BLACK IMMIGRATION NETWORK

tel: (347) 410- 5312 web: www.blackimmigration.net email: info@blackimmigration.net

BIN Principles for Administrative Relief for Black Immigrant Communities

Recently, President Obama announced that his administration would take
executive action to reform our broken immigration system, with an eye toward reducing
deportations. In the absence of legislation, President Obama can use his constitutional power to
alleviate some problems with existing immigration laws and policies.

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 U.S and experience a range
of social, economic and racial injustices. The Black Immigration Network renews its call for a fair,
just and inclusive immigration system and believes that the following reforms must be part of
any executive action taken by President Obama:

LEGALIZATION
Expand Discretion: The Administration should expand the use of prosecutorial
discretion, to allow immigration officials to look carefully at individual cases and stop
deportations that devastate our communities and do not serve the public interest.

Expand Relief to Every Immigrant: DHS should expand Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrival (DACA) and create additional administrative relief programs, more responsive to
black immigrants, through which individuals could apply for protection from deportation
on a case-by-case basis.

STRENGTHEN PROTECTIONS FOR MIGRANTS
Due Process: Last year, nearly 70% of those deported were deprived of a fair hearing. All
immigrants deserve due process, including a fair hearing and appeals process, regardless
of whether they have a criminal history.

Protect Legal Permanent Residents from Deportation: The Administration should no
longer initiate removal proceedings against people with old convictions or with
convictions that would not have resulted in deportation at the time they were
committed.

Protect Workers Rights: The Administration should protect immigrant workers standing
up for fair pay and safer working conditionsthose involved in labor or civil rights
BLACK IMMIGRATION NETWORK


tel: (347) 410- 5312 web: www.blackimmigration.net email: info@blackimmigration.net

disputes, and should prevent employers from using migrant status to
retaliate against workers.

ENFORCEMENT
End Detention: The growing use of private, for-profit jails to incarcerate immigrants,
mandatory detention laws, and rigid detention bed quotas contribute to system-wide
human rights violations. The Administration should require a bond hearing for anyone
detained and shift resources from institutional detention to more humane less expensive
alternatives to detention.

End Profiling: Immigrants should never face detention or deportation because of racial,
ethnic, or national origin profiling. The Administration should close loopholes in current
policy to reflect a zero tolerance toward profiling.

NEW MIGRATION
Eliminate Backlogs in the Family Immigration System: Nearly 110,000 Haitians have
been approved for family-based immigrant visa petitions who remain on waitlists of up
to 12 years in Haiti due to imposed annual per-country limits. The Administration should
create a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, allowing people, to come to the
U.S. as they wait for their visas to be processed. This promotes family unity and stability.