Trump Inherits Immigration Turmoil
President Donald Trump faces an immigration
system that for decades had laws that looked strong on paper, but were
often ignored in practice.
Immigrants
stand for the national anthem during a naturalization ceremony in the
Great Hall of Ellis Island in New York on Sept. 16, 2016. Nationwide,
more than 730,000 people gained U.S. citizenship in 2015, which is just
below the average number for the last 10 years. (John Moore/Getty
Images)
NEW YORK—President Donald Trump inherited an immigration
system in disarray. The five previous administrations had been so lax on
enforcement that generations of people who live here are technically
illegal, yet many are as American as apple pie.
Immigration courts are so overwhelmed that thousands of hopeful
immigrants are being allowed into the country and given a final court
decision as far into the future as five years to determine if they can
stay. So for five years, they build a life here.
Over the last 40 years, bills and acts and reforms have been stitched
together to alleviate certain issues, but often remain words on paper,
and sometimes cause secondary problems.
Trump’s recent executive actions on immigration are jarring for
millions of Americans who are used to the United States having more
porous borders.
But the executive orders include many of the actions Trump campaigned
on and a large part of the reason he appealed to so many
voters—enforcing existing immigration law, building a wall along the
southern border, and stemming terrorism.
President Donald Trump at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Jan. 25 signs an executive order for increased border security and immigration enforcement. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Halt on Refugee Intake
On Jan. 27, the intake of all refugees was banned for 120 days, and
visas were blocked for 90 days for immigrants and nonimmigrants from
seven countries while a review takes place by the State Department and
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
*
The countries—Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and
Yemen—were all identified in the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and
Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, which added new eligibility
requirements for travel.
Refugees from those countries made up nearly 40 percent of the total
refugee intake (69,920) in 2015, according to a DHS report. The largest
chunk (12,676, or 18 percent of total refugees) came from Iraq, which is
a substantial increase from the 198 refugees accepted from that country
in 2005. Only 16 came in from Yemen in 2015, 1,682 from Syria, and no
refugee numbers exist for Libya in the DHS report.
*
Refugees must apply for admission while outside the United States,
whereas asylum seekers apply at a port of entry or at some point after
their entry into the United States. Close to 1.8 million people were
granted refugee or asylum status in the last 20 years.
“America is a proud nation of immigrants, and we will continue to
show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while
protecting our own citizens and border,” Trump wrote in a Facebook post
on Jan. 29 to explain his executive order on “extreme vetting.”
“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban. … This is not about
religion—this is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are
over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are
not affected by this order.”
Trump said he plans to reinstate the issuance of visas “once we are
sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the
next 90 days.”
The rollout has created confusion at border entry points and sparked
protests and several federal lawsuits. The administration has since
permitted entry to green card holders from the seven countries.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration
Studies, called Trump’s rollout of the order “slapdash” and said it
could have been done better.
“But no matter what President Trump had done, there were going to be a
lot of objections—simply because this is one more opportunity to
protest Trump,” he said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Senate Democrats will introduce legislation in an effort to overturn the orders.
Existing Law
The laws that are being enforced aren’t anything new, said John
Khosravi, an immigration lawyer at JQK Law Firm in Los Angeles who has
many Middle Eastern clients.
(Courtesy of John Khosravi)
The interviews they do at the embassy, sometimes they take one to three minutes; they have to make a decision immediately.
, immigration lawyer, JQK Law Firm
Trump is using part of the existing Immigration and Nationality Act that gives a president the broad authority to suspend entry:
“Whenever the president finds that the entry of any aliens or of any
class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the
interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such
period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or
any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the
entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”
Cinching Up the Border
A U.S. Border Patrol agent looks for footprints of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.–Mexico border near Nogales, Arizona, in 2010. On Jan. 25, President Donald Trump ordered a continuous physical wall be constructed along the southern border. (John Moore/Getty Images)
In addition to the “extreme vetting” process for refugees and
citizens from the seven countries identified, Trump intends to restrict
access at the southern border. He has ordered agencies to “take all
appropriate steps to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical
wall along the southern border.”
“The recent surge of illegal immigration at the southern border with
Mexico has placed a significant strain on federal resources and
overwhelmed agencies charged with border security and immigration
enforcement, as well as the local communities into which many of the
aliens are placed,” states the executive order signed on Jan. 25.
Trump also ordered a stop to the “catch and release” practice, which
currently allows hopeful immigrants to remain in the country while they
wait for a court decision—which can be years away.
Instead, Trump wants all immigrants who cross the border illegally to
be detained until a decision is made to grant them entry or deport
them.
His order gives John Kelly, the head of Homeland Security, the
authorization to build detention facilities along the border, and assign
immigration judges to conduct proceedings in those facilities.
But it’s unlikely the number of deportations can be substantially
increased without increasing the number of judges, according to Judge
Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration
Judges.
“The immigration courts have been dramatically under-resourced and
overwhelmed by their workload for more than a decade,” Marks said.
“Unless additional resources are allocated to the courts, nothing will
change.”
The last year the courts were able to decrease their backlog was 2006.
Selective Enforcement
Krikorian, from the Center for Immigration Studies, said a
fundamental issue is that the United States takes in too many
immigrants.
Another problem, he said, is that the law is broadly ignored.
(Courtesy of Mark Krikorian)
The laws look tough, so Congress members can say that they’re serious about protecting American jobs and American security.
, executive director, Center for Immigration Studies
“The laws look tough, so Congress members can say that they’re
serious about protecting American jobs and American security,” Krikorian
said. “But then when push comes to shove, and an advocacy group like a
business lobby complains about the law actually being enforced, it often
ends up just not being enforced, or ignored, or administered in a way
that weakens it or negates it.”
Previous administrations, whether Democrat or Republican, have not
addressed these problems because there was a political benefit to the
status quo.
“And at some point that wasn’t going to continue forever, there was
going to be some backlash against that. And the form it has taken is
Trump.”
Deportation From Inside the US
A Border Patrol agent searches an illegal immigrant apprehended near the Mexican border near McAllen, Texas, in 2010. The vast majority of undocumented immigrants cross over the southern border. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States is
estimated to be around 11.5 million. This number has remained relatively
consistent for the last 12 years, following dramatic increases that
started in 1993.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the enforcement agency for DHS,
removed 240,255 illegal immigrants in the 2016 financial year. Almost 73
percent were individuals apprehended at or near the border or ports of
entry. Most people removed were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El
Salvador.
Lawyer Kerry Bretz, a partner at New York’s Bretz & Coven, LLC,
said six of his firm’s lawyers appear in court up to 40 times a week for
deportation cases.
A typical undocumented person is “struggling along, they’re working, their kids are at school,” he said.
But there aren’t many pathways to legality for undocumented immigrants, which is creating a lot of fear.
“People are scared. They don’t know if someone is going to knock on
the door,” Bretz said. He warns against buying fake documents and
suggests people learn their rights.
“You do not have to answer questions, don’t have to open your door unless they have a warrant,” he said.
Edina and her husband have lived and worked in the United States for
12 years, but they are undocumented. They arrived on tourist visas from
Eastern Europe to visit Edina’s mother and haven’t left since. Their two
sons, aged 6 and 8, are American citizens.
Edina has a cleaning job in residential buildings, while her husband works in the construction industry.
Obama’s now-defunct Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and
Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program allowed people like Edina and
her husband to apply for a renewable work permit and meanwhile avoid
deportation.
“There was hope for people like me,” Edina said. “It’s really not promising now.”
But she said she thinks undocumented people in New York are safe for now.
Sanctuary Cities
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has reiterated his commitment to
keeping the city as a sanctuary city, despite threats of federal funding
cuts.
“We are going to defend all of our people—regardless of where they
come from and regardless of their documentation status,” he said at a
live-streamed press conference on Jan. 25.
The mayor’s office estimates there are 500,000 undocumented immigrants living in the city.
New York City has many policies protecting illegal immigrants, making it a “sanctuary city.” (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP via Getty Images)
Sanctuary cities (and states) have laws, policies, and practices that
are lax on immigration enforcement and limit dealings between local law
enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
*
The designation originated in Los Angeles in 1979. More cities
created sanctuary policies after 9/11 when then-President George W. Bush
introduced Section 287(g) to the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Section 287(g), an opt-in program, gives all law enforcement officers
(including police) the same powers as immigration agents to
investigate, apprehend, or detain suspected illegal immigrants.
Obama stopped enforcing Section 287(g) when he took office but
expanded a 2002 Congressional mandate that allowed for fingerprints of
those arrested by local law enforcement to be matched against federal
criminal and immigration databases operated by the FBI and DHS
respectively.
Many jurisdictions countered the program by establishing sanctuary policies.
Trump ordered a refocus on Section 287(g) in his Jan. 25 executive
order and instructed the DHS Secretary to immediately enter into
agreements with state governors and local officials.
De Blasio railed against the plan, saying it’s not needed in New
York, which already cooperates with federal authorities by handing over
criminals who have committed any of 170 crimes. In the last year, local
authorities handed over two criminals to federal immigration
authorities, according to the mayor’s office.
Fears Rise
Antonio (not his real name) is Mexican and came to the United States
as a child with his parents. He married a U.S. citizen, Maria (not her
real name), and now has a green card. His mother has a pathway to
becoming legal because she is the main caregiver for her parents (who
are both legal).
But Antonio’s father is undocumented, and they’re concerned he will be deported.
“No one wants their family to be broken up,” Maria said.
Now, with new enforcement measures being instituted, some people who
are already permanent residents are quickening their steps to
citizenship in case things are further restricted under Trump.
Rose, who didn’t want her real name to be used, despite being legal,
is originally from Mexico. She had been putting off submitting her
citizenship papers, but the election prompted her to get everything in
order. She filed her submission in mid-December.
“I was told by an immigration official that I should get citizenship
done before the next president because things were going to change,” she
said.
Rose lives in New York with her husband and two sons, who are all
citizens. She said she doesn’t want any surprises down the road—so much
so that she traveled for almost two hours with her one-week-old baby to
the federal building in Manhattan on Jan. 23 to honor her scheduled
fingerprinting appointment. Now she is waiting for her final interview.
The DACA Question
A husband and wife from Eastern Europe, who have lived and worked in New York since overstaying their visas 12 years ago and now have two American children, are an example of complicated situations created by years of immigration system failure. (Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times)
Trump hasn’t specified what he will do with the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that Obama signed in 2012. DACA allows
qualified undocumented immigrants, who were brought to the United
States before turning 16, to apply for work authorization and temporary
protection against deportation—which has to be renewed every two years.
Mikhel was 15 when he arrived with his mother, a teacher who was
recruited from Trinidad and Tobago. He is now 31 and is on the DACA
program, but his authorization expires next year, and he is worried it
won’t get renewed.
Sanctuary cities
have laws, policies, and practices that are lax on immigration
enforcement and limit dealings between local law enforcement and federal
immigration authorities.
“When it comes to DACA kids, I don’t know. It’s scary,” he said. “The
idea of getting deported—getting deported to where? This is my home.”
Border Patrol agents check the U.S.–Mexico border near Campo, Calif., in this file photo.
(David McNew/Getty Images)
Mikhel said his family moved here because they were promised their status would get taken care of.
“We would never have uprooted our families otherwise,” he said.
Krikorian thinks the administration should use the 750,000 DACA children as a bargaining tool for other immigration changes.
For example, DACA recipients could be given green cards, and in
exchange, the administration could implement the mandatory use of
e-verify, an internet-based system that allows businesses to look up the
eligibility of their employees to work in the United States.
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