Major black group condemns ICE raids on Caribbean immigrants

NEW YORK, CMC – A New York-based Black group has strongly condemned raids by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on Caribbean immigrants and other communities of colour.

The Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) has also called for an emergency summit to organise a response.

Chairman of IBW’s Police Justice and Accountability Task Force, Ronald Hampton, said that US President Donald Trump’s Border Czar has declared that “physical appearance” is enough for ICE to detain and question Caribbean and other immigrants, “indicating that they don’t need probable cause.

“Can you imagine a group of so-called law enforcement agencies like ICE rounding up people because they ‘look’ like they are from another country”? asked Hampton, a retired veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington and a former executive director of the National Black Police Association.

“This is wrong and makes a mockery of the Constitution’s 4th Amendment,” he told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), adding “it’s nothing short of racial profiling.

“As a result of this alarming policy, we are witnessing horrific scenes of ICE agents terrifying and assaulting immigrants in Los Angeles and other cities across the country using Gestapo-like tactics.

“These actions and behaviour by ICE are dangerous and set an example that, if successful, will be unleashed on African American communities and our sisters and brothers in other communities of colour."

Hampton warned that Washington and “Chocolate Cities” across America are in danger.

“Black people and people of colour are in danger; the Constitution and the rule of law are in danger; democracy is in danger,” Hampton said.

“Fortunately, there are socially conscious members of traditional law enforcement agencies and criminal justice advocates who are ready and willing to challenge Trump’s MAGA-inspired expansive violations of civil liberties, civil rights and human rights.”

Accordingly, he said IBW’s Police Justice and Accountability Task Force has issued a call for an emergency summit, “a joint gathering to develop a unified strategy to defend our families, neighbourhoods and communities against the white supremacist strategies and tactics threatening our human rights.”

Earlier this week, New York Attorney General Letitia James took action to stop the illegal treatment of Caribbean and other immigrants arrested in New York, including those arrested after attending immigration court proceedings and routine check-in appointments at the ICE New York field office.

Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.