Trump’s Cruel Assault on Legal Immigration
Most of the media coverage and public debate over Trump’s new immigration policies focus on his efforts to ramp up mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. But it is also important to emphasize how the new administration has sought to gut much of the legal immigration system. If they succeed, it is likely to cause great harm and injustice to both immigrants and US citizens. My Cato Institute colleague David Bier has a helpful summary of Trump’s actions against legal migration so far:
– Suspending indefinitely all US refugee entries, canceling 10,000 previously scheduled flights, and stranding 22,000 refugees who were approved to travel. A report on a potential limited restart is due in 90Â days (Apr. 20).
- Suspending all case processing for refugees, which means that no progress will be made toward restarting entries.
- Closing Safe Mobility Offices in Latin America that allowed some people to apply for lawful entry to the United States.
- Requiring refugees undergo “stringent identification verification beyond that required of any other alien seeking admission,” which may invalidate all prior vetting approvals….
– Removing the ability to schedule appointments for lawful entry at the US-Mexico border using the CBP One phone app, which had permitted 1,450 people per day (529,250 per year) to enter the United States legally. About 270,000 people waiting for appointments are stranded in Mexico.
– Canceling 30,000 scheduled appointments for people stuck in Mexico. There is a lawsuit on behalf of one asylum seeker and her child who “depleted their life savings and survived kidnapping, robbery, and threats of sexual abuse” while waiting for an appointment….
Ending the parole sponsorship processes for new arrivals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Ukraine.
– Ending the family reunification parole programs for some Cuban, Guatemalan, Haitian, Colombian, and Salvadoran immigrant visa applicants who seek to reunite with their families when green cards are not immediately available under the caps.
– Ending the Central American Minors program, which allowed children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to reunite legally with parents in the United States.
– Allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to invalidate anyone’s parole. Trump is reportedly going to strip all Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans of parole en masse.
– Rescinding the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) redesignation for 600,000 Venezuelans, including many who entered the country legally via the parole processes and CBP One. This means that their status will expire sooner than it would otherwise.
– Terminating TPS completely for 300,000 Venezuelans: These Venezuelans will lose their status in 60Â days (April 1).
– Canceling visa interviews for hundreds of Colombians in response to their government’s temporary refusal to accept deportations on military planes.
– Promising to quickly cancel student visas for and deport all “Hamas sympathizers,” which some analysts interpret as a threat to anyone critical of Israel’s government. It is possible this could affect future visa issuances.
– Denying birthright citizenship to American children born in the
Article from Reason.com
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