Norton Supports Continuing Visas for Africans as Immigration Reform Takes Shape

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus' immigration reform task force, issued a statement in solidarity with and in support of comprehensive immigration reform that includes Black immigrants, who came to the Capitol today to make sure that they were included in any pending immigration bill. Concern has been raised that the diversity visa category that addresses Whites and non-Whites, who have been historically excluded from admission to the United States, could be eliminated in order to encourage more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) visas. Norton supports an increase in STEM visas, but does not support elimination of diversity visas for groups that have been historically barred from immigrating here.

"Throughout most of our history, the nation's immigration laws have required admission of Whites only – and only some Whites, at that," said Norton. "Except for African American slaves and their descendants, the entire continent of Africa was excluded. Diversity visas will never erase the historic disparity, but they stand as a repudiation of the racism that guided American immigration policy until recent decades."

In the District of Columbia, African immigrants make up 17 percent of the foreign-born population.

Published: March 20, 2013