through 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 30, 2021

Contact: Bethelhem@undocublack.org 

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the world watches the ongoing atrocities visited upon Black migrants at the border, the UndocuBlack Network’s rallying cry that immigration is a Black issue is increasingly impossible to ignore. Including a pathway to citizenship in the reconciliation process is not only an urgent immigrant justice issue but an urgent racial justice imperative. Sen. Schumer and Vice President Harris need to go beyond the parliamentarian’s non-binding advice to heed the advice of the American people to deliver justice for immigrant communities.

Our communities cannot afford to wait for another election cycle for a direct pathway to citizenship to open up. Our communities have waited for more than 30 years, keeping the country afloat during a deadly global pandemic and fighting through four years of constant attacks from the Trump administration. We have not reached this point in the fight for permanent protections to be handed anything less than green cards for our people. Democrats have the Senate majority and it is time to show the country that they can be trusted to truly lead.

Patrice Lawrence, Executive Director of the UndocuBlack Network:

“There is clear precedent for Congress to provide permanent status in the form of green cards and the opportunity to become U.S. citizens through budget reconciliation, despite this latest opinion from the Senate parliamentarian. Democrats can and should deliver relief to critical, frontline workers, to those long under temporary status because of climate and political disasters in their countries, to childhood arrivals, to the elderly — we all deserve the stability and certainty of permanent residency. Democratic leadership must use the power of majority to do all it takes to keep the promises made to undocumented communities. ”

Breanne J. Palmer, Interim Policy & Advocacy Director at the UndocuBlack Network: 

“The Senate parliamentarian has attempted twice to dissuade Congress from doing its job: legislating a pathway to citizenship that would change millions of lives and bolster our economy for decades to come. The budgetary impact of a pathway to citizenship is undeniable. Nonetheless, the parliamentarian has joined a grand bureaucratic tradition of using parliamentary procedure to deny justice for all. Make no mistake: Black people have always found ways to challenge this system and bend the arc of history toward justice. We urge the Senate, including Vice President Harris and Majority Leader Schumer, to respectfully reject the Parliamentarian’s advice and pursue immigration reform now. What is the point of delivering power to the Democrats if they will not confidently wield that power for the good of our immigrant communities?”


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The UndocuBlack Network Demands The Passage of Permanent Protection For All, Not More Rules

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 28, 2021

Contact: Bethelhem@undocublack.org 

Biden’s proposed new DACA rule is a failed attempt to masquerade a setback as a win 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program yesterday. This proposed rulemaking may appear to protect DACA, with some questionable changes, in the face of continued court challenges, but leaves open the possibility of removing work permits for hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth whose livelihoods depend on the permits to provide for themselves and their families. The proposed rule in no way is the solution that we need from the Biden Administration at this time and fails to meet the urgency of the moment. 

Democrats have the opportunity to deliver a pathway to citizenship through green cards for immigrant youth, TPS holders, farm workers and essential workers via the reconciliation bill this year. For years, our communities  have lived in limbo and uncertainty through Band-Aid solutions to festering wounds. The ongoing fight to save DACA exemplifies why temporary solutions are not enough and can have harmful impacts in the long run. There are thousands of immigrant youth currently left out of the program and over 89,000 with their DACA renewals currently delayed. No solution short of access to green cards will address the crisis the DACA program is facing. During the public comment period in the rule-making process, the UndocuBlack Network will continue to ensure our voices and demands are heard. 

Patrice Lawrence, executive director of the UndocuBlack Network released the following statement: 

“DACA was a welcomed relief at the time of its announcement , but we must be very clear: DACA has never been enough and this is the year to pass permanent protections through green cards and the opportunity to become citizens for millions of immigrants in the United States. The new DACA rulemaking is a failed attempt to masquerade a setback as a win. The administration needs to keep its eyes on the prize and use all the resources at its disposal to deliver permanent protection to the millions of immigrants.”

Yoliswa Cele, director of narrative and media at the UndocuBlack Network said: 

“The proposed rule, in setting up new DACA tiers without work permits, potentially for hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients, is a betrayal of the DACA program, and of the many commits made by Democratic leaders — including the Biden Administration itself. The timing of the ruling is also not lost on us considering all of  the justified heat the administration is receiving over its abuses towards Black immigrants this past week. Yet even with all of the backlash, coupled with the parlimentarian’s attempts at road blocking a pathway to citizenship through reconciliation — the best the Biden Administration could drum up was a counterproductive self goal ruling on DACA. The relentless attacks on both DACA and TPS are why we continue to say that temporary solutions are not enough for our communities to live full and free lives. Thousands of undocumented youth came out of the shadows and risked it all to apply for DACA. They must not be left to fend for themselves against Republican-filled courts determined to dismantle any immigrant justice gains. Democratic leaders must bring concrete actions to match their commitments. Anything less than a pathway to citizenship through green cards  is a betrayal to undocumented communites.” 


The UndocuBlack Network will provide further guidance on how to comment on the proposed DACA rules in the coming weeks.


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JOINT LETTER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS, MAJORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER AND SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI TO IMMEDIATELY END THE WAR ON BLACK IMMIGRANTS




The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr. The Honorable Kamala Harris 

President of the United States Vice President of the United States

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, D.C. 20500 Washington, D.C. 20500



The Honorable Chuck Schumer The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

Majority Leader Speaker of the House of Representatives 

United States Senate United States House of Representatives 

322 Hart Senate Office Building U.S. Capitol

Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515



September 22, 2021



Dear President Biden, Vice President Harris, Majority Leader Schumer, and Speaker Pelosi,



We at the UndocuBlack Network, Haitian Bridge Alliance, United We Dream, the Movement for Black Lives and the 236 undersigned organizations begin with the following foundational belief: Immigration is a Black issue. For decades, the world has witnessed unstable environmental and political conditions in Haiti act as consistent roadblocks to peace and liberation for the island nation and its people. We understand these conditions are the direct result of centuries of financial and political punishment from global colonial powers, as revenge for Haiti’s unapologetic seizing of its own freedom as the world’s first Black-led republic. The U.S. has a sordid history of specifically targeting Haitians for anti-Black discrimination, violence, expulsion, mass detention, and more. Most recently, the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, a devastating earthquake, the COVID-19 pandemic, and multiple storms caused by climate change have thrown Haiti into a whirlwind of overlapping crises. Logically, thousands of Haitians with the ability to seek protection elsewhere have traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border, enduring perilous conditions and exploitation along the way. Fueled by the natural human instinct to survive, many Haitians are fleeing their beloved home for the unknown, as we have seen thousands of migrants from other countries (including European countries) do throughout history.



The Historical Context

Thousands of migrants from various countries grappling with dangerous conditions seek protection and asylum at the U.S. border. However, we know that Black immigrants (from Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America) worldwide are subjected to disproportionate mistreatment, discrimination, and violence: Black immigrants are overwhemingly unwelcome. We have seen and read the stories of rafts of Black immigrants being left out to sea by European countries who refuse to rescue and accept them; many thousands of Black immigrants seeking a better life have died preventable deaths due to the cruelty and abandonment of global Western powers. In the U.S., all Black immigrants are disproportionately demonized by anti-Black immigration policies and are the targets of violence and exclusion at the border, medical abuses while in detention, overcriminalization, mass detention, and deportation. We understand the U.S.’s constant mistreatment of Black immigrants is rooted in the larger context of the U.S’s foundational principles of anti-Black and anti-indigenous violence and genocide.

Without invitation and without justification, Western countries have brutally pillaged resources, stolen land, enslaved generations, and continuously interfered with the politics and governance of Black countries for centuries. Today, the same citizens of those destabilized nations seek refuge at the borders of their colonizers and are met with contempt and violence. The U.S., a country that kidnapped Black people from the African continent for generations of torture as enslaved tools of empire, now blazes a new, horrific trail in the abuse of Black immigrants that have come to its borders for the chance of a better tomorrow. 



The Current Situation

Right now, thousands of Haitians are stranded in treacherous conditions in Mexican border towns. There, Haitian migrants are facing open violence from CBP that is reminiscent of the horrific practices endured by their enslaved ancestors centuries ago--photos of officers using reins for horses on migrants simply trying to purchase water and food as they wait for the chance to seek protection. Under international law, Haitians have the right to seek asylum in the U.S.; instead, they have faced insurmountable barriers to entry due to Title 42. More than two thousand Haitians already in the country have been deported under the Biden Administration, including pregnant women and toddlers. Haitians are being deported back to the same dire conditions that have been internationally categorized as a humanitarian crisis, spurring a new designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) by the Biden Administration a mere month ago. TPS for Haiti protects Haitians living in the U.S. from deportation; it is wholly illogical and unequivocally cruel to now expel and deport thousands of Haitians arriving at the border to those very same conditions.



Our Urgent Demands

Black immigrants have risked their lives and livelihoods to keep the U.S. safe, healthy, and running during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic while also facing the specter of deportation. We firmly believe that migration is a human right and for Black immigrants, it is a form of reparations for centuries of colonialism and extraction. As such, we urge the Biden Administration to pursue a coherent and just foreign policy agenda with Haiti and Black immigrants as a whole by immediately implementing the following measures:




  1. Halt Deportations and End the Use of Title 42 at the Border and at All Ports of Entry

Since March 2020, the U.S. has been illegally denying migrants the legal right to seek asylum by presenting themselves at the U.S.-Mexico border or at other ports of entry, under the guise of protecting U.S Citizens from COVID-19. The U.S. has domestic legal and international treaty obligations to protect asylum seekers and allow them to pursue their asylum claims with dignity. Instead, the Biden Administration has purposely and belligerently continued the Trump Administration’s legacy of expelling migrants and stranding them at the border where they face violence and harm. Black migrants--and particularly Haitian migrants--face even more danger at the border, where they are harmed by anti-Black violence and discrimination while waiting in Mexico. Countless public health specialists, scientists, and doctors have decried the use of Title 42 as having no basis in public health. Title 42 is discriminatory and violates the law and human decency. The Biden Administration must immediately halt all border expulsions and deportations flights to Haiti and other Black countries, end the use of Title 42, and restore the right to seek asylum.




2. Enact Wide-Scale Humanitarian Parole for Haitians

The Biden Administration has the clear authority to enact a sweeping program of humanitarian parole for Haitian migrants at the border. Humanitarian parole is used to bring people who are otherwise inadmissible into the U.S. for a temporary period of time due to an emergency. Haiti is facing unmitigated, multi-layered emergencies in response to the recent presidential asssination and even more recent climate disasters. The Biden Administration must create and prioritize an expedited system where Haitians at the border can easily apply for humanitarian parole without hefty application fees, onerous documentary requirements, or discriminatory interviews. Providing humanitarian parole allows Haitians seeking protection to do so in conditions that do not directly threaten their lives and to reunite with their families. The Biden Administration must work with nonprofits and NGOs to provide Haitians with free legal assistance in this process. As the U.S. has responded to the urgent crisis in Afghanistan by providing Afghan immigrants with the option to apply for humanitarian parole or Special Immigrant Visas, so too must the U.S. respond to the urgent crisis and protect Haitian migrants by offering and facilitating the same opportunities.




3. Defund and Divest from DHS, ICE, and CBP

The Biden Administration must drastically defund and divest from DHS’s bloated budget of billions of dollars used to harm and exclude immigrants. Particularly, the Biden Administration must pull in the reins on ICE and CBP, who enact the most harm to Black immigrants and our communities. These agencies must have their budgets slashed so that they cannot spend more taxpayer dollars on abusing immigrants and denying their right to seek asylum, refugee status, and protection. Further, the Office of the Inspector General must immediately start an investigation into the use of whips, or whip-like devices, and other mistreatment of Haitians by CBP. We understand the current system of mass detention began the detention of Haitian immigrants in the 1980s and 1990s. This system is irredeemable and must be torn down.




4. Invest in Humane, Holistic Immigration 

Instead of an immigration system focused on deterrence and deportation, the Biden Administration must radically reinvent how we welcome immigrants with dignity. Instead of deputized immigration officers, migrants seeking protection should be met with a team of medical, psychological, and social work professionals to conduct a humane intake process. The Biden Administration must implement a process during which immigrants can apply for asylum, refugee status, and other protection while being provided high-quality, trauma-informed holistic care. Further, immigrants should be provided with end-to-end logistical assistance: free flights or other transportation to family members in the U.S., financial assistance, housing assistance, child care assistance, work permits, and much more, while awaiting the adjudication of their asylum or other cases. Furthermore, the Biden Administration must immediately provide food, water, and access to health care to Haitians and all Black immigrants who are currently waiting in Del Rio. The time is long past to abandon the cruel approaches of yesterday and write a new chapter in U.S. immigration history.




#WinWithBlackWomen

1847 Philanthropic 

A. Philip Randolph Institute 

ABISA

Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.

African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs 

African Family Health Organization (AFAHO)

African Public Affairs Committee

Al Otro Lado

Aldea - The People's Justice Center

Alianza Americas

Alianza Nacional de Campesinas

All Faculty Association, Santa Rosa Junior College

Alliance in Defense of Black Immigrants

Alliance San Diego

America's Voice

American Friends Service Committee

Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors

Asia Adams Save Our Children Foundation

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC

ASISTA

Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)

Bahai's For Race Unity

Barry University School of Social Work 

Belle Meadow Farm

Black Feminist Future 

Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP)

Black Lives Matter Global Network 

Black Voters Matter Fund

Black Women's Roundtable, NCBCP

BLUU - Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism

Boston Muslim Young Professionals

Bridges Faith Initiative

Brooklyn Community Bail Fund

BTAN Atlanta 

By God's Grace 

California Immigrant Policy Center*

California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA)

Cameroon Advocacy Network. 

Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition

Caribbean Community Service Center 

CASA

Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program 

Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Center for Popular Democracy

Center for Third World Organizing

Central Florida Jobs with Justice

Centro Laboral de Graton

Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America

Cleveland Jobs with Justice

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC)*

Colorado Jobs with Justice

Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)

Community Justice Exchange

Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible

Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund

Connecticut Working Families Party

Contra Costa Immigrant Rights Alliance*

Detention Watch Network

Equality Labs

Ethiopian Community Association of Greater Philadelphia

Faith and Works Statewide Collective

Faith for Justice

Faith in Action

Faith in Public Life

Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement

Families for Freedom

First Focus on Children

First Friends of New Jersey & New York

Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Friends of Immigration

Friends of Public Banking Santa Rosa

Georgia Familias Unidas

Georgia Stand-UP/Stand-UP Black Women's Roundtable

Glimmer of Hope and Friends of Immigration 

Global Justice Clinic, Washington Square Legal Services

Global Social Work, LLC

Grassroots Global Justice Alliance 

Guadalupe Presbyterian Church USA detention ministry

Haiti Renewal Alliance 

Haitian Bridge Alliance

Happied

Harriet’s Wildest Dreams

Hartford Deportation Defense

Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program

Healthy and Free Tennessee 

HIAS Pennsylvania

Highlander Research & Education Center

Hispanic Federation

History instructor SRJC

Hope Border Institute

Houston Coalition Against Hate

Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, Inc.

Immigrant Defenders Law Center

Immigrant Justice Network 

Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project

Immigrant Legal Resource Center

Immigrants’ Rights Working Group of Democratic Socialists of America

Immigration Hub

ImmSchools

Indivisible

Indivisible CLE

Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health

International Mayan League

International Museum of Muslim Cultures

IRIS - Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services

J. Hardwick Law, P.L.L.C.

Jobs With Justice

Just Futures Law

Justice Action Center

La Conexion 

La Resistencia 

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)

Legal Aid at Work

Liberation PAC

Life After Release

Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition 

Long Island Jobs with Justice 

LSN Legal LLC

Luminus Network for New Americans, Inc.

Massachusetts Jobs with Justice

Maine Equal Justice

Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition

Make the Road Connecticut

Make the Road Nevada

Make the Road New York*

Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Masjid Muhammad

Massachusetts Jobs With Justice

Mauritanian Network for Human Rights

Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Affairs 

MEChA at Santa Rosa Junior College

Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project

Mississippi Center for Justice

Mothers Against Police Brutality 

Motivation Motivates

Mountain Vista Unitarian Universalist Church (Tucson, AZ) 

Movement for Black Lives

Mississippi MOVE, Inc.

Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)*

National Employment Law Project

National Immigrant Justice Center

National Immigration Law Center

National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG)*

National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco Bay Area Immigration Committee

National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights

National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)*

National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA)

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

New Mainers Alliance 

New Mexico Comunidades en Accion y de Fe (CAFe)

North Bay Jobs with Justice

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project

Northwest Indiana Resist

NYC Action Lab 

NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic

O.V. Catto Voter Empowerment Initiative

Oasis Legal Services

Ohio Immigrant Alliance

One Love Global

One Voice

Operation Good

Orange County Rapid Response Network (OCRRN)

Organizing Black

Peoples Advocacy Institute

Poder Latinx

Presente.org

Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration*

Progressive Images Marketing Communications

Public Counsel*

RAICES

Reclaiming Our Time

Respond Crisis Translation 

Revolve Impact

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium

Santa Rosa Junior College

Santa Rosa Junior College - All Faculty Association

Santa Rosa Junior College Mathematics Department

Santa Rosa Junior College, ESL Faculty

SEEDS-HAITI, Inc.

SEIU United Service Workers West

Semilla Collective

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Siblings Keeper

Sojourners

South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)*

Southeast Asia Resource Action Center 

Southern Border Communities Coalition

Stand Up N Do Something 

Student Fans of Asylum and Immigration Reform (FAIR) 

Standing Up for Racial Justice Ohio

Tahirih Justice Center

Taylormade Educational Entertainment Records

Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition

Texas Civil Rights Project 

Texas Working Families Party

The Advocates for Human Rights

The Black Collective

The BlackOUT Collective 

The Business Center

The Children’s Partnership 

The Fabulous Life by Dr. Jay

The Frontline

The House of the Lord Churches 

The Idea Inc. 

The PropheticleighSpeakn Foundation

The Smile Trust

Transformations CDC

Transgender Law Center

Traumatologists Network, Inc.

Tucson Baha'is For Race Unity

UFCW Local 1445

UndocuBlack Network

Unified Asian Communities (UAC)

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

United African Organization

United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries

United We Dream

United Working Families

Universidad Popular 

Until Freedom 

Voters Legal Justice Watch Group

Win Without War

Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center

Witness at the Border

Workers Defense Project

Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

*Indicates signatories after September 22, 2021





UndocuBlack Not Shaken By First Parliamentarian Ruling on Legalization

For Immediate Release

September 19, 2021

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled against the chance to better the lives of nearly millions of immigrants through a pathway to citizenship in the budget reconciliation. Despite this decision, UndocuBlack remains convinced that this must be the year for obtaining documentation for undocumented people including those named as having budgetary impact: immigrant youth, TPS holders, farmworkers and essential workers.

That the fate of millions of people can be delayed by an unelected staff attorney for the Senate is enraging and speaks to the many systematic obstacles that keep American progression gridlocked. Contrary to the Parliamentarian’s decision is the vocal and strong support of a pathway to citizenship through reconciliation by both the President and Democrats in Congress. UndocuBlack is not shaken and will continue to fight alongside the hundreds of organizations within our movement and the millions of our allies. 

Democrats know that they can’t go back to our communities without keeping their promise on immigration. Democrats know that they can’t once again fail to give all that they have to the fight for permanent protections for immigrant communities.

The battle for a pathway to citizenship is far from over, and our communities will not be deterred by a temporary setback. There are more opportunities for Democrats to bring arguments to the Parliamentarian and go over this procedural hurdle; we expect them to do so. Black immigrants have risked our lives and livelihoods to keep the country safe, healthy, and running during the ongoing pandemic while still facing risks of deportation. The time is now. We are confident that a pathway to citizenship will be passed this year, and we expect Senate Democrats to stay with us in this battle until it is won.

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THE UNDOCUBLACK NETWORK (UBN), founded in 2016, is a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access to resources and contributes to transforming the realities of our people so we are thriving and living our fullest lives. UBN has chapters in New York City, the DC/MD/VA area, and Los Angeles, CA.




CUSP Applauds House Passage of Historic Budget Resolution

For Immediate Release   

 August 24, 2021


WASHINGTON DC: Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP), a national coalition of grassroots immigrant community organizations working together to win permanent status for our members and communities, welcomes the House passage of the budget resolution today. This is a historic and long overdue step from Congress to deliver a visionary budget that includes a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers,TPS holders, farmworkers and other essential workers. As a coalition of organizations that represent TPS holders and former TPS holders, we believe that the momentum is right to finally establish permanent status and protections for our people. 


More than 400,000 TPS holders and their families work, pray, live and have built futures for themselves in this country. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, almost one-third of all TPS holders were employed in essential occupations, and have kept America safe and healthy. As our public health crisis continues, TPS holders will remain essential to the nation’s economic recovery from one of its darkest moments. Over 80% of TPS holders are employed, having paid about $4.6 billion in taxes. Altogether, they’re expected to contribute over $164 billion to the GDP over the next decade. 


But without a clear path to citizenship, their sacrifices and their contributions have not been reciprocated. TPS holders have remained in limbo for years, some even decades, not knowing if their status will be renewed. They live in constant fear of having to return to countries that are unsafe for them and ill-prepared for their arrival. This budget is the result of decades of our communities resisting, organizing and advocating for their rights. If it is passed without harmful amendments, the perpetual uncertainty for our communities can end and we will have the much-needed stability to thrive. 


We will no longer accept temporary solutions for our communities. We urge Congress to pass budget reconciliation legislation that includes a path to citizenship, without any anti-immigrant amendments, obstruction or half-measures. This is the year to put TPS holders and all immigrants on a clear pathway to citizenship. 

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Ahmed Osman, Sudanese TPS Holder from New York, African Communities Together: “I am a Sudanese TPS Holder, and I have been here for 20 years.  That's more than half my age, and I’ve been working, and paying taxes, so I would love to see TPS become permanent, and for us to get a clean path to citizenship.  We don't know what the future holds, and nothing is guaranteed in this way. TPS the way it is now doesn’t offer security, no future, no longevity.  I have never lived in my home country, nor can I live anywhere else since this is the only place I’ve ever really known.  We need a real solution!”  

Raj Tamang from Virginia, Nepali TPS Holder, Adhikaar member:“The thing that worries me the most about the uncertainty of TPS is the future of my daughter who was born in the US, and is now going to Chantilly High School. This is the only country she has known, and I cannot even think of having her go and live in Nepal if I am forced to go back. During the pandemic, I worked part time driving many customers to their destinations when things were already difficult. Despite the risks involved, the sense of responsibility to my community here compelled me to continue driving for Uber and get people to where they needed to be during COVID.

I am happy that the pathway to citizenship is moving in the right direction in Budget Reconciliation. The only right thing to do for Members of Congress with regards to TPS is grant us a permanent solution!”

Emmanuel Tabali, from Maryland, Haitian Bridge Alliance member: “What I witnessed in detention centers was horrific, and stays with me forever. I was in detention for 11 months after seeking asylum. When they transported us, we were shackled at the ankle, waist, and hands even on long flights between detention centers. It made me and others feel like animals  - it was the most humiliating and demoralizing experience. This must stop! My dream for TPS and DACA is a clean path towards citizenship. Many come at a young age, they go to school, work, and add so much to this country. When you uproot a plant it dies, and to remove TPS holders and DACA recipients is to kill their spirit.”

Rima Meroueh, Director of National Network For Arab American Communities: “To truly Build Back Better, we must provide stable living arrangements for the millions of  immigrants who make up this country’s future, including the thousands of TPS holders for whom this budget reconciliation window offers a profound opportunity. We have the chance to build a secure and enduring pathway for families across this country. We are hopeful, but know that the job is not done yet. We look forward to Congress offering a permanent solution to TPS.” 

Patrice Lawrence, Co-Director of UndocuBlack Network: “While we applaud the intention of the budget resolution, it is the execution and implementation process that is crucial. We will continue to push for an equitable process that will ensure inclusion of all undocumented immigrants who continue to play instrumental roles in keeping the country alive and moving during a global pandemic and in the recovery efforts.  There is no Build Back Better bill without the inclusion of undocumented  immigrants of all ages and from all backgrounds and the political moment to pass a citizenship bill is now.” 


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Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP) is a collaborative of grassroots immigrant community organizations working together to win permanent status for our members and communities, and build a more inclusive immigrant rights movement that centers the needs and experiences of African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, Arab/Middle Eastern, and API immigrants.

The UndocuBlack Network (UBN), founded in 2016, is a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access to resources and contributes to transforming the realities of our people so we are thriving and living our fullest lives. UBN has chapters in New York City, the DC/MD/VA area, and Los Angeles, CA.

Adhikaar (Nepali: rights) is a New York-based non-profit, organizing the Nepali-speaking community to promote human rights and social justice for all. We are a women-led workers’ center and community center focused on workers’ rights, immigration rights, access to affordable healthcare and language justice. We organize the Nepali-speaking community to create broader social change; build coalitions on advocacy campaigns that address our community's needs; center women and the most impacted communities in our leadership; engage members in participatory action research; and implement community education, workplace development training, and support services.

African Communities Together (ACT) is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for our families here in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT empowers African immigrants to integrate socially, get ahead economically, and engage civically. We connect African immigrants to critical services, help Africans develop as leaders, and organize our communities on the issues that matter.

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides  bond support and humanitarian, legal, and other social services, with a particular focus on Black immigrants, the Haitian community, women, LGBTQAI+ individuals and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. Since 2015, HBA has provided services to asylum seekers and other migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, in U.S. detention, and during U.S. immigration proceedings.

National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) is a national consortium of independent Arab American community-based organizations. The Network’s primary mission is to build the capacity of Arab American non-profit organizations that focus on the needs and issues impacting their local community while collectively addressing those issues nationally.


149 Immigrants’ Rights Groups Urge Biden Administration to Fix Failing Liberian Green Card Program as Time Runs Out

 

Date: August 17, 2021

Press contact: Nathaniel Hoffman, nathaniel.hoffman@gmail.com, 208-891-6672

 

 

WASHINGTON —  Nearly 150 immigrant rights organizations, led by the LRIF Strategy Group, sent a letter to the Biden administration today urging officials to fix critical flaws in the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) program. The LRIF program’s historic significance as one of the few pathways to citizenship passed through Congress in decades — through a budget bill — specifically benefiting Black immigrants, is at risk of failure due to the USCIS processing delays, impossible to meet evidentiary requirements, lack of culturally competent outreach, and more. 

 

“LRIF is historic for Black immigrants in its own right, but it is also a test case for the legalization of 11 million undocumented people living in the U.S.,” said Breanne Palmer, Interim Policy & Advocacy Director at the UndocuBlack Network. “If the Biden administration, DHS, and USCIS cannot successfully and equitably implement a program benefiting at most 10,300 people, how can they possibly fulfill the campaign promises of permanent protection for our larger community? It is high time for the Biden administration to treat LRIF with the urgency it deserves, and to deliver justice to the Liberians living in the U.S. who can benefit from it.”

 

In-person interview requirements, lengthy processing times, and distrust of a program passed under the Trump administration have made applicants reluctant to come forward and apply for the benefit. With approximately 5 months until the program’s deadline, data released by the Congressional Research Service on May 6, shows that out of 10,000 eligible individuals, the federal government has processed fewer than 800 applications. The current deadline for LRIF applications from eligible Liberians with deep roots in the U.S. is December 20. Advocates and applicants remain confused about how to apply and prove their eligibility for the program, despite improved language inserted into the USCIS Policy Manual in June 2021. 

 

Many LRIF-eligible Liberians previously lived on temporary immigration statuses including both Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) due to two civil wars and the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. LRIF provides permanent status to eligible Liberians who have been in the U.S. since at least Nov. 20, 2014. It passed Congress as part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, originally as a one-year program. But significant processing delays and burdensome requirements — requirements made impossible to meet because of the compounding COVID-19 pandemic — led advocates to fight for and secure a one-year extension.

 

The LRIF Strategy Group —  a focused coalition of local, state, and national-level organizations that provide direct legal and other community-based services to Liberians in the United States including experts in USCIS operations, implementation issues, and Liberian cultural competency —  have sent multiple sets of recommendations to the Biden administration to address the ongoing issues and ensure the program meets Congressional intent. Now, 149 organizations join the LRIF Strategy Group in calling on the Biden administration to do more to ensure the program is a success.

 

“As the December 20 deadline quickly approaches, we urge the administration to step up its efforts to ensure that LRIF is successful,” said Diana Konate, Policy Director at African Communities Together. “While we've been encouraged by some of the steps taken by USCIS, we remain disheartened that many of the previous administration's policies that we saw create barriers to the program continue under the Biden administration. Our Liberian community members continue to complain about onerous and confusing documentary requirements. We also have not seen outreach and education of the Liberian community significantly improve. And it is completely unacceptable that USCIS has processed so few applications. Simply put, more needs to be done. And there is not much time. In addition to the recommendations to USCIS, we also call on Congress to eliminate the upcoming LRIF deadline. At this point, it serves no purpose.” 

 

“While the Biden administration did not create all the issues in the LRIF program, it is responsible for fixing them,” said Lisa Parisio, Director of Advocacy at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. “Time is running out and we still need expansive, culturally competent outreach to get the Liberian community the information and other resources they need to apply. We also need USCIS to remove barriers and obstacles, such as incredibly burdensome and difficult to meet evidentiary requirements, which are blocking Liberians’ access to the program. While these are serious challenges, they are not insurmountable. The Biden administration has the choice to dedicate the resources and attention necessary to make LRIF a success and we are calling on them not to waste another minute.”  

 

Read the full text of the letter here.

 

UndocuBlack Network Urges Senate Judiciary Committee to Ensure a Fair and Equitable Process for Developing Pathway to Citizenship

For Immediate Release

For Immediate Release

Aug. 11, 2021

Contact: Bethelhem T. Negash, bethelhem@undocublack.org

WASHINGTON – ,The UndocuBlack Network welcomes the Senate passage of the congressional budget resolution including a pathway to citizenship for DACA and TPS holders, farmworkers, and essential workers and called on legislators to ensure the process is fair and equitable for Black immigrants. 

“After years of organizing by Black- and people of color-led groups, we are encouraged that the lawmakers have been instructed to develop a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people including DACA recipients and TPS holders,” said Patrice Lawrence, Co-Director of UndocuBlack Network “But good intentions must be followed by intentional and precise action. Since people of African and Caribbean descent are often erased from the immigration narrative, their unique needs are often overlooked. This places them at heightened risk for criminalization, which makes citizenship unlikely and, in some cases, impossible. Black immigrants experience the double whammy of being Black in an anti-Black nation and being undocumented in a country generally hostile to immigrants. Any approach to creating a pathway to citizenship must take these factors into account.”

“Since lawmakers will have discretion in determining who is eligible for citizenship, they must ensure that people of African descent are not disqualified on the basis of race while taking into account the heightened risk of criminalization for Black people in the U.S.,” Patrice added.

“Given that the Senate Judiciary Committee has also been instructed to expand enforcement activity, we must note that the administration cannot be double-minded in its approach to immigration,” said Yoliswa Cele, director of narrative and media for the UndocuBlack Network. “The administration should not criminalize vulnerable people for seeking asylum in the U.S. or those attempting to escape harsh conditions in their home country. While we applaud the intention of the budget resolution, it is the execution that really matters.”

Patrice continued to say that it should not have taken a global pandemic to prove the value of immigrants and that it has been many years since a large immigration package has been passed causing many immigrants to fall through the cracks due to red tape and legal loopholes. . “Our worth is our humanity, not our work, but the pandemic illustrated that it is immigrant communities that keep our country afloat. We must work towards justice and dignity for all immigrants, and we will be there every step of the way to make sure a pathway to citizenship is achieved. If you are a man or a woman of dignity, you must keep your promises, and we will be there to ensure members of Congress keep theirs.”

The UndocuBlack Network works to build community with current and former Black immigrants. The group has racked up a series of recent victories including LRIF for Liberians, TPS for Haitians and TPS for Somalis. It also works to shine a light on the exclusion of Black immigrants within the immigration narrative. Its goal is to challenge the criminalization of immigrants, specifically Black immigrants, who would then be barred from benefiting from a pathway to citizenship. 

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