POLICY BRIEF

December 2014

2014 Immigration Action Impact on Black Immigrant Communities

Executive Summary
On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced a
multitude of executive actions know by an umbrella
term, administrative relief, to modify existing
immigration laws. Accordingly, the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a series of
memorandums adjusting removal priorities: Secure
Communities, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
(DACA), Provisional Waivers, and Prosecutorial
Discretion. The measures broadly fall into three
categories: (i) changes to immigration enforcement
policy; (ii) deferred action expansion, and (iii) changes
to the legal immigration system. i
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS), housed under DHS is tasked with defining,
broadening, and executing the specifics of the
administrative relief. This brief highlights how the relief
will impact black immigrant communities. It also
acknowledges outstanding principles unmet by the
Presidents executive action; the importance of
adjusting policy recommendations, and tailoring
enforcement practices to meet the realities of the black
immigrant context.

Background
Immigrant rights are a matter of racial justice. Black
immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean make up
approximately 10% of the foreign-born population in
the United States.ii Studies have shown that black
immigrants are detained and deported at five times the
rate of their presence in the undocumented immigrant
community. iiiWhile the current immigration system
continues to adversely impact all immigrant
communities, black immigrants often remain
overlooked and excluded from the immigration
discourse.

Though the full impact of the administrative relief on

black immigrants remains unclear, the Black
Immigration Network will continue to assess the
results, while holding any immigration executive
actions to fair and just principles, promoting policies
grounded in racial justice, family unification, and
decriminalization.
Recognizing that any administrative relief via executive
action is temporary and could be reversed by a
subsequent administration, the Black Immigration
Network renews its call for a permanent solution and a
path to legal status and deserved citizenship for the
more than 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the
U.S. including 500,000 of which are black immigrants.

Deferred Action
Implications

&

Families

Policy

Black immigrant communities will potentially benefit

from the deferred action programs of the
administrative relief.
The Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status grants a deferred
action against removal for childhood arrivals for three
years, and permits employment authorization also valid
for three years. To be eligible for deferred action under
DACA status, one must have been brought to the US
before January 1, 2010, have been under 16 when
entering the US, and be enrolled or have graduated
from high school, or obtained a GED.iv
Under the new administrative relief, the program has
been expanded to eliminate the former age cap,
thereby increasing eligibility; however, current DACA
eligibility requirements prohibits those who entered
the US at 16 or above, or attended high school in their
country of origin from becoming recipients. This
adversely
affects
Afro-Caribbean
immigrant

1
Black Immigration Network
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tel: (347) 410-5312 web: www.blackimmigration.net email: info@blackimmigration.net

POLICY BRIEF
December 2014
populations, as the typical age for Caribbean high
school graduates is 16.
The administrative relief increases DACA eligibility for
black immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Haiti,
and Jamaica by an average of 10 percent.v Previous
applicants and status grantees can re-apply for DACA
status. Though one can continuously apply based on
eligibility, the Department of Homeland Security grants
final approval for applicants, and DACA does not
provide a path to citizenship.
The administrations existing deferred action was
limited to childhood or minor arrivals. Through this
executive order, parents of childhood arrivals can also
be granted a temporary stay. Similarly named and
enacted, Deferred Action for Parent Accountability
(DAPA), grants a deferred action against removal for
undocumented parents of permanent residents and/or
US citizens for three years, as well as temporary work
authorization. DAPA parents will encounter stricter
eligibility requirements. While DAPA recipients are
eligible for employment authorization, the executive
action requires that they have no factors that warrant
denial based on discretion. It is unclear yet how the
Department of Homeland Security will interpret that
discretion or many of the enforcement provisions
relating to DAPA, thus increasing the risk of greater
enforcement scrutiny for black immigrant families.
The expanded deferred action programs are limited to
children and parents. The programs do not allow for or
provide mechanisms to extended family members to
receive deferred action status. Thus siblings of children
and/or parents will not be granted a temporary stay
against removals, nor eligible for ensuing immigration
status adjustments if they do not qualify for either
deferred action program on their own merit.
The impact this will have on black immigrant families
cannot be overemphasized. Extended families are an

integral part of culture, identity, and upbringing. The

DHS limited definition of family increases black
immigrant families vulnerability to removal
proceedings. Furthermore, to qualify for temporary or
permanent status, non-qualifying deferred action
family members must navigate the current immigration
system to adjust immigration status, thus thrusting
them into lengthy and time-consuming visa backlog.
More details on DACA and DAPA qualifications can be
found here.

Enforcement Provisions
Removal proceedings under the new administrative
relief are now categorized according to a priority
standard. The priority standard replaces Secure
Communities to remove individuals convicted of
criminal offenses first.vi While the shift to enforcement
priorities can be regarded as an improvement as it
allows for a transition from a pre-conviction to postconviction model, it continues the entanglement of
local law enforcement in immigration enforcement;
thereby continuously increasing racial profiling and
further
criminalization
of
black
immigrant
communities.
The categories for new priority removal procedures are
as follows:
Priority 1: Non-citizens convicted of aggravated
felonies, suspected terrorists, convicted gang
members; people apprehended at the border
while unlawfully entering the U.S., will be a
priority for removal unless they qualify for
asylum or another immigration benefit. vi
The use of language such as suspected terrorists
without built in civil rights protections to discourage
racial profiling is very troubling. Additionally, the
recently revised version of the Department of Justice
Guidance Regarding the Use of Racial Profiling by
Federal Law Enforcement Agencies has expanded the
prohibition of profiling based on national origin,

2
Black Immigration Network
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tel: (347) 410-5312 web: www.blackimmigration.net email: info@blackimmigration.net

POLICY BRIEF
December 2014
religion, gender, sexual orientation, and gender
ethnicity, in addition to race and ethnicity; yet, this
guidance exempts the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), Transportation Security Administration (TSA),
and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) federal
agencies from adhering to the modifications.

misdemeanor offenses--indicatively drug offenses that

qualify as a significant misdemeanor. Blacks are
arrested for drug possession more than three times as
often as their counterpartsvii, and comprised 45 percent
of the combined number of individuals serving time in
state prisons for drug offenses in 2012viii.

While the expansion of the Guidance is a much needed

measure to mitigate the effects of profiling, migrant
communities, in particular
black
immigrant
communities, remain susceptible to profiling by federal
authorities. In fact, the Guidance serves as an
additional layer of profiling in coherence with local law
enforcement.

Additionally, black youth are 33 more percent likely to

be cited or arrested for a drug violationviii. A priority
removal proceeding of black immigrants based off
these indicators and overall criminal injustices is unfair,
unjust, and inhumane.
Lastly, the prioritization and criminalizing of people
who overstay their visas under the visa waiver program
is alarming. Many of these people are immediate
relatives of United States citizens or permanent
residents and have much to contribute to the U.S. This
priority increases the likelihood of heightened
criminalization of black communities.

Furthermore, the prioritization of people with gangrelated membership is deeply disturbing, as law
enforcement targets specific racial/ethnic groups as
gang-affiliated.
Black immigrant communities will undoubtedly be the
subject and victims of such targeting. Black individuals
in the United States are the highest profiled group.
Recognizing that ones status cannot be determined
solely off profiling or appearance, this priority runs the
risk of increased profiling of black individuals, likely
black youth in an attempt to determine legal status.

Priority 2: Non-citizens convicted of three or

more misdemeanor offenses, non-citizens
convicted of significant misdemeanors
(including DUI), non-citizens apprehended who
entered after January 1, 2014; non-citizens who
are perceived to abuse the visa waiver
program should be a priority of removal unless
they qualify for asylum or another immigration
benefit.vi

The biggest concern this priority poses for black

immigrant communities is significant misdemeanors
qualifications. Because of racial profiling, black
communities are disproportionately affected by

Priority 3: Non-citizens issued final orders of

removal after January 1, 2014 should generally
be a priority for removal unless they qualify for
asylum, or another immigration benefit.vi

Lastly, black immigrants who have come to the U.S. in

2014 will now be subject to heightened racial profiling
and draconian enforcement.

Policy Recommendations
Considering the administrative relief as a whole, the
following recommendations emerge:

Increase the qualifying age for Deferred Action for

Childhood Arrivals from 16 to 18, grandfathering
those who would not meet eligibility under this
specific executive action;
Broaden the deferred action programs to ensure
families can remain together. Additionally, the
programs must be flexible enough to recognize
work contributions, regardless of proof of

3
Black Immigration Network
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tel: (347) 410-5312 web: www.blackimmigration.net email: info@blackimmigration.net

POLICY BRIEF
December 2014
employment or educational attainment
requirements;

Remove local law enforcement from all

immigration proceedings to decrease racial
profiling and criminalization of black immigrants;

Issue an updated and expanded Guidance

Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law
Enforcement Agencies to include all federal
enforcement agencies to bar the use of profiling to
target black immigrant communities, and enact a
zero tolerance for profiling period.

Endnotes
i

What is Administrative Relief? last modified November 21, 2014, http://www.adminrelief.org/resources/item.544102Summary_of_Administrative_Relief

ii
See Table 1 Black Immigrants in the United States by Region of Origin, 2008-09, Migration Policy Institute Analysis of American
Community Survey in 2008-2009 available at http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/CBI-demographic-profile-black-caribbeanimmigrants
iii
iv

Summary of Administrative Relief Catholic Relief Services, last modified November 24, 2014, http://www.cliniclegal.org
How Obamas Executive Action Will Impact Immigrants, by birth country, PewResearchCenter, last modified December 17, 2014,
http:// http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/21/how-obamas-executive-action-will-impact-immigrants-by-birthcountry/?moderated#comment-648003
vi
Executive Action on Immigration: the Good, Bad, and Ugly, last modified November 21, 2014,
http://prernalal.com/2014/11/executive-action-on-immigration-good-bad-and-ugly/
vii
Race, Drugs, and Law Enforcement in the United States, Human Rights Watch, date accessed December 16, 2014,
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/8%20Fellner_FINAL.pdf
viii
Prisoners in 2012Advance Counts, US Department of Justice, last modified July 2013,
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p12ac.pdf
v

4
Black Immigration Network
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tel: (347) 410-5312 web: www.blackimmigration.net email: info@blackimmigration.net