US Department of Homeland Security officials have issued an order that effectively suspended a number of programs that allowed immigrants to temporarily settle in the United States, including a key initiative that provides entry for Ukrainians, The New York Times reports, UNN writes.
Details
The directive, as stated, requires the immediate suspension of "final decisions" on applications related to the programs while the administration reviews them and decides whether they should be terminated.
The scale of the programs involved, as indicated, is enormous, and the decision would block the entry of immigrants fleeing some of the most unstable and hopeless places in the world. In addition to Ukraine, which has been affected by years of war, the programs have offered a pathway for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela, among other countries.
The decision also indicates that the Trump administration plans to crack down on a wide range of programs that allowed people to enter temporarily.
"This suspension of password decisions is akin to stopping all asylum access at the border and stopping the refugee program," said Yael Shaher, Americas and Europe director for Refugees International. - "This is evidence of the administration's hostility to all immigration on humanitarian grounds.
Administration officials said President Trump believes many of the programs were never legal. On Monday, he signed an executive order requiring the Department of Homeland Security to end "all categorical password programs that are contrary to United States policy established in my executive orders," or programs that allow large numbers of people to enter the country under a temporary status known as a "password.
The acting head of the US Department of Homeland Security ordered agencies on Monday to review password programs to determine which ones meet Trump's specifications and, if necessary, suspend them while the review is conducted.
A spokesperson for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed the existence of the guidance issued this week, but did not provide further comment.
Trump administration officials have been particularly critical of programs such as the one that allowed more than 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua to enter the country with a password if they had financial sponsors. On Monday, the Trump administration quickly shut down one program that allowed migrants to arrive at the crossing point using a government program known as CBP One.
These programs also include Uniting for Ukraine, a Biden-era initiative that allowed Ukrainian immigrants to temporarily enter the United States if they had financial sponsors. According to the government, as of September 2023, more than 150,000 Ukrainians had entered the United States under this program.
The directive also stops adjudicating applications for a program that allowed certain families to reunite in the United States and another initiative for Central American minors with family members in the United States.
