Black immigrants in California are being left out of the deportation protest conversations. While headlines focus on Latin American migration, advocates warn that anti-Black immigration policies are quietly removing Californians of African descent from their homes, and from the national spotlight.
“We need to tell all the sides of the story,” says Nana Gyamfi, executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration.
Black immigrants live at the intersection of Black identity and immigration in America, experiencing the combined weight of racial profiling and exclusionary immigration policy.
Over 200,000 Black immigrants live in California, with more than 74,000 in Los Angeles County alone. Nearly 40% hail from Nigeria, Belize, and Ethiopia, countries similarly affected by past or proposed U.S. travel bans, including Proclamation 10949, President Trump’s 2025 order restricting entry from 12 nations, eight of which are African countries…