Human Rights First Condemns Trump Administration’s Dangerous Refugee Review Directive
Washington D.C. — Human Rights First condemns the Trump administration’s directive ordering a sweeping review of more than 230,000 refugees admitted under the Biden administration — a move that halts green-card processing, re-traumatizes already-vetted refugees, and opens the door to mass terminations of legal status.
“This policy is a massive squandering of taxpayer dollars that will endanger people’s lives,” said Human Rights First CEO & President Uzra Zeya. “Far from being necessary, these purported ‘reviews’ and ‘re-interviews’ are a pretext for the administration’s broader unjust and discriminatory objectives. It is abundantly clear that this policy’s impact and its ultimate goal are to deport immigrants from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East who have legal status in the United States and prevent them from becoming citizens. This directive is attacking our neighbors and community members. The administration is attempting to change what it means to be American by targeting who gets to belong. The administration has hijacked the refugee resettlement capacities of the U.S. government to try to deny protection to actual refugees while misusing them to facilitate the migration of White Afrikaners.”
Zeya added, “Survivors of persecution deserve protection, not further punishment by our own government. To call into question the legal status of hundreds of thousands of refugees who passed the most rigorous vetting standards for any U.S. immigration category is both wasteful and reprehensible.”
This unprecedented action undermines due process, destabilizes families who have already undergone rigorous screening, and diverts massive federal resources to advance discriminatory political aims. Human Rights First urges Congress, civil society, faith leaders, and public officials to reject any attempt to strip refugees of legal status without due process, protect appeal rights and fair legal representation, and recommit to a refugee policy rooted in human rights and non-discrimination.
