There has been a lot happening in politics involving the state of affairs with the Trump administration and this immigration crisis that this nation is dealing with.
Many of you have seen the stories on mainstream news and social media about the ICE raids in Los Angeles and the rising protests. It’s almost as if we are living in a Twilight Zone.
I’ve seen the discourse online and in the Black community about their thoughts on this issue. I see a lot of, “This ain’t our problem,” “We are protecting our peace,” “This isn’t our fight” or “Those people don’t fight for us.”
I completely understand where this sentiment comes from, considering the results of the last Presidential election. Black voters remained the racial group most supportive of Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Everyone is fed up and exhausted.
We need to realize that even though this situation might not impact you personally, it certainly will affect you in some capacity. Black folks don’t have to sacrifice their bodies on the frontlines, but we can’t afford to be completely shut off from what is happening around us.
What’s happening in L.A.?
ICE has been conducting aggressive sweeps, raiding homes, workplaces and churches, snatching people from communities that are already under siege. Families are being torn apart in their own homes, while cuffed individuals vanish into detention systems with no regard for human dignity.
Protesters have taken to the streets as protesters demanded an end to these raids and violence, but even that spectacle couldn’t hide what’s really happening.
The same machine, powerful, unjust and racially biased, has long policed Black bodies. It’s the same blueprint. Only this time, citizenship status is the scapegoat.
The mainstream media often frames “immigration” as a Latino issue. But that leaves out Black immigrants, West African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, plus U.S.-born Black folks who ICE has illegally detained. ICE doesn’t check your country of origin; they profile by appearance. Your blue passport won’t stop police or ICE from misidentifying you.
This impacts us economically.
Immigrants (even those who come here illegally) fuel America’s economy. Their labor drives food service, construction, healthcare and caregiving. They pay $580 billion a year in taxes, contribute $1.6 trillion in spending and pump nearly $50 billion into personal income and consumer spending last year alone. They do the low-wage, back-breaking work that Americans are too prideful to do.
Recently, President Trump acknowledged his immigration crackdown was negatively impacting farms and hotels that rely on low-wage labor, and considered adjusting his mass deportation policy to protect these industries.
So if these people get deported, which one of you will step up to do the work?
If mass deportations, as promised by the incoming Trump administration, continue, they’ll devastate the economy. Reports show that Real GDP could shrink by up to 7.4% by 2028; key industries could lose 225,000 agricultural workers and 1.5 million construction workers. Inflation? Expect up to 9.1% higher prices. It costs 44,000 U.S.-born workers their jobs for every half a million immigrants removed from the labor force.
Popular Financial social media influencer Vivian Tu, also says the same thing. Undocumented immigrants make up a small portion of the nation’s workforce, but they are overrepresented in jobs that most Americans don’t want.
And I know those, “Living here undocumented is against the law,” folks will eat up this opinion piece, but how about the same energy for homegrown terrorists in America who are citizens, such as:
- Dylann Roof, accused of killing nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
- James Holmes, who opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, in 2012, killing 12 people and injuring 70.
- Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people and injured over 50 in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.
- Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, students at Columbine High School, entered the school with four guns and pipe bombs. They killed 13 people and wounded 24 before killing themselves.
The list can go on and on.
Despite claims of higher criminal activity among immigrants, research reveals that crime rates are lower among all immigrant groups, including unauthorized immigrants, despite the fact that immigration is linked to higher rates of crime.
Supporters of these raids talk about “protecting the American people.” Still, in truth, they’re gutting whole industries, straining public services and hiking costs across the board, housing, food and health care, all while targeting marginalized communities.
Black and Latino communities have had a long, uneasy relationship. But when ICE rolls through Black and brown neighborhoods alike, those divisions don’t matter. Plus, I’d hope these conversations are also being had with other “people of color” and not predominantly with Black people, because those other communities need to stand up and get with the program, too. However, Other alternatives exist to make your voice heard. This isn’t the time to be politically apothetical. Everyone should keep up with what’s happening in their communities, share with others and discuss. Don’t keep yourself in the dark. Several organizations, such as UndocuBlack, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, the ACLU, The Color of Change and the Haitian Bridge Alliance, continue to do the advocacy and groundwork.
