Immigrant advocates, as well as Black Americans and influential civil rights organisations like the N.A.A.C.P., were all moved to tears by the images of agents mounted on horses, and many now see this as an opportunity to effect change.
Judith Browne Dianis, the executive director of the Advancement Project, a civil rights organisation, said, “The connections have been made for Black people.” All Black people saw it and we can’t unsee it, so the Biden administration must act if they want to be held accountable.
Even after Vice President Biden denounced the detention of migrants in Del Rio, his administration sent dozens of additional deportation flights to Haiti, resulting in the deportation of nearly 8,000 people, according to the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
There are many who believe that this is absurd in a country that the administration has described as being in “a political crisis and human rights abuses, serious security concerns,” and “a dire economic situation” as a result of the outbreak of the flu epidemic. On Saturday, 17 missionaries were kidnapped by gang members in Haiti.
It’s a sign of how the Biden administration is handling border security, which many immigration advocates say isn’t what Mr. Biden promised during his campaign last year. Also, the deportation of Haitians to a crisis-torn country is especially disappointing from a president who has been concerned about the well-being of all Americans.
BlackPAC’s executive director Adrianne Shropshire warned that this issue could become a political liability for Democrats heading into the 2022 midterm elections. The Democratic Party’s House and Senate majorities will depend on the participation of African-Americans in 2022, she said.
According to Ms. Shropshire, “it would be a mistake to think that Black Americans are somehow not paying attention to immigration issues.”
More than 28,000 illegal immigrants entered Del Rio, Texas, in large groups across the Rio Grande over the course of a little more than two weeks last month.
