Hands Off D.C.

Black Alliance for Just Immigration condemns the Trump administration’s attempts to take over Washington, D.C.

On August 11, Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital, federalizing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, and dispatching 800 National Guard troops. This is a dangerous escalation in his ongoing efforts to exert control over cities with strong Black communities and led by Black mayors. Just like the response to the protests in Los Angeles earlier this summer, deploying the military to police civilians is a deeply alarming attempt to silence dissent and expand immigration enforcement in our communities. 

The District is home to one of the largest Black immigrant populations in the country, including those from Jamaica, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and many more. Black immigrants and Black Americans have deep roots in the region and are woven into the city’s fabric. Trump’s militarized immigration enforcement and surveillance operations in D.C. threaten our communities. The same policies that aim to lock up Black immigrants are also responsible for the over-policing and heightened surveillance in Black American communities, leaving us all more vulnerable to racial profiling, harassment, and unlawful detention. 

This is not about crime in the District; it is a calculated and oppressive step toward authoritarianism. Trump has repeatedly spread false claims about crime in Washington, D.C., using harmful, racially-coded language to paint the city and its residents as dangerous and out of control. This intentionally misleading narrative fuels fear, allows for inhumane policies against the unhoused, and undermines the dignity of the Black people, including immigrants, who call this city home. Trump is using the same harmful rhetoric to target D.C.’s Black youth. The administration labels them as ‘threats, while simultaneously increasing the presence of police and ICE in schools. Students in D.C. return to school next week, which increases risks for Black youth, particularly Black immigrant youth who fear being targeted and separated from their families and communities.

Declaring a crime emergency in D.C. is part of Trump’s ongoing effort to erode D.C.’s autonomy and builds on a much longer history of denying the city full rights. D.C.’s government structure and the denial of its statehood are rooted in a legacy of slavery and anti-black racism. Its largely-Black residents still do not have full voting representation in Congress, which has left the city vulnerable to Trump’s political attacks.

What is unfolding here in D.C., and what we are seeing attempted in Texas through illegal gerrymandering, represents unconstitutional overstepping and a calculated effort to erode democracy. 

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) urges the Black American and Black immigrant communities that make up a large part of the D.C. area to stand firm and resist this dangerous slide toward authoritarianism. This moment demands collective vigilance and mobilization. BAJI reaffirms its commitment to amplifying Black voices in D.C.’s ongoing struggle for full democratic representation, statehood, and equitable treatment.  We must unite across lines of immigration status, neighborhood, and politics to ensure that this federal intrusion is stopped.