By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost and policy experts confronted the threat of mass deportations and military occupations to Black communities across the country during a panel conversation at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) on Sept. 26.
On the campaign trail, the 47th president pledged to carry out the largest deportation in American history and since then, more than 400,000 people have been expelled from the country, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The current presidential administration has deployed the National Guard to D.C. and Chicago, and has threatened to send troops to other major cities, including Baltimore and Memphis. On Sept. 28, the president ordered troops to Portland, Ore.
Though most national conversations about deportations have centered on the Latinx community, Frost emphasized that Black immigrants have also been affected. He framed the 47th president’s anti-immigration agenda as an ethnic cleansing campaign.
“Black immigrants are disproportionately impacted by detention and deportation, but a lot of times are not spoken about, not represented in the stories and not talked about on the news,” said Frost. “I see it very prevalently in my community, being from Orlando, Florida with our Haitian community being targeted and also with Black Latinos being targeted.”
During the discussion, panelists explored how mass deportations and military occupations are rooted in anti-Blackness and authoritarianism. Haddy Gassama, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), noted that there is a direct connection between slave patrols and the mass detention and caging of immigrants today.
She also said that these issues intertwine with the country’s history of mass incarceration, which has disproportionately harmed Black communities. On the same day as the panel, word began to spread around the country of the arrest of Des Moines Public School Superintendent Ian Roberts.
According to reporting from the Associated Press, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Roberts was in the country illegally and had no work authorization. Roberts, who is from Guyana in South America, was considered an ICE fugitive because he was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024, the agency said.”
Roberts is a Coppin State University graduate who has diligently served public school districts and students around the country. Still, his immigration status made him a high-profile target.
“Black folks are some of the earliest immigrants in this country— albeit through forced immigration— but nonetheless, some of the first immigrants here,” said Gassama.“From that moment, the project of controlling their bodies, their movement, where they can go and where they cannot go has been a policy issue in this country.”
With the interconnectedness of mass incarceration and deportations, Black immigrants often experience a compounded fear of detention. As Astou Thiane, interim director of advocacy and policy at UndocuBlack Network, explained, Black immigrants tend to settle in cities that already have an established presence of other Black immigrants. These communities are also oftentimes over-policed, according to Thiane.
She said some Black immigrants have found themselves living in cities without sanctuary policies or with leaders who are yielding to the 47th president’s policies.
“You are a Black body navigating present-day anti-Blackness, but you’re doing so without citizenship and doing so knowing that any interaction you have with local law enforcement might land you in immigration detention if you live in a community where local law enforcement cooperates with ICE,” said Thiane.
Thiane has personal experience with this fear. She immigrated with her family to the U.S. when she was seven years old and settled in Harlem, N.Y.
Following the 2024 election, polling data revealed that the 47th president won nearly 50 percent of Latino voters in spite of his anti-immigration rhetoric and policy plans. This trend caused some to place blame on Latinx populations and a sentiment that they should be left to fend for themselves.
Thiane stressed that painting deportations as an issue for Latinx communities alone is dangerous and undermines the targeting of Black immigrants across the country. She called on the Black Americans to practice allyship with all immigrant communities.
“ICE is coming after everyone. ICE is coming after Black people. ICE is coming after folks from the Asian community. ICE is coming after folks from everywhere,” said Thiane. “If we go outside today, anytime there are federal agents in the street, none of us are safe, and our liberation is literally connected.”
