According to a media report, US President Donald Trump’s government wants to check the refugee status of many people living in the USA. It must be ensured “that refugees do not pose a threat to national or public security,” CNN reported, citing an internal authority document and a person familiar with the matter.
According to the report, the planned review relates to refugees who came to the USA during the term of office of Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden – i.e. in the period from 2021 to 2025. During these years, around 235,000 people would have sought protection in the United States under the affected program.
CNN spoke of an “unprecedented step”. The New York-based refugee organization IRAP (“International Refugee Assistance Project”) strongly condemned the project. The order puts particularly vulnerable people under pressure, it said in a statement. Refugees in the US admission program have already been checked particularly thoroughly; The planned mass inspection would also be an unnecessary burden for the authorities, criticized IRAP.
Trump’s administration is cracking down on migrants – not just those without valid residency status. It is also increasingly targeting people who have sought protection from political persecution or violence in the USA, for example from Venezuela or Haiti. The authorities regularly paint a general picture of criminal migrants. Critics of the government’s stance, however, emphasize that studies show that people without regular residence status tend to commit crimes less often due to fear of deportation.
Donald Trump is drastically limiting the number of refugees
The government’s decision to drastically reduce the annual maximum limit for accepting refugees – and to give preference to white South Africans – recently caused criticism. In the future, only up to 7,500 refugees will be accepted per year; most recently there were 125,000.
