The Trump administration is reportedly planning to re-interview and potentially revoke the status of hundreds of thousands of refugees admitted to the U.S. during the Biden administration, the latest move by the White House to drastically curtail resettlements inside the U.S.
A signed November memo directs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to review and re-interview roughly 233,000 refugee admissions that occurred under the previous administration, as well as halt applications for permanent residence from these refugees, Reuters reports.
Refugee advocates slammed the potential move, arguing that such immigrants are among the most vulnerable to have sought shelter in the U.S. and already have passed through a rigorous, typically multi-year process to verify they have credible fears of persecution.
“Just the threat of this is unspeakably cruel. … To threaten refugees with taking away their status would be re-traumatizing and a vicious misuse of taxpayer money,” Mark Hetfield, the president of HIAS, told CNN.
The Independent has contacted USCIS for comment.
The Trump administration has largely shut down the refugee admissions process, setting a refugee cap of 7,500 people for the coming year, with a preference for white Afrikaners from South Africa.
The president has repeatedly and baselessly claimed the group is facing a genocide in South Africa, despite officials in that country, data, courts, and Afrikaner groups saying no such genocide is under way.
The administration is reportedly mulling other provisions that would have the effect of largely favoring white refugees, including a proposal to favor Europeans and English-speakers.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration canceled contracts with refugee resettlement providers.
Outside of the refugee program, the White House has taken steps to reduce immigration protections for the most vulnerable, including canceling Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from a variety of unstable and war-torn nations, most recently this week for individuals from Myanmar.
Naturalized citizens also fear their status may be under threat, given the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempts to end birthright citizenship.
The moves follow similar restrictions during Trump’s first term, when refugee admissions sunk to what was then an all-time low.
