When Americans think about immigration enforcement, the public conversation often centers on Latino communities. But for many African and Caribbean immigrants facing detention, the experience can feel invisible.

“I don’t know if they are overlooked or if they are just erased,” Dr. Seydi Sarr, founder of the African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA), told BET. “There is nothing written anywhere that says people who want to talk about immigration have to focus only on Latinos.”

Sarr’s comments come as advocates in Detroit say Black immigrants are confronting many of the same fears surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity while also facing unique barriers rooted in racism, anti-Blackness, and limited resources.

Sarr is assisting a young asylum seeker from Senegal named Mor Ba, whose detention drew attention in Detroit.

“Mor Ba’s detention was not uniquely concerning,” Sarr said. “Every detention is concerning in the same way.”

Ba came to the United States as an asylum-seeking youth and, like many newcomers, sought support through ABISA, a Detroit-based organization that helps African immigrants navigate paperwork, legal systems, and community resources.

Ba was one of several students connected to his high school who were detained during the same period.

“He became more visible because, in this country, people tend to respond differently when the person involved is a young person, compared with an adult Black man,” Sarr said.

While Ba’s case gained public attention, Sarr said the larger issues affecting Black immigrants often receive far less scrutiny.

“I do not believe visibility is the main hurdle,” she said. “The real hurdles are systemic—racism and anti-Blackness.”

Sarr said those barriers can appear in immigration proceedings themselves.

“The same racism and anti-Blackness Black people experience in everyday life also exists in immigration systems,” she said, adding that Black immigrants may face higher bond amounts, increased policing, and fewer financial resources to respond when a loved one is detained.

“If you suddenly need to come up with $7,000, $10,000, or $11,000 for [a] bond, it may simply take longer to gather that money,” she said.

LeDeanea Williams Amoah, a social worker with ABISA who also works with Black immigrant bond support efforts, said the organization has seen bond amounts rise sharply.

“At one point, they were between $1,500 and $5,000,” Amoah told BET. “Now the trend seems to be that the average bond is at $10,000. Some at $15,000 and $20,000. A couple of them were at $50,000.”

In Detroit, advocates say recent enforcement tactics have also intensified fear.

Sarr described situations in which people say they are approached by unmarked vehicles, questioned outside of work, or unexpectedly called into immigration check-ins.

“People are very scared,” Sarr said.

She described what she called a “chilling effect” in immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work,” she said. “Folks don’t know if they are being followed to work.”

For many, detention concerns extend beyond the individual.

People living in shared housing may face instability after receiving an ankle monitor or being flagged by ICE.

“Your roommate is like, ‘Oh no, I’m going to move out because I cannot live with somebody who has an ankle monitor,’” Sarr said. “So it’s very unnerving and destabilizing.”

Families are often left frustrated when loved ones complying with legal immigration processes still end up detained.

“They’re pissed off,” Sarr said. “They are upset. They’re mad.”

Ba remains an asylum seeker awaiting the progression of his case through immigration court. 

Sarr said he continues to try to live as a young person, hoping to attend college and build a future while remaining vulnerable to enforcement.

The immigration conversations should not exclude Black communities, Sarr said, saying, “Immigration is a Black issue. Immigration is a civil rights issue. If people care about democracy and justice. They must also understand that what is happening to immigrants affects the broader fabric of democracy. This is not isolated.”