US builds barrier of bans and red tape

Donald Trump has failed to add another inch to the country’s border wallbetween the US and Mexico, but his administration this year has quietlyerected a steep, invisible wall that limits migration to the US,according to interviews with lawyers and refugee groups.Some of these roadblocks received considerable attention, like the threeversions of a travel ban on people from Muslim-majority countries andthe cancellation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) — anObama-era programme that protected undocumented youth raised in the US.But the Trump administration also appears to have orchestrated a moresubtle attack on immigration that touches the most vulnerablepopulations, like refugees, as well as powerful business people who workin the US.“I think that they’re basically hoping that five years from now we see asignificant decrease in the number of people who even want to come,”Sandra Feist, an immigration lawyer in Minnesota, told the Guardian. “Ithink if we keep this up, that’s what we’ll see.”Feist, who has worked in immigration law for 16 years and is a part ofthe American Immigration Lawyers Association media and advocacycommittee, said a slew of small administrative changes have drasticallyslowed the visa process.This includes things such as increased scrutiny of the H-1B visa forpeople in speciality occupations and a new requirement that peopleseeking employer-sponsored green cards be interviewed.For all visas, immigration lawyers have also seen an increase inchallenges, or requests for evidence, from United States Citizenship andImmigration Services (USCIS), which oversees immigration.When Trump was elected, Feist anticipated Congress would move to changeimmigration law, but she said she did not expect interference with theadministrative process.“I don’t think I expected them to attack my high-skilled immigrationprocess so aggressively,” Feist said. “I also was not prepared for theways in which they used the administrative processes so skillfully tocreate very real hurdles and barriers in ways that didn’t require anychanges in the law.”A concern for immigration lawyers is the direction of the USCIS underits new ombudsman, Julie Kirchner, who for 10 years was director ofFederation for American Immigration Reform, a group that has advocatedextreme restrictions on immigration.The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) called for her removal in May. “We do not believe that a person who has spent over a decade attackingimmigrant communities will now work effectively and thoughtfully toadvance the rights of immigrants and fulfil the important duties thatare required of this role,” the CHC said.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees USCIS, said itdoes not comment on congressional correspondence to secretaries. The changes at USCIS have hit the key pillars of immigration in the US:employer and family-based, where citizens or a green card holder sponsora family member’s green card application.I also was not prepared for how they used the administrative processesto create very real hurdles and barriers Sandra Feist, immigrationlawyer Trump has said he wants to replace family-based immigration,which he calls chain migration, with a merit-based system.Trump has also called for Congress to terminate the diversity lotteryprogramme, which awards 50,000 visas to people vetted by the sameprocess as other visas.“The lottery system and chain migration — we are going to end them fast.Congress must get involved immediately, and they are involvedimmediately, and I can tell you we have tremendous support, they will beended,” Trump said last week.In the meantime, programmes to help people fleeing natural disasters,violence and persecution have either been cancelled or slowed bybureaucratic hurdles under Trump.In July, advocates filed a lawsuit that accused DHS and Customs andBorder Protection (CBP) of putting asylum seekers at the US-Mexicoborder in grave danger by threatening, misleading or rejecting them. Theagencies do not comment publicly on litigation.Trump appointees have also dramatically shifted how the federalgovernment speaks about asylum, going as far as to suggest in publiccommunications the unproven claim that asylum is a routinely abusedlegal loophole.“We also have dirty immigration lawyers who are encouraging theirotherwise unlawfully present clients to make false claims of asylumproviding them with the magic words needed to trigger the credible fearprocess,” the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, said in October.USCIS said it does not have data that shows widespread abuse of the asylum system.The Department of Justice, which Session heads, directed the Guardian tofive press releases and one news story about immigration fraud.None of these cases demonstrated abuse of the asylum system — though aBosnian was found to have lied about his involvement in the country’scivil war in order to obtain refugee status. Three of the fraud schemeswere orchestrated fully, or in part, by Americans.This year, the administration has also gone after a programme thatgrants temporary status to people affected by events like naturaldisasters or conflict: Temporary Protected Status (TPS). In November,TPS was terminated for more than 50,000 Haitians and 5,300 Nicaraguanswho must leave by 2019 or face deportation.The largest group of (TPS) recipients, Salvadorans who fled their homecountry after it was struck by earthquakes in 2001, are waiting to hearwhether their protection will be extended before it expires in January.The US is losing its reputation as a beacon of safety and offeringprotection to those who are in danger Hans Van de Weerd, InternationalRescue Committee And the White House made refugees one if its primarytargets a week after Trump took office, when he issued an executiveorder blocking refugees from entry in the first travel ban.In September, the White House restricted refugee admissions in 2018 to45,000 people — the lowest ceiling since the president began cappingrefugee admissions in 1980.Unlike the smaller administrative changes to immigration processingbeing made in federal agencies, the travel ban was easily challenged incourts and deemed unconstitutional.The Supreme Court, however, allowed the third version of the travel banto be enforced this month while it faces multiple legal challenges. This version does not block refugees, but does bar most citizens ofIran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad, Venezuela and North Korea fromentering the US.Hans Van de Weerd, vice-president of US programmes at the InternationalRescue Committee (IRC), said US efforts to restrict refugee admissionssignals to other countries that it is OK to kick out refugees. “It makesthe global challenge of offering protection to refugees so muchbigger,” Van de Weerd told the Guardian.The Trump administration has also suspended refugee programmes such asthe Central American Minors programme, which allowed parents lawfully inthe US to bring their minor children to the country — IRC estimated theprogramme protected nearly 2,700 people last year.And administrative hurdles like expanded security checks and paperworkrequirements have put a further burden on an already slow system wherecases can take up to 200 days to clear.“The country’s reputation as a beacon of safety and the values of thisnation are really about offering protection to those who are in danger,”said Van de Weerd. “The US is losing that reputation.”Despite the piling of bricks in the virtual wall, Van de Weerd said IRCremained hopeful because the administration’s efforts inspired supportfor groups that help immigrants and refugees.“We’ve seen a massive interest from the private sector in resettlement and an increase in private donors,” said Van der Weerd.“We see businesses standing up and saying we want to employ people.We’ve had a hard time managing the huge inflows of volunteers.”He wasn’t sure if the energy would turn the tide, but it gave him hopeas IRC prepares to push for more resettlements and improve the attitudetowards refugees next year.Van der Weed said: “This whole situation has forced people to make clear where they stand.”