WASHINGTON, D.C. – FWD.us President Todd Schulte issued the following statement following reports that the Trump administration will retroactively vet refugees who were admitted into the country during the prior administration and pause green card applications:
“The administration’s announcement they will re-evaluate or revoke the status of refugees legally resettled in the United States in the past decade and to halt green-card processing, is part of a harmful strategy to preemptively strip lawful status from millions of legal immigrants.
“Does the plan include sending Afghans who stood alongside our military back to the Taliban? What about Rohingya refugees? Or Venezuelans fleeing a regime this administration calls “corrupt” and the President has described as “hell”? Will people who escaped the civil war in the Congo be told that trusting America’s promise to be a beacon of hope and following the rules was a mistake?
“Refugees already are the most thoroughly vetted travelers admitted to the United States; so let’s be clear, this is not about security. These actions will cause real harm to people rebuilding their lives, costing families thousands in legal fees and lost wages, and our country millions. Claiming that exhaustive screenings are insufficient is simply a pretext to revoke legal status, much like prior efforts to strip Temporary Protected Status, parole, and other protections. The President ultimately recognized that attempting to revoke DACA during his first term was a mistake. We urge him to reverse course on this effort as well.”
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