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View Full Version : Trump admin reverses course on allowing temporary emergency deferrals for illegal immigrants f




Zippyjuan
09-02-2019, 03:43 PM
Flip flopping again.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-administration-illegal-immigrants-deportation-temporary-emergency-deferrals


Trump admin reverses course on allowing temporary emergency deferrals for illegal immigrants facing deportation

In a partial reversal, the Trump administration announced Monday it would resume the practice of considering whether to defer the deportations of certain people living in the U.S. illegally, on a temporary, case-by-case basis, after it abruptly suspended the process for non-military requesters earlier this month.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in a statement, announced that "letters will be sent this week re-opening all cases" for potential deferred deportation action that were pending on Aug. 7 -- the date the administration stopped entertaining the requests. Agency officials said they were still reviewing whether to continue considering deferrals for cases past that date.


At the same time, the agency suggested it was winding down consideration of the deferral requests, which it characterized as routine exercises of prosecutorial discretion.

"While limiting USCIS’ role in deferred action is appropriate, USCIS will complete the caseload that was pending on August 7," the statement continued. "As USCIS’ deferred action caseload is reduced, the career employees who decide such cases will be more available to address other types of legal immigration applications on a more efficient basis."

Temporary deferrals are protections letting illegal immigrants stay in the country and avoid deportation while they or their relatives receive life-saving medical treatments or endure other hardships. The deferrals would not provide families with paths to citizenship, though they could qualify for government-funded health benefits and receive legal permission to work while their children receive medical treatment.

Critics denounced the administration's suspension of the practice as a cruel change that could force desperate migrants to accept lesser treatment in their poverty-stricken homelands. In its statement, USCIS asserted that nobody seeking a deferral had been "targeted for deportation."

"Those denied requests that were pending on August 7 did not have removal orders pending, and have not been targeted for deportation," USCIS said.

In Boston alone, the decision could affect about 20 families with children fighting cancer, HIV, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy and other serious conditions, said Anthony Marino, head of immigration legal services at the Irish International Immigrant Center, which has represented the families.

Advocates said letters from UCSIS announcing the end of the deferral procedure had been issued to illegal immigrants in California, North Carolina and elsewhere.

"Can anyone imagine the government ordering you to disconnect your child from life-saving care — to pull them from a hospital bed — knowing that it will cost them their lives?" Marino said.



More at link.