New ICE rules will affect the constitutional rights of everyone while making legal immigration even tougher, an expert has claimed.
Laurie Ball Cooper, the vice president of US Legal Programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project, warned that the fresh memo handed down to Immigration and Customs officials would infringe on and terrorize more people than the initial legislation had. Cooper, along with the CEO of refugee agency HIAS, Beth Oppenheim, criticized the rules when speaking with CNN.
The Department of Homeland Security introduced fresh policies earlier this week, with a memo confirming immigration officers may "arrest and detain" refugees who "failed to adjust" to permanent residence status a year after it is granted.
A new memo shared by the DHS reads, "When a refugee is admitted to the United States, the admission is conditional and subject to a mandatory review after one year."
It adds that detained refugees may remain in custody "for the duration of the inspection and examination process.” US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow and Acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons issued the memo earlier this week, rescinding previous government policy on refugees.
“Refugees may be considered to have voluntarily returned to custody” by submitting application paperwork and appearing at scheduled appointments with immigration services, according to the new memo.
Cooper said, "This memo is part of a broad and concerted effort to strip refugees of their legal status and render them deportable. This government will clearly stop at nothing to terrorize refugee communities, and really all immigrants, while trampling over our constitutional rights."
Oppenheim added, "This memo was done in secret, with zero coordination with the organizations that serve refugees. This policy is a transparent effort to detain and potentially deport thousands of people who are legally present in this country, people the US government itself welcomed after years of extreme vetting."
