The most recent wave of the immigrant rights movement has focused on fighting for and protecting the Dream Act or protection for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The Dreamers are promoted as a movement of young Brown Latinx folks coming from Mexico and Central America. This narrative excludes Black immigrants from the Americas and around the globe who face the same challenges as other undocumented folks, and because of anti-black racism in the U.S., experience higher rates of police/ICE contact based on the color of their skin. Here in LA , we saw Black workers being asked to turn out to events supporting immigrants, but rarely asked to speak about being a Black immigrant. The anti-blackness of the immigration and criminal justice systems was viewed as a side issue within the immigration issue as a whole.
Without real intersectional analysis and unbreakapartable struggle, the most marginalized are sacrificed to privilege some folks, leaving the interlocking systems of oppression intact. Many Black and queer organizers have made it clear that we will not participate in campaigns that fail to put forward an analysis and demands that address intersecting oppressions. This has meant there are more organizations and movements experimenting with how to make intersectionality truly meaningful in our movements. These are two examples of how organizations that COiL members participate in are attempting to turn an intersectional analysis into unbreakapartable struggle: Students Deserve and Orange County Immigrant Youth United (OCIYU).
