Professionals who help immigrants and refugees from around the Battle Creek area have noticed that many of their clients are worried about how the federal government’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants may affect them, even if they are already naturalized citizens.
New Americans, a division of Samaritas, is one of Michigan’s largest refugee resettlement services with offices in Grand Rapids and Battle Creek. The organization supports individuals and families from arrival through long-term integration. Director Chris Cavanaugh has collaborated with refugees wanting to come to Michigan for more than 20 years, and he has heard that some former refugees who have settled in the area are concerned about their status based on changing immigration policies instituted by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The refugee system has traditionally worked to help (immigrants) who face persecution,” Cavanaugh said. “I’ve heard from some (employees) that they’ve had clients express concerns about their status.”
Cavanaugh added that he hasn’t heard of any refugees his agency has worked with skip work or school because of deportation concerns. But Michigan Immigration Rights Center Director Susan Reed has gone out of her way to assure clients that they still have rights, especially if they are naturalized citizens. Reed oversees the nonprofit legal resource center that supports immigration communities. Michigan Immigration Right Center has five locations in the state, including Battle Creek.
“There are so many people who contact us each week who think the (federal government) can to whatever they want to them,” Reed said.
Among the administration policies enacted this year is an increase in Temporary Protected Status (TPS) terminations, Reed said. TPS is a humanitarian program created by Congress in the Immigration Act of 1990 that grants immigrants temporary status to work in the U.S., usually for a period of six to 18 months.
With TPS and other protections reduced or eliminated, local immigrants are concerned about enrolling their children in community programs or visiting federally qualified health centers for medical care because of the implied threat of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents being onsite.
Reed has been in the immigration law field for more than 20 years. She said there have been 451 changes to immigration policy since Jan. 20, and that the pace and number of changes have been overwhelming to her.
“Just think how hard that is for (clients),” Reed said. “It’s very frightening. Every time there is significant ICE (enforcement) activity in a neighborhood, everyone hears about it.”
The Battle Creek area and other west Michigan communities have experienced a growth in refugees and immigrants from such countries as Burma and the Demmocractic Republic of Congo in recent years as people native to those countries have come to the U.S. to escape political and socioeconomic persecution.
“We’re hoping to see the flow of immigrants increase,” Cavanaugh said. “There are a lot of (refugees and immigrants) who are trying to reunite with their families in U.S.
Refugees are people who cannot return to their home country because of persecution or a realistic fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website. Refugees are admitted into the country through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program after screening by U.S. agencies. The U.S. Department of State manages that program.
Being a refugee is a protected status under humanitarian law. Refugees must apply for a green card, which signifies the approval of permanent residents, one year after entering the U.S. according to the USCIS website.
Family- and employment-based immigrants enter as permanent residents, but many immigrants have no automatic path to U.S. residency.
“There should not be status issues for refugees unless they have committed a crime,” Cavanaugh said.
Other refugees and immigrants have come to the Battle Creek area from countries like Cuba, Haiti, Iraq, and Somalia.
One challenge Cavanaugh has experienced is that the country’s humanitarian parole program has been impacted by status changes coming from federal agencies. Nationally, this has resulted in some immigrants losing their employment authorization and protected status.
Humanitarian parole is an immigration tool used to allow immigrants who don’t otherwise qualify for a visa to enter the U.S. temporarily for urgent humanitarian reasons or because their entry provides a significant public benefit. Rather than a residency step, it’s an emergency permission granted for a limited time, according to the USCIS website.
Actions like changing the status of the humanitarian parole program is one reason why Cavanaugh believes local refugees and immigrants may be concerned for their status.
“Many of these people came here just so they could work in the U.S.,” he said. “If they aren’t eligible, that’s a big challenge.”
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Undocumented immigrant crackdown concern for even naturalized citizens, local agencies say
Reporting by M. Alan Scott / Battle Creek Enquirer
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