Tag: Trump immigration policy

Trump says he disagreed with privately funded border wall. The builder got $1.7 billion in wall contracts from his administration.

President Donald Trump now claims this privately funded border wall in the Rio Grande Valley — touted as the “Lamborghini” of fences — was built to “make me look bad,” even though the project’s builder and funders are all Trump supporters.

President Donald Trump complained via Twitter on Sunday that a privately constructed border wall in Texas was a bad idea and poorly done — not mentioning that his administration has awarded the builder a $1.7 billion contract to build more walls.

With the backing of Trump supporters, Tommy Fisher built a 3-mile border fence along the Rio Grande, calling it the “Lamborghini” of fences. But just months after completion of his showcase piece directly on the banks of the river, there are signs of erosion along and under the fence that threatens its stability and could cause it to topple into the river if not fixed, experts told ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.

“I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads. It was only done to make me look bad, and perhsps it now doesn’t even work. Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles,” Trump tweeted with a typo in reaction to the news organizations’ report about the wall. Continue reading.

Christian groups say Trump has closed the door on persecuted Christian refugees

“Christians need to speak out on this issue,” said David Curry, CEO of Open Doors USA.

WASHINGTON — Despite public statements promoting religious freedom, the Trump administration has failed to provide a lifeline to persecuted Christian refugees and other religious minorities around the world, according to a report by two Christian advocacy groups.

The number of Christian refugees and other religious minorities allowed to enter the U.S. has dropped dramatically under President Donald Trump, according to the report by World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization, and Open Doors USA, a non-profit that tracks religious freedom.

“With religious persecution of Christians at some of the highest levels ever reported, closing the door to refugees and asylum seekers threatens the lives of Christians — and American Christians must not remain silent,” said the report, titled “Closed Doors.” Continue reading.

Arrests along Mexico border jumped 40% last month, despite Trump administration’s immigration crackdown

Washington Post logoThe number of migrants detained along the Mexico border jumped 40 percent in June, defying a Trump administration emergency crackdown that has cited the coronavirus pandemic to swiftly “expel” those who cross illegally, according to enforcement statistics released Thursday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

U.S. authorities made 32,512 arrests and detentions along the Mexico border in June, up from 23,142 in May. The June total was nearly double the number of detentions recorded in April, after the Trump administration suspended normal immigration proceedings to quickly process most migrants and return them to Mexico in a matter of hours.

CBP figures show the vast majority of those detained in June — 89 percent — were promptly turned back to Mexico using the rapid-expulsion system that is facing a legal challenge from rights groups and immigrant advocates. The administration has defended the expulsions as a necessary measure to keep detention cells along the border empty and avoid the risk of spreading infection. Continue reading.

Trump expected to refile paperwork to end DACA this week

The Hill logoPresident Trump is expected to refile paperwork this week to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that offers protections for thousands of young immigrants, according to multiple people familiar with the planning.

Trump was initially expected to move to once again rescind the Obama-era program last week, but it was pushed back, according to one source. The exact timing remains in flux, but Trump is now expected to file the paperwork this week.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows hinted in an interview with Fox News earlier Monday that the president was readying executive action on immigration issues, though he did not offer specifics. Continue reading.

Supreme Court permits fast-track removal of asylum-seekers

The Hill logoThe Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a win on Thursday by ruling that asylum-seekers have no right to a federal court hearing before being removed from the U.S.

The 7-2 decision allows the administration to fast-track the removal process, and could affect thousands of immigrants.

At issue was whether a federal immigration law that aims to reduce meritless asylum claims through expedited proceedings violated immigrants’ due process rights under the Constitution. Continue reading.

In Arizona, Trump Boasts About His Wall and Repeats Unfounded Predictions of Voter Fraud

New York Times logoHis main target was voting by mail, suggesting that mail carriers would be robbed as they delivered ballots.

President Trump traveled to the southwestern border on Tuesday to lift his flagging re-election campaign with a renewed anti-immigrant appeal, bragging about the progress his administration has made in constructing a “big, beautiful wall” before predicting to a group of students at a Phoenix mega church that the election could be stolen in a huge fraud.

In a visit with handpicked border officials and Republican allies in Yuma, Ariz., Mr. Trump sought to revive the issue at the heart of his 2016 victory: his portrayal of immigrants as a threat to the economic and personal security of Americans, and his promise to close the United States off from much of the world.

“My administration has done more than any administration in history to secure our southern border,” Mr. Trump boasted, citing the completion of about 220 miles of what he called a “powerful new” wall on the border. “It’s the most powerful and comprehensive border wall structure anywhere in the world.” Continue reading.

4 Years Later, Only 3 New Miles of ‘Wall’ And Not A Single Peso From Mexico

Trump visited Arizona to tout 212 miles of new fence — but only three were built where there was previously no barrier.

WASHINGTON ― Four years after promising a 2,000-mile “Great Wall” made of reinforced concrete and paid for by Mexico, President Donald Trump took a victory lap for securing three new miles of steel fence that was paid for by raiding the military budget.

“This is the most powerful and comprehensive border wall structure anywhere in the world,” Trump said Tuesday during a visit to the Mexican border at Yuma, Arizona, where he said 212 miles have been built and that close to 500 would be finished by the end of the year. “Our border has never been more secure.”

In fact, only three of those 212 miles are along parts of the border that previously had no barrier. The rest have replaced existing fencing, a process that began under President George W. Bush and continued under President Barack Obama. Continue reading.

Trump signs executive order suspending certain work visas through 2020

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Monday signed an executive order to suspend the issuance of certain temporary worker visas through the end of 2020, cracking down further on immigration after signing a more narrow measure in April.

The order applies to H-1B visas, H-2B visas, H-4 visas, L-1 visas and certain J-1 visas. It is the latest effort by the Trump administration to satisfy immigration hawks and groups that argue American workers should be prioritized, especially amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

H-1B visas are used for skilled workers and are common in the tech industry and is the largest visa program of those included in Monday’s order as its recipients can stay for multiple years. Continue reading.

Administration puts ‘hold’ on green card requests from US

Pandemic-related reduction in staff led to the temporary halt, USCIS says

After suspending approval of green card requests to immigrants abroad seeking U.S. residency, the Trump administration has also halted processing requests from green card applicants already living in the country.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told employees this week that a “general hold” on permanent residency applications filed from immigrants within the United States would remain in place. But it updated a list of exemptions to the hold in a Wednesday email and other internal communication seen by CQ Roll Call. It was not clear when the hold was originally implemented.

Exemptions to the hold include applications of medical providers. The USCIS also allows immigration officers to submit applications that concern an “emergent or sensitive matter” outside these exemptions to their supervisors for consideration. Continue reading.

Under Trump border rules, U.S. has granted refuge to just two people since late March, records show

Washington Post logoThe Trump administration’s emergency coronavirus restrictions have shut the U.S. immigration system so tight that since March 21 just two people seeking humanitarian protection at the southern border have been allowed to stay, according to unpublished U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data obtained by The Washington Post.

Citing the threat to public health from the coronavirus, the Trump administration has suspended most due-process rights for migrants, including children and asylum seekers, while “expelling” more than 20,000 unauthorized border-crossers to Mexico under a provision of U.S. code known as Title 42

Department of Homeland Security officials say the emergency protocols are needed to protect Americans — and migrants — by reducing the number of detainees in U.S. Border Patrol holding cells and immigration jails where infection spreads easily. But the administration has yet to publish statistics showing the impact of the measures on the thousands of migrants who arrive in the United States each year as they flee religious, political or ethnic persecution, gang violence or other urgent threats. Continue reading.