Tag: Amnesty International USA

The Trump administration has opened the door to a seismic overhaul of immigration and asylum procedure that could lead to the indefinite detention of thousands of asylum seekers who cross the border illegally. The US attorney general, William Barr, on Tuesday issued guidance overruling a precedent set by George W Bush’s justice department in 2005, which enshrined asylum seekers’ right to bond, irrespective of how they entered the country. Barr stated in his updated guidance that the 2005 decision was “wrongly decided” and he would move to block immigration judges from offering people who have crossed the border illegally and have established a reasonable claim of torture or persecution the chance of release as their cases are decided in immigration court. A footnote included in Barr’s decision revealed that homeland security had requested that the attorney general delay his decision on bond “so that DHS may conduct necessary operational planning” to accommodate the change. Children seeking asylum are currently protected by a separate ruling from a federal court in California that ordered they must be released from detention after 20 days. The Trump administration, which has pledged to end the policy of so-called “catch and release”, has unsuccessfully tried to reverse this ruling. A justice department official did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the department would seek to use Barr’s new rules in cases involving families and children. Human rights groups met Barr’s decision with immediate condemnation. “Seeking asylum is a human right, not a crime, and families forced to flee for their lives shouldn’t be treated like criminals” said Charanya Krishnaswami, Americas advocacy director for Amnesty International USA. She argued the decision could force parents to decide to either be locked up with their children indefinitely, or relinquish custody of them for the duration of a months- or years-long approval process.

Reuters reported that more than 37,000 visa applications were refused in 2018 as a direct result of the administration’s travel ban on primarily Muslim-majority countries. K-1 visas for fiances of US citizens dropped 35.7% in fiscal year 2018, compared to 2016, and student visas declined by 23%, according to state department data. The document is just one of myriad changes under the current administration that have made it more difficult for people to enter and stay in the country through lawful means – even as Trump says publicly that he wants foreigners in the US, but “they have to come in legally”. Two years later, that number plummeted to 22,491 “Is it deliberate? In August 2016, Fawzi and his family say they received a letter with conditional approval to resettle in the US. “Four months,” Fawzi’s family told the Guardian, “and we are now in two years and [a] half.” Every time they ask officials about why they are stuck in Lebanon, they get the same answer: security procedure. However, experts in immigration policy say there’s no evidence many of the new vetting policies affecting foreign nationals work. Bier said the requirements have been devised primarily to “obstruct legal immigration”. “The ultimate goal is making it more difficult to live in the United States legally,” Bier said. But at least his partner’s visa was eventually approved.

Reuters reported that more than 37,000 visa applications were refused in 2018 as a direct result of the administration’s travel ban on primarily Muslim-majority countries. K-1 visas for fiances of US citizens dropped 35.7% in fiscal year 2018, compared to 2016, and student visas declined by 23%, according to state department data. The document is just one of myriad changes under the current administration that have made it more difficult for people to enter and stay in the country through lawful means – even as Trump says publicly that he wants foreigners in the US, but “they have to come in legally”. Two years later, that number plummeted to 22,491 “Is it deliberate? In August 2016, Fawzi and his family say they received a letter with conditional approval to resettle in the US. “Four months,” Fawzi’s family told the Guardian, “and we are now in two years and [a] half.” Every time they ask officials about why they are stuck in Lebanon, they get the same answer: security procedure. However, experts in immigration policy say there’s no evidence many of the new vetting policies affecting foreign nationals work. Bier said the requirements have been devised primarily to “obstruct legal immigration”. “The ultimate goal is making it more difficult to live in the United States legally,” Bier said. But at least his partner’s visa was eventually approved.