We were saddened to hear the news on November 26th that an Afghan refugee shot two National Guard troops in Washington DC, killing one and wounding the other. Regrettably, the Trump administration has used this tragedy to introduce sweeping policy changes impacting refugee admissions and refugees currently in the country. This move has been accompanied by harmful statements of hate speech directed towards all people from particular countries, and refugees in general. In response to this new escalation of federal level hostility towards minority groups, IWR affirms the importance of ensuring that the actions of one individual do not color our attitude to whole countries, peoples and regions of the world. We condemn all hate speech circulating from the highest level of federal government, including verbal attacks on the Afghan and Somali community in particular.
We are keeping a close watch on new policies that may affect refugees and immigrants in our community in the aftermath of this incident, and preparing to provide any support we can, should IWR families and individuals be impacted. Key announcements made since November 26th include:
- USCIS has paused all asylum application decisions (USCIS Policy Memo here, CBS report here)
- The State Department has stopped issuing visas for Afghan nationals (State Department announcement here)
- USCIS has paused processing of “immigration related requests” for Afghan nationals (here)
- President Trump called for a “re-examination” of all Afghans who arrived in the US during the Biden administration (NBC here)
- USCIS has stopped reviewing pending applications for green cards, citizenship, or asylum from immigrants from 19 countries listed in a previous travel ban (here), and the administration plan to expand the ban to more than 30 countries (Reuters here).
For up to date information on the changing policies, see the Daily State of Play: Trump’s Indefinite Refugee Ban and Funding Halt, published by the Church World Service. You can also learn more at a webinar to be hosted by Welcome.US, titled “Understanding recent immigration announcements and how to support our new neighbors” on December 11, 2pm (ET). The webinar will feature a Welcome.US policy expert, an immigration attorney, and a special guest from the veteran community. Registration here.
Now is the time to vocalize opposition to this latest run of harmful federal policies and rhetoric targeting refugees and immigrants. We encourage you to contact your elected officials and urge them to strongly oppose these changes. You can access talking points along with the contact details of your elected officials on this Action Alert page from Refugee Council USA.
Featured image: Mural, Greenstate building on 127 W State Street, home to Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca. Photo credit: Vasant Alex Laplam
