Faced with the threats made by Donald Trump to carry out mass deportations of immigrants, the thriving African population in Philadelphia is keeping its cool. The locals of Africatown, who hover between denial and resistance, are focused on developing their businesses in a city that voted blue when most of Pennsylvania veered red.
17/01/2025
FRANCE24/AFP
By: David RICH, Lara BULLENS
FRANCE24/AFP
By: David RICH, Lara BULLENS
Founder Voffee Jabatee and project manager Musa Trawally of the African Cultural Alliance of North America (ACANA) stand in front of their Africatown offices in Philadelphia. © David Rich, FRANCE 24
Against a backdrop of brick row houses and shuttered shops, a brightly coloured façade stands out on Chester Avenue in southwest Philadelphia. Behind the doors, a maze of corridors and staircases lead to cramped office spaces. On the first floor is a meeting room with two sofas and a low table camouflaged by informational pamphlets for lawyers and marketing classes. Freshly arrived from Mali on a tourist visa, Mohammed has come here to find help getting an ID card. Up the stairs on the top floor, a young immigrant woman is seeking legal advice.
The three-storey house may not look like much on the inside, but it has been optimised to provide a multitude of services to the community. “We are a one-stop shop,” says Voffee Jabatee, the founder of the non-profit African Cultural Alliance of North America (ACANA), half-jokingly.
Against a backdrop of brick row houses and shuttered shops, a brightly coloured façade stands out on Chester Avenue in southwest Philadelphia. Behind the doors, a maze of corridors and staircases lead to cramped office spaces. On the first floor is a meeting room with two sofas and a low table camouflaged by informational pamphlets for lawyers and marketing classes. Freshly arrived from Mali on a tourist visa, Mohammed has come here to find help getting an ID card. Up the stairs on the top floor, a young immigrant woman is seeking legal advice.
The three-storey house may not look like much on the inside, but it has been optimised to provide a multitude of services to the community. “We are a one-stop shop,” says Voffee Jabatee, the founder of the non-profit African Cultural Alliance of North America (ACANA), half-jokingly.
A mural by artist Walé Oyéjidé in Africatown symbolising harmony between the African American and African population of the community. © David Rich, FRANCE 24
The organisation was set up by Jabatee after he arrived in the United States from Liberia 30 years ago and has now become a landmark in Africatown, a neighbourhood that stretches across 50 blocks and is home to most of the city’s African population.
Virtuous integration
“We work on helping people assimilate and create professional opportunities for them, all while maintaining their African heritage,” explains Musa Trawally, the project developer at ACANA and Jabatee’s right-hand man.
He mainly spends his time helping residents get funding to kickstart their own businesses. Mauritanian restaurants, Senegalese bodegas, African wax print seamstresses and dozens of other shops filled with diaspora goods have made their way to the neighbourhood in recent years – bringing with them a swell of public interest and a keen eye from investors.
The organisation was set up by Jabatee after he arrived in the United States from Liberia 30 years ago and has now become a landmark in Africatown, a neighbourhood that stretches across 50 blocks and is home to most of the city’s African population.
Virtuous integration
“We work on helping people assimilate and create professional opportunities for them, all while maintaining their African heritage,” explains Musa Trawally, the project developer at ACANA and Jabatee’s right-hand man.
He mainly spends his time helping residents get funding to kickstart their own businesses. Mauritanian restaurants, Senegalese bodegas, African wax print seamstresses and dozens of other shops filled with diaspora goods have made their way to the neighbourhood in recent years – bringing with them a swell of public interest and a keen eye from investors.
Voffee Jabatey and Musa Trawally watch a news report about Africatown in Trawally's office. © Lara Bullens, FRANCE 24
ACANA relies on a virtuous integration model for African immigrants arriving in the US that the organisation hopes will bring new energy to the community in Africatown.
But their approach is in direct contrast with that of incoming president Donald Trump, who believes immigrants pose a major security threat for the country. In 2018 he described African countries, Haiti and El Salvador as “shithole” nations. At the time, ACANA fervently opposed his insults and posted a statement in their office that is still visible today.
ACANA relies on a virtuous integration model for African immigrants arriving in the US that the organisation hopes will bring new energy to the community in Africatown.
But their approach is in direct contrast with that of incoming president Donald Trump, who believes immigrants pose a major security threat for the country. In 2018 he described African countries, Haiti and El Salvador as “shithole” nations. At the time, ACANA fervently opposed his insults and posted a statement in their office that is still visible today.
ACANA staff put up this sign after President Donald Trump called African nations “shithole countries” in January 2018. © Lara Bullens, FRANCE 24
Set to take power on January 20 for a second time, the president-elect has pledged to slash immigration by carrying out “the largest mass deportation programme” in US history on day one of his presidency. His main targets are those living in the country illegally and those with temporary protections.
Unafraid and here to stay
Although he is quick to admit he did not vote for Trump in November last year, Jabatee does not seem particularly worried about his arrival in the Oval Office. “Trump’s problem is that he doesn’t understand the dynamics of immigration … He won’t be able to just go and grab immigrants to deport them. They are all over the place!” he exclaims confidently.
In the neighbourhood where the smell of jollof rice and jerk chicken fills the streets, shopkeepers also seem to have little faith in the incendiary threats made by the president-elect. “It is nothing but political talk. Will it happen? I don’t think so. And I hope it doesn’t,” admits Abderrahmane Diop, a Mauritanian restaurant owner who arrived in the US several decades ago and who is now an American citizen.
Set to take power on January 20 for a second time, the president-elect has pledged to slash immigration by carrying out “the largest mass deportation programme” in US history on day one of his presidency. His main targets are those living in the country illegally and those with temporary protections.
Unafraid and here to stay
Although he is quick to admit he did not vote for Trump in November last year, Jabatee does not seem particularly worried about his arrival in the Oval Office. “Trump’s problem is that he doesn’t understand the dynamics of immigration … He won’t be able to just go and grab immigrants to deport them. They are all over the place!” he exclaims confidently.
In the neighbourhood where the smell of jollof rice and jerk chicken fills the streets, shopkeepers also seem to have little faith in the incendiary threats made by the president-elect. “It is nothing but political talk. Will it happen? I don’t think so. And I hope it doesn’t,” admits Abderrahmane Diop, a Mauritanian restaurant owner who arrived in the US several decades ago and who is now an American citizen.
Abderrahmane Diop in his restaurant African Small Pot, posing next to a photo of his former deceased boss, an Italian chef. © David Rich, FRANCE 24
Diop is convinced it is best to read between the lines because he believes Trump is counting on deporting “criminals” only. “In any case, God is the one who chooses. If you were meant to stay here, you were meant to stay here. If you were meant to go back to your country, you were meant to go back,” he concludes.
Benin seamstress Fati Lafia Soumaila shares the same convictions as Diop. “I am not at all worried about Trump’s arrival … I haven’t committed any crimes, so I won’t have any issues,” the young woman says. But Soumaila is in a precarious situation. Even though she owns her shop, which sells a range of products and textiles from West Africa, she is on a temporary work visa awaiting the decision on her green card application.
She admits having nothing against Trump, who she says she would have voted for if she had her papers. She doesn’t want to go into details as to why. “That is private,” she says, insistent on keeping her lips sealed.
Diop is convinced it is best to read between the lines because he believes Trump is counting on deporting “criminals” only. “In any case, God is the one who chooses. If you were meant to stay here, you were meant to stay here. If you were meant to go back to your country, you were meant to go back,” he concludes.
Benin seamstress Fati Lafia Soumaila shares the same convictions as Diop. “I am not at all worried about Trump’s arrival … I haven’t committed any crimes, so I won’t have any issues,” the young woman says. But Soumaila is in a precarious situation. Even though she owns her shop, which sells a range of products and textiles from West Africa, she is on a temporary work visa awaiting the decision on her green card application.
She admits having nothing against Trump, who she says she would have voted for if she had her papers. She doesn’t want to go into details as to why. “That is private,” she says, insistent on keeping her lips sealed.
Fati Lafia Soumaila sells African textiles and food products in her small Africatown shop. © David Rich, FRANCE 24
But Trump says he wants to target people like Soumaila who rely on temporary work visas to make a living by tightening the conditions for work permits and deter asylum seekers, a commitment he had already made in the past.
A few hundred metres down Woodland Avenue at the heart of Africatown, the owner of Jamaican restaurant Kingston 11 – Abbygale Bloomfield – indicates why some locals are so forgiving of the president-elect. “There are a lot of Christians who don’t believe in abortion or same-sex marriage,” she posits as she oversees her staff preparing boxes jam-packed with ackee and saltfish.
Bloomfield moved to the US from Jamaica at age five and grew up in the neighbourhood. “In the 90s, most of the businesses here were owned by Asians,” she recalls. “Now they are predominantly owned by Africans who resettled here.” The young entrepreneur feels hopeful about the positive turn Africatown has taken in recent years, but is wary of the persistent sense of insecurity that permeates the area. “It is a rough neighbourhood,” she admits.
But Trump says he wants to target people like Soumaila who rely on temporary work visas to make a living by tightening the conditions for work permits and deter asylum seekers, a commitment he had already made in the past.
A few hundred metres down Woodland Avenue at the heart of Africatown, the owner of Jamaican restaurant Kingston 11 – Abbygale Bloomfield – indicates why some locals are so forgiving of the president-elect. “There are a lot of Christians who don’t believe in abortion or same-sex marriage,” she posits as she oversees her staff preparing boxes jam-packed with ackee and saltfish.
Bloomfield moved to the US from Jamaica at age five and grew up in the neighbourhood. “In the 90s, most of the businesses here were owned by Asians,” she recalls. “Now they are predominantly owned by Africans who resettled here.” The young entrepreneur feels hopeful about the positive turn Africatown has taken in recent years, but is wary of the persistent sense of insecurity that permeates the area. “It is a rough neighbourhood,” she admits.
Sanctuary city
Africatown may seem like a tight-knit community far removed from the political debates on immigration that so fiercely rocked the US in recent months. And there is a good reason for it. Immigrants feel safe here because Philadelphia is what is known as a sanctuary city. “Most Africans who come here already have family or relatives living here,” ACANA’s Trawally explains. “But also," he adds, "because it is a welcoming city for immigrants.”
Sanctuary cities have policies that limit or even restrict collaboration between local authorities and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Philadelphia first claimed the title under former Democratic mayor Michael Nutter, who introduced a policy in 2009 that prevented city officials from asking about a person’s status and barring police from stopping someone solely because of their perceived immigration situation.
The city then reinforced its sanctuary policies in 2016 when then mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order preventing police from holding immigrant detainees longer than they should because of their non-citizen status.
The policies were pivotal in creating a climate of trust for immigrants, who feel safe calling the police or accessing healthcare without being afraid of facing consequences. Since 2014 in Philadelphia, police don’t notify ICE when illegal immigrants are detained – unless they committed a serious, violent crime.
In 2017, when Trump was president, he accused the city of protecting criminals and threatened to cut $1.5 million in federal funding to strong-arm authorities into ditching their sanctuary policies. A year later, in 2018, a federal judge eventually ruled that the president-elect could not cut off grants over the way the city deals with immigrants.
But for his second term, Trump has reiterated his threats and said he wants to ban sanctuary cities altogether. And even though policies to protect immigrants have been implemented in Philadelphia, there is no way to enforce them. City officials do not face consequences if they violate the policies, so it is largely up to the goodwill of authorities to keep the protections in place.
Can Philadelphia resist the threats?
Mainly Hispanic immigrant advocacy groups took to the streets of Philadelphia in recent weeks to demand stronger sanctuary city protections for undocumented people, and called for Democratic Mayor Cherelle Parker to resist the threats made by the president-elect. Protesters also called on outgoing President Joe Biden to shut down three ICE detention centres in the city amid fears that Trump will use them to execute his mass deportation plan.
“Some people in Philadelphia are questioning the current mayor’s willingness to combat Trump’s threats on immigration,” says Camille Kamkaing, a Cameroonian social worker who works at Africom, a non-profit helping African and Caribbean immigrants and refugees in Africatown.
Raised in a tough neighbourhood, Parker became the first Black woman to be elected mayor of the city in January 2024. So far, she has enjoyed strong support from within her community. But when it comes to immigration issues, she has been far more discreet than her predecessor Kenney. “Some people think her silence speaks volumes and that immigration may not be her top priority, which is why they are out protesting,” Kamkaing explains.
Jabatee, on the other hand, is more optimistic. “Trump talks a lot, but the devil is in the details. He won’t be able to undo Philadelphia’s immigration laws. Things like this don’t happen overnight and anyway, he will only be here for four years,” he says confidently.
More determined than ever, the ACANA founder intends to accelerate his efforts to promote Africatown and its community. He will soon be moving his three-storey row house office into a complex with multiple floors – a serious upgrade. The site is currently under construction, but it already has a name. It will be baptised “the Africa Center”. The project was funded by the city and boasts a staggering $23 million budget.
Jabatee holds up an A1 printout of the complex proudly and sets it on the table of ACANA’s meeting room. “It will be a way to showcase Africatown,” he beams. His boundless ambition for the place he has called home for several decades seems to have no limit. Jabatee can already picture swarms of tourists flocking to the neighbourhood to discover Philadelphia’s little Africa.
The ACANA team at the construction site of the Africa Center, which is set to be finished by 2026. © David Rich, FRANCE 24
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