Trump administration announces plan to remove resettled refugees – Baptist News Global

The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to detain and deport refugees lawfully resettled in the United States.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted an interim final rule reducing the amount of time individuals can contest the termination of their refugee status from 30 days to 10 days. The rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register Oct. 14 and to go into effect after a 30-day public comment period.

Refugee and immigrant advocates blasted the new policy for its cruelty and for denying due process rights to those targeted by the rule.

“Chipping away at refugees’ protections is one more attack on legal immigration, but it is also an affront to the due process promised every resident under the Constitution, not just to citizens,” World Relief President Myal Greene said.

It’s important to remember that lawfully resettled refugees got into the U.S. by following the rules, Global Refuge President Krish O’Mara Vignarajah said. “Now DHS wants to revisit those decisions on a 10-day clock, a notice period wholly insufficient to find a lawyer, translate documents or get records out of a country they were forced to flee due to conflict or persecution. In some cases, refugees may not even receive the notice before their 10 days are up, effectively eliminating their only chance to respond.”

The rule will affect refugees the Department of Homeland Security and USCIS determine to have been improperly vetted and admitted to the U.S. by previous administrations. As with other DHS anti-immigration actions and policies, the justification for the change is to “minimize potential risks posed by aliens” to national security and public safety.

The notice also includes a political motivation for targeting refugees lawfully resettled from 2021 to 2024: “A review of refugee processing policies and procedures implemented under the Biden administration indicates an alarming erosion of integrity leading to aliens being admitted to the United States as refugees when their identities, eligibility for refugee classification, and admissibility were determined based on incomplete records.”

“In some cases, refugees may not even receive the notice before their 10 days are up, effectively eliminating their only chance to respond.”

The Biden White House issued guidance to overseas personnel to cut corners on vetting in an effort to promote “expedience over quality,” according to the Trump administration. “This is supported by a recent preliminary review of admitted refugees residing in Minnesota who were interviewed, approved and admitted during the Biden administration. For the majority of these reviewed cases, the evidence was insufficient to establish that the principal applicant met all the required elements of the refugee definition.”

The U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program requires applicants to have fled their home countries due to persecution and have a well-founded fear of returning due to their political, religious or ethnic identity. Those who participated in the persecution of others are barred from resettlement.

“To protect U.S. interests and public safety, USCIS must act swiftly when DHS determines that an alien did not meet the refugee definition and was not entitled to refugee status at the time of admission,” the Trump administration explanation says.

The DHS move against refugees in Minnesota stems from the Trump administration’s politically motivated crackdown on the Democratic state and as a response to massive demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his opposition to refugee resettlement since taking office. Last year he slashed refugee admissions from 125,000 to 7,500. This year he increased the cap to 17,500 but said only white South Africans would be considered.

A recent report by World Relief and Open Doors US found the administration has resettled no Christian or other religious minority group persecuted for their faith, a first since the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. The U.S. has resettled about 3.7 million refugees since 1980, representing an average rate of 73,500 per year.

The International Refugees Assistance Program said the new Trump rule is laying the groundwork for mass deportations from a nation where it has been “exceedingly rare” for refugees to have their status terminated.

“The Trump administration has been relentless in its efforts to strip immigrants, including refugees, of their legal status and enact its racist and xenophobic vision for America,” said Laurie Ball Cooper, vice president of U.S. legal programs at IRAP. “Now, it will be impossible for refugees to even fully understand the allegations against them, much less find counsel and contest those allegations, before their status is terminated. The government is reducing this process to mere windowdressing for an effort to strip lawfully present, lawfully admitted refugees of their status and deport them to persecution or worse.”