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Undated:
MinnPost’s “New Americans” beat is dedicated to covering the state’s immigrant
and refugee communities, chronicling the contributions and challenges faced by
these groups as they transform the notion of what it means to be a Minnesotan in
the 21st century.
https://www.minnpost.com/new-americans/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInenrm4eD4QIVjIbACh2whgJpEAAYAyAAEgKOxfD_BwE
Undated:
Somalia is considered a globalized nation, with more than 1
million Somalis currently living outside the country. Somalis are largely
concentrated in three areas: the Horn of Africa and Yemen, Gulf States, and
Western Europe and North America [15]. Nearly two-thirds of all Somalis living
outside Somalia live in neighboring countries, namely Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti,
and Yemen [16]. In Europe, the United Kingdom is home to the largest Somali
community, followed by the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark [15]. A
growing number of Somalis have also settled in Switzerland, many of whom arrived
as asylum seekers [16]. Lastly, Malaysia and Australia have also seen an influx
of Somali immigrants in recent years [15]. In the United States, Minnesota is
home to the largest Somali community, with the majority residing in the
Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area (Hennepin and Ramsey counties), as well
as St. Cloud and Rochester [17]. Many Somali refugees and immigrants have also
settled in the Seattle metropolitan area, as well as Columbus (Ohio) and the
surrounding area [14, 18].
As of December 2016, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
estimated that more than 1.5 million Somalis were internally displaced.
Additionally, as of January 2018, more than 875,000 Somalis were registered with
UNHCR as refugees in Africa and the Middle East [19, 20]. However, this figure
only accounts for registered refugees, and therefore likely underestimates the
scale of the refugee crisis in the Horn of Africa. Kenya, Ethiopia, and Yemen
host the largest numbers of Somali refugees. Somali refugees have also fled, in
smaller numbers, to Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Uganda, and South Africa [20].
https://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/profiles/somali/populationMovements.html
-- 2017 --
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January 27: Executive Order 13769,
titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United
States, often referred to as the Muslim ban[1]
or the travel ban, was an
executive order by
United States President
Donald
Trump. Except for the extent to which it was blocked by various courts, it
was in effect from January 27, 2017, until March 16, 2017, when it was
superseded by
Executive Order 13780. Executive Order 13769 lowered the number of refugees
to be admitted into the United States in 2017 to 50,000, suspended the
U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for 120 days, suspended the entry of
Syrian refugees indefinitely, directed some
cabinet secretaries to suspend entry of those whose countries do not meet
adjudication standards under
U.S. immigration law for 90 days, and included exceptions on a case-by-case
basis.
Homeland Security lists these countries as
Iran,
Iraq,
Libya,
Somalia,
Sudan,
Syria, and
Yemen.[2]
More than 700 travelers were detained, and up to 60,000
visas were "provisionally revoked".[3]
The signing of the order provoked widespread
condemnation and protests and resulted in
legal intervention against the enforcement of the order with some calling it
a "Muslim ban" because Trump had previously called for temporarily banning
Muslims from America soon after the
2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack, and because all of the affected
countries had a Muslim majority.[1]
A nationwide
temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued on February 3, 2017 in the case
Washington v. Trump, which was upheld by the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 9, 2017.
Consequently, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stopped enforcing portions of the
order and the
State Department re-validated visas that had been previously revoked. Later,
other orders (Executive
Order 13780 and
Presidential Proclamation 9645) were signed by Trump and superseded order
13769. On June 26, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the third executive order
(Presidential Proclamation 9645) and its accompanying travel ban in a
5–4 decision, with the majority opinion being written by Chief Justice John
Roberts.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13769
February: Trump Executive Order on Refugees
and Travel Ban: A Brief Review
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/trump-executive-order-refugees-and-travel-ban-brief-review
February 7: Fighting the refugee ban
The ACLU-WA is representing refugees who have been separated from their families
by Trump's Executive Order on immigration.
https://www.aclu-wa.org/cases/doe-et-al-v-trump
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March 14: In Trump presidency, nearly 2,500
refugees have entered U.S. from six travel-restricted countries
A total of 2,466 refugees from six countries under new travel restrictions –
Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – have resettled in the United
States since Donald Trump became president, according to a Pew Research Center
analysis of
U.S. State Department data. The number of refugees from the six
travel-restricted countries represents 32% of all refugees who have entered the
U.S. since Trump took office.
Trump recently signed a new
executive order, scheduled to take effect March 16, that bars new U.S. visas
for 90 days for people holding citizenship from the six nations while security
measures in those countries are reviewed. (A
previous order that took effect Jan. 27 also barred citizens of Iraq, but
parts of it were stopped by the courts.) The new order also suspends refugee
admissions to the U.S. from all countries for 120 days, pending a review of
security screening measures.
During the first full week of Trump’s presidency (Jan. 21-27), 687 refugees from
the six restricted countries entered the U.S., accounting for 34% of all refugee
admissions that week. The following week, Jan. 28 to Feb. 3, refugee admissions
from the six restricted countries all but stopped after Trump’s original
executive order on restrictions took effect. They then resumed shortly after a
federal judge in Washington state
suspended key parts of Trump’s initial order on Feb. 3 and lifted the travel
restrictions, a decision that was upheld by a federal appeals court.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/14/in-trump-presidency-nearly-2500-refugees-have-entered-u-s-from-six-travel-restricted-countries/
June 26:
December 8: Trump lifts refugee ban, but
admissions still plummet, data shows
In late October, President Donald Trump lifted a temporary ban on most refugee
admissions, a move that should have cleared the way for more people fleeing
persecution and violence to come to the United States.
Instead, the number of refugees admitted to the country has plummeted. In the
five weeks after the ban was lifted, 40 percent fewer people were allowed in
than in the last five weeks it was in place, according to a Reuters analysis of
State Department data. That plunge has gone almost unnoticed.
As he lifted the ban, Trump instituted new rules for tougher vetting of
applicants and also effectively halted, at least for now, the entry of refugees
from 11 countries deemed as high risk. The latter move has contributed
significantly to the precipitous drop in the number of refugees being admitted.
The State Department data shows that the kind of refugees being allowed in has
also changed. A far smaller portion are Muslim. When the ban was in place they
made up a quarter of all refugees. Now that it has been lifted they represent
just under 10 percent.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-effect-refugees/trump-lifts-refugee-ban-but-admissions-still-plummet-data-shows-idUSKBN1E21CR
-- 2018 --
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January 23: For Refugees in the Trump Era, a
Tougher Path to the U.S.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/for-refugees-in-the-trump-era-a-tougher-path-to-the-u-s/
January 26: Trump administration set to
admit far fewer refugees than plan allows for
International Rescue Committee says 21,292 refugees will be admitted to the US
this year, far below administration’s 45,000 limit
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/26/trump-administration-refugees-resettlement
February 12:
Trump Has Undercut U.S. Refugee Resettlement. Here’s One Way to Restore It.
Instead of closing resettlement offices and blocking the entry of people
from war-ravaged countries, the United States should maintain its historical
commitments.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/02/12/trump-has-undercut-u-s-refugee-resettlement-heres-one-way-to-restore-it/
April 9: Trump suggests refugees want to
harm the U.S. But they just want to make America great, a new report says
Over time, the Urban Institute says, refugees tend to embrace tenets of the
traditional American dream — buying homes and starting their own businesses.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-suggests-refugees-want-harm-u-s-they-just-want-n863481
April 15: Families caught in Trump's refugee
clampdown
From his new hometown of New Haven, Connecticut, 35 year-old Mohamed Chaghlil
calls his elderly mother every day. She asks him if he's looking after himself,
and about his love life. He asks her if she's getting her medicine, and promises
they'll be re-united soon. But he knows it's a promise he can't keep.
Mohamed and his parents escaped from the horrors of the Syrian civil war in
December 2012. Taking refuge in Jordan, they applied to settle in the US. In the
autumn of 2016, Mohamed's father died. Shortly afterwards, Mohamed was approved
to travel to the US.
It was a hard decision, but Mohamed and his mother believed she soon would join
him. So Mohamed made the journey, arriving in America just weeks before
President Trump was sworn in.
But Mohamed's mother was now a widow, meaning checks on her application had to
be carried out again. Then came President Trump's first travel ban. It paused
refugee resettlement, and banned Syrian refugees indefinitely. More than a year
later, Mohamed's mother is still waiting.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43747162
June 18: 8 dangerous myths about refugees
debunked
https://www.one.org/us/blog/dangerous-myths-refugees-debunked/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2qXqjv6C4QIVmh-tBh32hgRXEAAYAiAAEgInovD_BwE
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September 18:
Trump’s Refugee Fiasco
The administration just slashed the number of refugees the U.S. will admit to a
record low. Its reasoning doesn’t pass the laugh test.
It has been strange and unsettling to watch how much effort the Trump team has
put into damaging the U.S. government’s own refugee resettlement program, but
give them points for effectiveness.
On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the refugee ceiling for
the coming fiscal year will be 30,000. It is the lowest number in the history of
the nearly 40-year-old resettlement program. In so doing, he answered the
depressing question experts have been asking for the past several weeks: Would
the administration stay put at the record-low level it set for itself in
2018—45,000 refugees—or seek to plumb new depths in the coming year?
In any normal administration, the State Department, which runs the refugee
resettlement program, would have led the charge in arguing for a number that
better represents the United States’ capacity and humanitarian
traditions—something closer to the historical average of 80,000. But in the
Trump era, allies of immigration uber-hawk Stephen Miller have occupied key
positions at State, virtually guaranteeing that leadership would not come out of
Foggy Bottom. Instead, it was reportedly left to the Department of Defense to
point out what is actually true: Refugee resettlement creates goodwill, rewards
the loyalty of local partners who risk their lives to help U.S. personnel in
places like Iraq, can help stabilize host countries bordering conflict zones,
and makes it easier to ask the states bearing the brunt of the refugee burden to
stretch even further in the humanitarian support they provide.
But however hard or well the Pentagon might have argued, the odds were never
with them. Close observers of this administration’s refugee policy suggested to
us that the writing was on the wall months ago. The White House would lower the
ceiling further into the historical basement, arguing that the program’s
pathetic 2018 performance (the U.S. has actually admitted roughly 25,000
refugees, the lowest number in its history, and well short of the ceiling of
45,000) indicated a lack of capacity, and that it could hardly be expected to do
better in the coming fiscal year.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/09/18/trumps-refugees-announcement-220063
September 20: Here's What Trump's New Limits
On Refugees Mean
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2018/09/20/trump-official-announces-controversial-new-limits-on-refugees/#322e2548410a
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September 25: At UNGA, President Trump Fails
to Demonstrate U.S. Leadership on Global Humanitarian Assistance
Refugees International is deeply disappointed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s
failure to credibly demonstrate U.S. leadership on global humanitarian
assistance in his speech to the UN General Assembly today. Refugees
International in a briefing yesterday outlined
ways that the president could restore U.S. leadership during his speech to
the international forum. However, the president’s comments were ultimately
concerning in at least five key areas.
https://www.refugeesinternational.org/advocacy-letters-1/2018/9/25/at-unga-trump-fails-to-demonstrate-us-leadership-on-global-humanitarian-assistance?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInenrm4eD4QIVjIbACh2whgJpEAMYAyAAEgJDYPD_BwE
October 10: How Does the U.S. Refugee System
Work?
The United States has long accepted refugees from around the world, but
President Trump’s sharp cuts to refugee resettlement have sparked debate over
the program’s national security implications.
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-does-us-refugee-system-work
December 7: Trump Cut Muslim Refugees 91%,
Immigrants 30%, Visitors by 18%
https://www.cato.org/blog/trump-cut-muslim-refugees-91-immigrants-30-visitors-18
December 12: Trump Moves to Deport Vietnam
War Refugees
The White House again wants to expel certain groups of protected immigrants, a
reversal after backing away from the policy months ago.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/12/donald-trump-deport-vietnam-war-refugees/577993/
-- 2019 --
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Undated: For nearly 30 years, the Women’s
Refugee Commission (WRC) has been on the front lines of ensuring the rights and
protections of displaced women and children. Our work transforms the lives of
women, their families, and their communities—from the current crisis at the U.S.
border to conflicts around the world.
https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/
Undated:
Refugees Make America Great | But Trump Won't Let Them In
The United States is a nation of immigrants and refugees. People fleeing
violence and persecution come to America because it stands as a beacon of hope
and freedom to the world. The United States has a proud, bipartisan tradition of
leading the global effort to protect refugees. Refugees not only enrich our
society, but resettling the most vulnerable among them safeguards our national
security.
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/campaigns/refugees-renew-america?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2qXqjv6C4QIVmh-tBh32hgRXEAAYASAAEgIp__D_BwE
February 4: Two years after Trump’s travel
ban, faith-based refugee groups struggle
Every morning when Khadra Abdo wakes up, her mind turns to her children.
“My first thought is that I hope they are safe today, and that stays on my mind
throughout the whole day,” Abdo told Religion News Service through an
interpreter provided by Church World Service.
The 40-year-old Muslim mother of seven was separated from her five oldest
children from a first marriage nearly 12 years ago when she and her second
husband fled civil war twice — first in Somalia, then in Libya. When they
arrived in Columbus, Ohio, as refugees in 2012, she filed a request for her four
teenaged daughters and one son, living with her 75-year-old mother in Ethiopia,
to join her through World Relief.
Seven years later, she is still waiting. And the World Relief office that
once helped her has been closed.
https://religionnews.com/2019/02/04/two-years-after-trumps-travel-ban-faith-based-refugee-groups-struggle/
February 19: Less
than five per cent of refugees in need of resettlement in Western countries
found new homes last year, the United Nations said, as the United States scaled
back its acceptance of displaced people under President Donald Trump.
The United States took in 17,113 resettled refugees in 2018, leading 27
countries who resettled a total of 55,692 refugees under programs run by the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the UNHCR said on Tuesday.
But that was down from Washington's acceptance of 24,559 resettled refugees in
2017, Trump's first year in office, and 78,761 in 2016, the last full year of
the Obama administration, UNHCR figures show.
The overall total of resettled refugees last year was 10,000 fewer than in 2017
and less than half of the 126,291 in 2016.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-02-19/less-than-5-percent-of-refugees-needing-new-homes-resettled-in-2018-un
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March 4: 40 Years After The Vietnam War,
Some Refugees Face Deportation Under Trump
More than four decades after the Vietnam War brought waves of expatriates to the
United States, the Trump administration wants to deport thousands of Vietnamese
immigrants, including many refugees, because of years-old criminal convictions.
U.S. officials have been working behind the scenes to convince the Vietnamese
government to repatriate more than 7,000 Vietnamese immigrants with criminal
convictions. They have all been ordered removed from the U.S. by a judge.
Among those facing deportation is Vu, who has lived in Boston for 20 years. He
asked not to use his last name because he fears for his safety if he ever goes
back to Vietnam.
"They don't like me [in Vietnam] because I'm Amerasian. They would tease me and
throw rocks at me," he says through a translator, looking down at the floor.
"Over here it's much better. No one gives me trouble. No one hassles me, and no
one throws rocks at me."
The U.S. government is trying to deport Vu over two criminal charges of assault
and larceny dating back to 2001, even though both of those convictions have
since been vacated.
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/04/699177071/40-years-after-the-vietnam-war-some-refugees-face-deportation-under-trump
March 12: Trump Administration To Close
International Offices For Refugee Cases
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed plans to close its offices
abroad to deal with a growing backlog of immigration cases.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-administration-uscis-close-refugee-asylum_n_5c883e71e4b0fbd7661ed8dc
March 14: Senate Vote on National Emergency
a Rebuke to President Trump's Attack on Asylum
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/senate-vote-national-emergency-rebuke-president-trumps-attack-asylum
November 21:
Advocates Challenge
Trump Administration Plan To Let States And Towns Block Refugees
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/21/781795867/advocates-challenge-trump-administration-plan-to-let-states-and-towns-block-refu
-- 2020 --
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