The Root is a digital magazine that provides “commentary and news from a variety of black perspectives.”

Today they posted “House Republicans Shoot Down Proposed Law to Protect Americans From Being Deported, and No One Is Talking About It.”

The subtitle is “Republicans are laying the groundwork for the President to deport Black folks. We cannot let them do so without a fight.”

The post discusses a proposal by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) to block ICE agents from using tax dollars to deport U.S. citizens. The Root says, “the idea of deporting U.S. citizens should give any thinking person pause. We can have a debate about people who are in the country illegally, but there should be NO debate about folks who are citizens.” (Emphasis in the original.)

Republicans voted down Jayapal’s proposal twice.

“When it comes to immigration,” The Root notes, “President Trump clearly has it out for brown folks…it is reasonable to suspect that we (Black people) are a close second.” They note the attack on DEI programs, the quote about considering deportation of U.S. “homegrown” criminals, and the troops sent into predominantly Black communities. “His behavior suggests that he equates cities that have an abundant Black population as inherently criminal.”

The article concludes: “(W)e must remain vigilant and keep a watchful eye. They are laying the groundwork for the Commander In Chief to deport Black folks. We cannot let them do so without a fight.”

Whatever your race, you may or may not agree with The Root. The article deserves consideration, as a position voiced by a media site with 1.6 million followers.

We know that brown folks are being rounded up, sometimes including U.S. citizens. We know that too few are getting due process. We know that international adoptees have been deported.

We know that adoptees, those born in the U.S. and those adopted internationally, are wondering about their status and value here in the U.S. That includes black adoptees, whether from New Orleans, Haiti, Ethiopia, Congo, or New York City.

To learn and understand, I listen to a range of black folks and a range of adoptees, and to black adoptees, because I am a white, non-adopted, born in the U.S.-with-proof-thereof person.

So I am also remaining vigilant and keeping a watchful eye.