NPPs (Non-Political People) are “spilling the tea” about immigration

This article was originally published February 6, 2024 and has been updated.

The importance of student engagement

Across the country HBCU students are attending classes, preparing for tests, and enjoying their social lives. Immigration has been a hot button issue across the United States but it is not a topic even considered on college campuses. Now that immigration has evolved from being a border state issue to a national crisis, college professors are scrambling to find ways to engage students about this subject. 

When I visited college campuses across the country, the students were blissfully unaware of what is happening with immigration. I have spoken with college professors who have stated that when they were discussing immigration topics in class the students did not understand basic terms about immigration. 

This has to change because whether they know it or not they will be voting on this issue in the next election. The leaders that are put into power in 2024 will make policy decisions that could affect America for the next 20 to 30 years. Finding new ways to overcome student apathy about immigration is key and I believe discussing the opinions of celebrities they follow will peak their interest. Using terms like “spilling tea” and moving away from legal jargon will open the door to them learning more about immigration policy.

Definitions and establishing the political landscape

Before I discuss what people are saying about immigration, I would like to define “spilling the tea”. According to Google, “Tea” is slang for gossip or inside information. It is often used in the phrase “spill the tea” which is to share juicy or exclusive details about a situation or person. 

Cardi B, 50 Cent, Stephen A. Smith, and Dr. Roger House are bringing attention to juicy or exclusive details about immigration that the general public would not usually pay attention to or expect to hear from non-political people. Our 24-hour news cycle floods our timelines, emails, and feeds with the opinions of elected officials about a variety of issues.  

Frequently, Non-Political People (rappers, actors, professors, etc.) will often be asked to share their opinions about a political issue or use their popularity to get people out to the polls. However, occasionally issues are so dire that NPPs are uncharacteristically volunteering their views, questioning the status quo, and demanding change.

Just three years ago, illegal immigration was viewed primarily as an issue for the border states and certain job industries that were directly affected. Due to policy changes from the current administration we have seen over 8 million people attempt to cross the border. The southern states were inundated with illegal immigration and began busing illegal aliens to sanctuary cities. In as little as 18 months, sanctuary cities went from saying “send them over” to “this is going to destroy” our city. As a result of this exposure, you now have Non-Political People such as Cardi B, 50 Cent, Steven A. Smith, and Dr. Roger House “spilling the tea” about immigration.

Sir Charles: “The border is a joke.”

In this week’s continuation of NPP’s Spilling the Tea on immigration, we return to Stephen A. Smith. On his show, he has a star studded guest. Some of you know him as Sir Charles, the NBA Hall of Famer. Others know him as Charles Barkley the comical TNT NBA Halftime Show host. Charles Barkley spilled some tea about the issues New York city is having with illegal aliens. He brought up an incident where two illegal migrants beat up two cops and were released the same day. He continued the story and stated, “Two days later they caught them robbing Macy’s. The border is a joke. “

Coordination with ICE would have helped New York save face in this terrible situation. Why won’t they deport the individuals responsible? Why is there all this tough talk but no action?” One problem was Mayor DeBlasios’s law preventing New York from communicating with ICE. Alvin Bragg, the New York DA, gives a very different reason. “We do not tolerate people assaulting police officers, but in a court of law, our profound obligation is to make sure we have the right people charged with the right crimes.” What they do tolerate is illegal immigration.

Americans should have real tough questions for elected officials regarding the special treatment of illegal aliens. We have seen funding, benefits, and legal loopholes most Americans have never experienced before. Many Black Americans are frustrated after seeing the consequences of this assault on police officers unfold and Charles Barkley sums up their frustrations perfectly, “Anybody whether you are Democrat or Republican, Dog, or Cat, or puppy, you know that is wrong period”. These policies are not working and it causes tension in American neighborhoods due to the unbalanced administration of the law. These inadmissible individuals are receiving real benefits such as rent, food, health insurance, and work permits. If we are giving them American privileges then they should be able to receive American consequences.

The Rooftop Pastor: “Totally taken advantage of.”

As we are getting closer to the 2024 election the topic of immigration is heating up. Chicago is continuing to favor illegal aliens over its own citizens and has provided another 70 million to support their effort to assimilate them into the city. In response to continued negligence from Major Johnson toward the effects of mass immigration on the Black community, Pastor Corey Brooks completed an interview on the Glenn Loury show.

Pastor Corey Brooks is the Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church in Chicago, Illinois. He is also the CEO of Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny). He formed this 501 (c3) organization after spending 94 days on a roof to bring attention to gun violence. He is recognized by most as the Rooftop Pastor and has been a transformational leader in the Chicago inner city community.

Locked out of Democracy

Pastor Brooks believes that if they had a vote on Sanctuary Cities status that this policy would get overturned. However, though Brandon Johnson’s approval rating is just over 20 percent, there is enough support amongst the Alderman to play political games to prevent a vote. I saw this first hand attempting to attend a City Hall meeting. Myself and others were locked out of the meeting. After watching streamed videos of the meeting and the news we learned that they prevented Alderman from participating in voting against sanctuary city policy. They prevented Aldermen from joining the meeting physically or via zoom utilizing multiple delay tactics until they had enough support to strikedown the vote. 

Pastor Brooks mentioned that Alderman Beale is speaking against sanctuary policy. Beale stated, “Migrants coming to Chicago will never stop especially when meals are given, free education is given, and 9000 dollar housing vouchers are given. If it were me I would come too. In order for it to change that policy has to change”. Pastor Brooks also makes it clear that the Black community would love to do more to help the immigrants and the world. However, doing so much for illegal migrants is “putting a strain on us to help the people who are already here”. 

Pastor Brooks thinks that the strain and tension is not all negative. He believes that the tension will push people to engage with the issues. He mentioned that many Pastors are hearing from their congregation that they (the pastors) have to say something about what is going on with immigration. This is a top concern for the Black community and this is what is driving me not to give up on Chicago. This is why NumbersUSA has partnered with the Black American Voters Project with the shared vision of empowering Black Americans to achieve a sensible immigration policy.

New Yorkers upset about mass immigration policies

After 60 thousand illegal aliens flocked to the New York City, Mayor Adams said, 

“We have a $12 billion deficit that we’re going to have to cut — every service in this city is going to be impacted. All of us.”

Cardi B, complained about some of those cuts in a series of twitter post below:

“Crimes are gonna go through the roof,” she exclaimed in a video posted on X. “What’s going to happen to my nieces, what’s going to happen to my nephews, what’s going to happen to my cousins, my aunts, my friends that’s living in the hood?

“There’s gonna be a $120 million budget cut with schools, with the libraries, and the cops and the police department, and a $5 million budget cut in sanitation. A budget cut in sanitation. B*tch, we gonna be drowning with rats. We’re going to be drowning in f**king rats. So, we’re gonna be…having a budget cut on these sh*ts. Mind you, this is why I say I’m not — that’s why I’m telling y’all, I’m not — this year. Don’t f**king ask me, I don’t give a f**k, the resume that they send, I don’t give a f**k. I’m not endorsing no f**king presidents no more, because how is there a $100 million budget cut in New York City for f**king schools, library, police safety and sanitation…

Cardi B is someone who is asked to bring voters to the polls but she rarely volunteers her political opinions. She seems very frustrated by the policies enacted to assist illegals that puts a strain on American citizens in New York city. 

Steven A. Smith, another native New Yorker,  is one of America’s favorite Tv sports personalities, radio host, and journalist. He is the lead commentator on ESPN First Take and he majors in the sensationalism of the sports world. He was recently on to Fox New to discuss his comments on twitter about immigration and homelessness. His comments are below:

“What it came down to for me was this. I see homeless folks in the street of New York all the time that are American citizens, I damn sure see them in California. We’ve got poor, impoverished, starving people who are born and raised in this nation,” Smith said. 

“How in the hell do we come up with a $53 million pilot program for illegals, but folks who are here legally, or born here, we don’t have enough for them? Just like we can come up with billions for Ukraine, but somehow, someway, we can’t fix the homeless problem.” 

Smith continued. “I’m down for helping Israel, I’m down for helping address the situations with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, OK. I’m down for helping the Ukrainians fighting off Russia. What about poor and desolate citizens here?” 

50 Cent puts California on notice, after it became first to provide illegals with Healthcare

Next, we have rapper, actor, and entrepreneur 50 Cent. He recently put California’s decision to offer medical insurance benefits to illegal aliens, on blast, while on Instagram. He said:

“[eye emoji] I don’t understand this, this is going to cost 2.6 billion dollars for tax payers,” Jackson said on a post which has been removed. “They don’t even give veterans health insurance. @arimelber call my phone now, help me understand this s—. [shrug emoji] WTF.”

These immigration policies are costing the taxpayers billions of dollars. 50 Cent is expressing a trend that we are seeing amongst other Black democratic voters across the country who live in sanctuary cities. 

Dr. Rodger House says CBC needs to do more on immigration

Dr. Roger House is a college professor from Emerson College. He recently published two opinion pieces about immigration, Black labor, and the Congressional Black Caucus’s responsibility to its Black constituents. House states the following:

“… the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has an obligation to act on behalf of its base. That’s because the Black community is disproportionately impacted by the current policy on immigration—and the unpredictable border surges of ‘asylum seekers.’

Dr. House expresses that the CBC has not been doing its due diligence to represent the needs of the Black Community. He suggests that their tie to political ideology and party allegiance is to blame. “To date, the body of 60 members—three Senate Democrats, 55 voting House Democrats and two non-voting—has been missing in action. The skirting of duty is largely the result of being beholden to campaign money, business support, and Hispanic and progressive factions of the party” 

Dr. House believes that CBC has the responsibility to address the issue of mass immigration and advocate for the Black Americans they represent. House states, “CBC members must shed their reticence and shine a spotlight on the mean correlation between the rising levels of immigration and the declining fortunes of Black workers, particularly men….

Summary and Call to Action

Recent polls show immigration is the top issue for American voters. When non-political people are bringing attention to different aspects of immigration dysfunction, and “spilling to the tea” about why it is not good for America, that is a sure sign that dissatisfaction has reached a new level. Now what can be done to reach the thousands of HBCU students, who are unaware of how these issues are affecting their communities? We have to have dialogue and engage them in new ways. Let’s present the sentiments celebrities that they follow as evidence that mass immigration is an issue they need to consider.

About the Author:

My name is Andre Barnes and I am the HBCU Engagement Director for NumbersUSA. I give a free presentation and bootcamp about immigration. Immigration is the top political issue for 2024 and your students will need to engage with this issue at some point. As I have traveled to HBCUs around the country, students are unaware of the issues surrounding immigration and even less knowledgeable about the basic terms.(Asylee, refugee, permissible etc) 

My bootcamp and presentations provide a non-threatening civil forum to engage with the issue. I provide interesting ways for students to engage with the history of immigration through tying in notable figures such as A. Phillip Randolph, Frederick Douglas, and Barbara Jordan. I also deal with some of the apathy they may have about immigration through incorporating notable celebrities such as Cardi B, 50 Cent, and Steven A. Smith.

The purpose of these events are to engage, educate, and empower students to take an interest in mass immigration.  I would be glad to discuss the presentation and bootcamp materials, format, and timing via zoom, phone, or in person. Also, if you are not ready for me to come to campus, I do have materials I can share to empower you to engage your students about immigration.

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