The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education & Legal Services, Black Immigrant Lives Are Under Attack (video featuring Joyce Louis-Jean) OR Peniel Ibe, Immigration Is a Black Issue
Black Alliance for Just Immigration & NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic, The State of Black Immigrants
Kica Matos & Nana Gyamfi, Centering Black Voices in the Struggle for Immigrant Rights
Breanne J. Palmer, The Crossroads: Being Black, Immigrant, and Undocumented in the Era of #BlackLivesMatter
Karla Mari McKanders, Immigration and Racial Justice: Enforcing the Borders of Blackness
Ashoka Mukpo, For Black Immigrants, Police and ICE Are Two Sides of the Same Coin OR Jeremy Raff, The 'Double Punishment' for Black Undocumented Immigrants
The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education & Legal Services, Black, Pregnant, Detained
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, Quixote Center & UndocuBlack, The Invisible Wall: Title 42 and its Impact on Haitian Migrants
Kevin R. Johnson & Karla McKanders, Systemic Racism Is Rooted in Immigration Laws—It Can No Longer Be Ignored
Devon W. Carbado, Racial Naturalization
Sophia DenUyl, The Particular Harms of the “Good Immigrant” versus “Bad Immigrant” Construction on Black Immigrants in the United States
NYU Law and NAACP LDF, Immigration, Equal Protection, and the Promise of Racial Justice: The Legacy of Jean v. Nelson
Ruth Etiesit Samuel, Black Immigrants in the United States Have Been Targeted by Trump
Define American, Immigrant Justice is Racial Justice
The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System, edited by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman
The Immigrant Learning Center, What Does it Mean to Be a Black Immigrant in the United States?
As you engage with the materials, we encourage you to reflect on the materials in whatever way you process—whether through provocations, questions, or discussions.
To facilitate discussion, we invite you to join us for a panel discussion with scholars and community members on this topic to reflect together and find different ways to challenge our understanding. More information on the panel is available under Scholar Series. We also welcome your own reflections and questions through our reflection form.
If you are looking for asynchronous reflection, we offer the following questions to guide your reflection:
Who or what has informed and shaped your understanding of the history of Black immigration? In what ways do you notice and/or perpetuate the criminalization of Black people and communities?
In what ways did the readings/videos/podcasts challenge your current understanding of Black immigration and liberation, as well as the purpose of the carceral apparatus?
Think about the intersections between anti-Black racism, racial capitalism, and immigrant rights. What is the role of immigration laws within a colonial-capitalist project? What should redress and reparations look like particularly for exploitation and expropriation?
What does building solidarity and mobilizing for justice mean to you? What does it require from you, and what are you willing to commit to?
Option 1: Develop a monthly plan outlining how you will commit to learning more about the history of the land you occupy, building relationships with Indigenous peoples, and paying land taxes for your occupation.
Option 2: Unpack and dismantle your personal reliance on carceral solutions. Reflect on why you or someone you care for has called the police in the past. Use dontcallthepolice.com to research community-based alternatives (in your city, state, wherever you are housed) to offer you the support you were looking for, and help in reallocating city budgets by defunding the police. Additionally, sign up to attend a (free) anti-harassment training organized by hollaback! with a group of your friends, family, and/or loved ones.
Option 3: Donate time, skills, and/or money to grassroots organizations and initiatives such as Movement for Black Lives, Haitian Bridge Alliance, UndocuBlack Network, Black Immigrant Collective, Law For Black Lives, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Citizenship Now, #NoTechforICE, #AbolishICE, and #TakeBackTech; invest in mutual aid networks such as DC Mutual Aid Network or Indigenous Mutual Aid Groups; and/or mobilize and take action with the Black Lives Matter movement. A comprehensive database on local mutual aid networks across the nation is available here.
Option 4: Create a weekly or monthly donation plan based on your income and generational wealth to redistribute your wealth. Use this master list to identify organizations, networks, and funds you plan to commit to.