During the worst refugee crisis in history, the Trump administration is intentionally dismantling the life-saving and bipartisan refugee admissions program. The United States is projected to admit less than half of the number of refugees allowed under the current cap of 45,000 (19,899 refugees as of the end of August, projected to reach a high of 21,708 by the end of the fiscal year on September 30). Now the Trump Administration calls to drastically cut the FY2019 refugee cap to 30,000—only to slam the door on more refugees and asylum seekers who are desperately fleeing violence and terror in their home countries.
In the coming months, millions of rising high school seniors will be visiting college campuses and hustling to get a head start on their application materials, just as I did twenty years ago.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration announced its decision to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for immigrants from Honduras in eighteen months.
As primary elections begin tomorrow in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and North Carolina, one candidate for Senate is spewing bigotry and hate in his bid for the Senate. In a clearly anti-Asian advertisement featuring Don Blankenship – a Republican running in the West Virginia primary – speaking to camera, he denigrates Asians as “China people” and refers to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s “China family.”
Late Tuesday night, West Covina City Council members affirmed the City’s commitment to immigrants as a vital and integral part of the community by upholding and not taking action on SB 54, also known as the California Values Act. The vote is a welcome change from just last year, when the City Council voted to formally oppose the legislation before it was signed into law by Governor Brown last October.
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) made changes to its mission statement yesterday, taking out the phrases “secures America’s promise as a nation of immigrants” and “promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship,” and adding the words “protecting Americans, securing the homeland.” The word “customer” was also removed from the statement. USCIS Director Cissna explained the change, saying, “Use of the term leads to the erroneous belief that applicants and petitioners, rather than the American people, are whom we ultimately serve.” He also stated that the agency's priorities include “protecting American workers [and] safeguarding the homeland.”
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court issued an order allowing the Trump administration's Muslim Ban to take full effect as legal challenges move forward in lower courts. This ruling will greatly restrict travelers from six Muslim-majority countries – including Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Chad – from entering the United States.
Today President Donald Trump retweeted unverified anti-Muslim videos from British white supremacist group, Britain First. The group has been denounced by the British government as a hate organization.
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