By Carolyn Bick
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
As more than 500 people—some refugees and immigrants—celebraed becoming United States citizens in Seattle’s 40th annual naturalization ceremony over the weekend, the fate of 160 refugees still hangs in the balance, thanks to President Donald Trump’s decision to extend his month-old travel ban on 12 countries and partial restrictions on nine other countries to include refugees from those 19 countries.
Of the 160 immediately affected refugees, a significant number are from Afghanistan, and include people whose relatives helped the U.S. in the U.S.’s war in Afghanistan. The other Asian countries included in the travel ban are Iran and Myanmar, while Turkmenistan and Laos are subject to partial restrictions.
On Feb. 20, a month after Trump signed an executive order indefinitely halting refugee resettlement through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration with the Western District Court of Washington. A federal judge filed an injunction in the case, which protected the refugees involved from the executive order, as well as the federal government’s further suspension of funding related to resettlement and processing.
Trinh Tran
The case has not yet been settled. On June 25, IRAP filed a motion for an emergency conference, slated for July 7, following Trump’s June 4 decision to extend the travel ban and partial restrictions to refugees—even though IRAP supervising attorney Trinh Tran said, “the text [of the ban and restrictions] appeared to exempt refugees.”
“Multiple courts have found the refugee ban to be unlawful and ordered the government to restart processing,” Tran said in an email to the Northwest Asian Weekly. “Of the 160 refugees the U.S. government is supposed to admit immediately, about two-thirds are from countries subject to the travel bans, and the government is saying that they will not allow them to enter.”
The government’s apparent refusal to quickly comply with the order has long-lasting and devastating effects on people who are already suffering and living in dangerous situations, Tran said. Some are in hiding, she said.
“It’s heartbreaking. … We’re hearing really painful stories of refugees who had confirmed travel plans and as a result upended their lives, selling their belongings and giving up their housing,” Tran said. “To do all that, to have so much hope, and to make plans for this really difficult and life changing move to safety, only to be abruptly told that those plans are on hold indefinitely and that planned family reunification and resettlement may not happen, is just crushing.”
In contrast, the Trump administration is working overtime to resettle white Afrikaners in the United States. Trump has falsely claimed they are victims of so-called “white genocide.” This claim has been repeated in right-wing circles for years, despite being disproved.
The Trump administration’s actions in the case of the 160 refugees concern Tran, specifically for the precedent they set. Such actions “disregard the history of the United States upholding its moral obligation of welcoming refugees seeking protection from persecution,” Tran said.
“My family and I came to the United States as refugees from Vietnam. This year marks 50 years since the Fall of Saigon—evoking images of boat refugees being rescued and Americans embracing arriving Vietnamese refugees into their communities,” Tran said. “It is shameful that today, we are telling the most vulnerable that they are not welcome. Policies like the travel ban set the precedent that the United States has lost its moral compass and does not keep its promises.”
Such policies do not make the U.S. safer, she said, and only serves to rip families apart. They also potentially herald banning immigrants and refugees from other Asian countries.
“Reuters has reported that the administration is considering adding 36 more countries to the travel ban, including Bhutan, Cambodia, and Kyrgyzstan,” Tran said. “Many refugees and immigrants in the United States have to wait years to bring their families to safety, and these unlawful bans slam the door shut on their dreams. The administration’s actions harm Asian refugees and immigrants and they harm the local communities that welcome them.”