The Invisible Immigrants
By: Kate Endeley

This past May, 115,000 people took to the streets of downtown Chicago to demand equal rights for illegal immigrants in the United States. The march was said to be one of the largest held in the country.  It is a critical time in the immigration debate.  (The pending immigration bill would enable undocumented immigrants to apply for permanent legal residence. According to the Urban Institute, 400,000 of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country reside in Chicago).

The day after the march, several Chicago publications gave detailed reports of the public display. In the Red Eye (newspaper) was a moving photo of a sea of protesters holding American flags and handwritten posters. Well, it was moving until I realized that not a single Black face was in the crowd. Where were all the Caribbean and African immigrants?

Okay. In all fairness, immigrants of African descent would probably not make up the majority of protesters in any immigrant rally since most undocumented immigrants are Hispanic. But considering that Black immigrants are the fastest growing and most educated immigrants in the country, it would seem that they would have a stronger presence in the fight for immigrant rights.

One can also argue that African and Caribbean immigrants have been somewhat excluded from the immigration debate.  For instance, the guest worker component of the immigration bill which requires undocumented immigrants to enroll in English classes does not necessarily apply to the several Black immigrants who are English speaking. Additionally, much of the debate has been focused on control of the Mexican border; a component which fails to account for the millions of immigrants who are not from Mexico.

There are a number of reasons why lawmakers would overlook this group of immigrants. It could be that Black immigrants are not as easy to recognize because they are lumped together with African-Americans. It could also be that adding Black immigrants to the picture would make the debate even more complicated than it already is.

But could it simply be that Black immigrants are not making their voices heard? There can be no talk of pushing the Black agenda in the immigration debate if members of that group will not even attend public rallies. One can only conclude that Black immigrants are allowing the majority to exclude them.

Of course, it would be easier to let Hispanic immigrants do all of the fighting and then all immigrants would reap the benefits of the results. But in the long-run, making their presence known in the debate would open doors for other agendas that Black immigrants may want to push in the future. Think of the power that foreign-born, black voters would have if politicians were aware of the strong presence of Black immigrants in this country.

If you would like to express your views on this matter, please feel free to email me at kendeley@afriquenewsmagazine.com