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Bambadjan Bamba, an actor who has appeared in The Good Place, Grey’s Anatomy, Suicide Squad, Black Panther, and The Sopranos, has publicly revealed that he is an undocumented immigrant currently protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program:
“I’m going public first and foremost because I’m sick and tired of living in fear and hiding about this issue,” he said. “I’ve kind of been in this status for 25 years of my life. I remember when the administration decided to cancel DACA ― that was the last straw for me because not only am I married, but I have a daughter now. I didn’t feel like I could still sit back and keep hitting the snooze button.”
Bamba was just 10 years old when, fleeing persecution, he came to the U.S. with his parents from the West African country of Ivory Coast. He grew up in the south Bronx, developing his English-speaking skills by listening to hip-hop artists like Snoop Dogg and Mase.
Like many other DACA recipients before him, Bamba had no clue about his immigration status until he started applying for colleges and realized he was ineligible for financial aid (he eventually put himself through the Conservatory of Film and Dramatic Arts by driving cabs and with help from his family).
Since DACA’s implementation in 2012, Bamba has been able to work steadily, but Donald Trump’s decision to end the program again threw his life into turmoil. As he wondered if he would have to go back into the shadows, he credited his faith, daughter, and other DACA youth with convincing him to come out as undocumented and take a stand.
”All these kids that have so much less than I do, they're standing up,” he said. “They're sleeping in front of the White House or in front of their congressman's office. I'm sitting here being scared. But we're done with fear. We're here to stay. Let's push. Let's fight, because nothing is going to be given for free.”
As he notes in his interview, part of the reason Bamba’s story has been making headlines is because immigration continues to be seen as a mostly Latino issue, despite the fact that “there are about five million foreign-born black people in the U.S.” While fewer than two percent of the 800,000 undocumented immigrants who have DACA protections are black, organizations like UndocuBlack have been fierce in their advocacy nonetheless. Bamba:
It's a little different when you're black and you're an immigrant because the cop doesn't care that you're an immigrant at first. You're just black. You're dealing with all those issues. When he finds out you're an immigrant, he's like, "Oh, okay. I got you now."
I speak with an American accent now because of the story I told you of my childhood. I'm an actor, and it works when you have both accents. No one imagines, no one thinks in their wildest dreams that I'm undocumented. There's also a lot of resources and organizations set up for Latino immigrants, because they're the majority. Black immigrants really don't have that much support... and for people from the Caribbean or Africa, there's a shame culture around being undocumented. No one even wants to come out and talk about it.
Since the new administration, people are scared to go to the little Jamaican restaurant because there are raids. They're scared to take a certain street because of raids. There's all this fear that's being perpetuated. We just can't be scared anymore.
Anti-immigrant policies are also affecting black immigrants who currently have legal protections other than DACA. Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would be ending for 50,000 Haitians currently living in the U.S., meaning they will either have to find a way to adjust their immigration status or leave by July 2019. According to research, 27,000 U.S. citizen kids have TPS recipient parents, and upending Haitian TPS recipients will mean upending whole families.
“At the bottom line, this is an immigrant nation,” Bamba said, urging all who call themselves allies to immigrants to support the bipartisan DREAM Act now. “It was founded by immigrants. America said, ‘Bring me your poor. Bring me your downtrodden. Bring me all those who are being persecuted, and they will have a safe place.’ That's still valid today even though the immigrants that are coming are not all from Europe anymore. I believe America has a responsibility to those words and those ideals.”