It would be easy to let a seemingly inane technical immigration policy change get lost in the sea of heart wrenching and searing headlines. In the past days and weeks we have seen the disturbing images of close to 300 Venezuelans removed from the United States to a notorious Salvadoran prison, including asylum seekers removed before their day in court.
We’ve seen the video of plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting Turkish graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk in Boston on her way home from breaking her fast. She was disappeared to a detention center in Louisiana, ostensibly for co-authoring an op-ed. We have read about countless individuals, including doctors, farmworker union leaders and activists, a Canadian actress, and so many others arrested and put into ICE detention as detention numbers skyrocket.
We have watched as the Trump administration issues executive orders targeting law firms and immigration lawyers who stand up against these policies and fight for immigrants' rights. There is quite literally something new every day, deepening the fear and unease with which noncitizens move through their daily lives.
But last week, the Trump administration “paused” processing for green card (permanent resident) applications from asylees and refugees. This administrative move, a quiet “pause” is nefarious, xenophobic and deeply political.
Asylees are individuals who have been granted asylum — protection for individuals who fear persecution or have been persecuted in their countries of origin on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. After one year with asylee status in the U.S., ...
