In Defense of Black Migrants: Haitians at Del Rio

@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG Civil rights groups press for change in U.S. policy toward Black migrants reports @esullivannyt of @nytimes, but I wonder if country can be saved from itself.  Join Thursdays, 8 pm ET, from 1/13/22, “If America Fails?:  The Coming Tyranny.”

America’s racism, deep and entrenched as it is, is whittling away at the limited freedoms and benefits we are taught to associate with this country.  America is indeed exceptional – exceptionally steeped in an ideology of white supremacy that leads to acts of extreme cruelty, insanity and crimes against humanity.

The fact that so many people continue to want to come here is both a measure of the idealistic way in which they have learned to see this country, and the harshness of the conditions they seek to escape.

Black Americans have argued for decades, to deaf ears, that what we allow to be done to Black people will eventually become acceptable for all people.  America has not learned this lesson yet, and we see the results in our dwindling democracy and approaching tyranny.  Is it too late to learn?

Consider the ways in which civil rights groups continue to grapple with pulling the country back from a point of no return.   — LMO

“The treatment of Haitians apprehended in Del Rio, Texas, has galvanized civil rights groups and others to press for change…

“The Border Patrol’s actions in Del Rio were raised repeatedly on Tuesday during the Senate confirmation hearing for Mr. Biden’s choice to lead Customs and Border Protection, Chris Magnus…

“But what happened in Del Rio is not just about the horses, immigration and civil rights advocates said. It is about the poor treatment of Black migrants that has spanned administrations, often overshadowed by the larger debate about the broken immigration system and a persistent focus on waves of migrants from Central America…

“Recent reports have found that Black migrants are more often placed in solitary confinement in immigration detention, face a higher rate of deportation than any other race and see higher bonds set by immigration judges…

“Recent reports have found that Black migrants are more often placed in solitary confinement in immigration detention, face a higher rate of deportation than any other race and see higher bonds set by immigration judges…”

“’The connections have been made for Black people,’ said Judith Browne Dianis, the executive director of the Advancement Project, a civil rights organization. ‘And accountability requires that the Biden administration act, because all Black people saw it, and we can’t unsee it…’

“But there is little indication that the policies used to turn Haitian and other migrants away in September will change, particularly as the administration fights in court to keep the Trump-era public health rule in place…

“’Is the Biden administration ready to do something different when the next wave of Black migrants wind up at the border?’ said Ms. Dianis, of the Advancement Project. ‘I am not confident that they have a different plan than the one that they used this time.’”  — Eileen Sullivan | The New York Times

READ | After Del Rio, Calls for Fairer Treatment of Black Migrants | by Eileen Sullivan | The New York Times | 10/19/2021