The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is making the news again as the Trump administration continues its efforts to diminish the program. The media has readily portrayed DACA as a policy for Latinx; it is also relevant for Africans.

On July 21, Freeman Mbowe, chairman of Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (the Party for Democracy and Progress, CHADEMA), and ten other party members were arrested in Mwanza, apparently for violating a ban on “unnecessary gatherings.” The ban, enacted the day prior, was officially billed as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19. Yet its timing, coming just before a conference on discussing constitutional reform, and the charges levelled against Mbowe—the party leader is accused, without evidence, of funding terrorist activities aimed at assassinating government leaders—suggest the true intent is to suppress calls for much-needed constitutional reform.

The African diaspora sends more money to Africa than U.S. foreign aid and foreign direct investment. Petit Senegal is filled with thriving, tax-paying businesses owned and operated Africans, whose remittances fund investments in communities back home.

African Americans are in a financial position to start businesses in Africa, including in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana, and they should.

The year 2019 marked four hundred years since the first enslaved people from West Africa arrived in the United States. The president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, declared the anniversary the Year of Return.