The Trump Administration is Destroying the Immigration System
The Trump administration’s efforts to keep out and kick out immigrants and refugees has long been evident. The drive to dismantle our nation’s immigration system is now in overdrive.
Given the political headwinds, Stephen Miller and his lackeys face the real possibility that the Trump presidency will end soon. It seems they are systematically and relentlessly destroying programs and services that represent America’s best traditions and in a manner that will have consequences long past the end of this ugly presidency.
Take the news that USCIS is set to furlough much of its workforce. As Al Jazeera captures in its headline, “U.S. immigration agency proposes job cuts that could halt system.” Law360 quotes Ur Jaddou of DHS Watch, “these furloughs are the direct result of three and half years of resolute opposition to legal immigration, which increased costs and drove down revenue, leaving the agency in financial crisis.”
The USCIS news joins a very long list of assaults on our nation’s immigration policies and practices: Trump and Miller have eviscerated asylum, shut down refugee resettlement, and gutted family, diversity and employment-based legal immigration.
According to Pili Tobar, Deputy Director of America’s Voice: “The Trump administration is systematically dismantling and destroying the various ways immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers come into the U.S. or become permanent residents or citizens. Perhaps recognizing their weakened political standing, a pandemic that’s killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, and given their all-consuming focus on xenophobia and anti-immigrant policy and politics, the Stephen Miller crowd of nativists has entered the ‘smash and grab’ phase of their presidency. If, in fact, they are headed out the door, they seem intent on burning our immigration system to the ground as they exit.”
