Trump administration cuts time refugees have to challenge loss of legal status
Homeland Security shortens the window to challenge termination of legal status from 30 days to just 10 days.
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The lawsuits against federal immigration laws from Blue Cities drew a response from Chad Wolf, the former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Sanctuary cities, including New York City, are preparing legal action as Department of Homeland Security social media posts show sanctuary states fear they will lose vital federal funding under new policy guidelines implemented by the administration.
The Trump administration is passing a new law that would shorten the time refugees have to challenge the termination of their legal status, marking another limit on legal immigration pathways as the White House continues to crack down on immigration enforcement.
The new policy, which takes effect Wednesday without the usual process of notification and public comment, will reduce the time it takes for asylum seekers to respond to notices of intent to end their status from 30 days to 10 days.
Under the new law, the government aims to reduce the "potential risks" associated with people who are accepted as refugees but do not qualify for refugee status.
The documents pointed to refugees admitted during the Biden administration and claimed there had been a "worrying erosion of the integrity" of the refugee program over the years, though refugee advocates dispute the claim.
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"An examination of refugee processing policies and procedures implemented under the Biden administration shows a troubling erosion of the integrity that leads to the admission of aliens to the United States as refugees when their identity, eligibility for refugee classification, and admission are determined based on incomplete records," the DHS document said.
This organization added: "The priority of expediency over quality encouraged the lack of strong interviews." Some questions were removed to ensure that aliens were eligible for refugee status prior to admission to the United States, which increased the risk that eligible alien nationals would be approved for refugee classification and subsequently admitted to the United States.
Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Zach Caller similarly said the agency has noticed an "alarming erosion of screening and vetting practices" during the Biden administration to "maximize the speedy processing and number of refugees admitted."
It comes after the Trump administration ordered a review of at least 185,000 refugees admitted under the Biden administration who still have pending green card applications.
The US refugee admissions program has enjoyed bipartisan support since Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980. Many of them wait for years in refugee camps before they can be admitted after passing multiple rounds of interviews and screening.
With the new Trump administration, critics believe that tens of thousands of people who have fled persecution and war in their home countries may be forced to deport.
"These families did everything they were asked to do," Global Refuge President Krish Umara Wignaraje said in a statement. They submitted to interviews, background checks, and years of waiting abroad, only to set foot on U.S. soil when government officials approved their applications.
He said the Department of Homeland Security now wants to "review these decisions in one hour, 10 days, which is not enough time to find a lawyer, translate documents or obtain records from a country where they have been forced to flee because of conflict or persecution."
"In some cases, refugees may not even receive a warning before the end of the ten days, effectively eliminating their only chance to respond," he added. "If the government's case for termination is really strong, it could give people a meaningful opportunity to challenge it."
HIAS, a major refugee aid group, also warned that refugees fleeing violence, persecution and displacement are at risk of deportation to countries where they may face persecution.
"They are trying to modify the core principle that refugee resettlement represents permanent protection," HIAS Vice President Naomi Steinberg said in a statement.
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The Trump administration has significantly overhauled the U.S. refugee program, severely limiting overall admissions while prioritizing the resettlement of white South Africans.
Last month, the Trump administration set a cap of 17,500 refugees for fiscal year 2027, with most of the opportunities going to Afrikaners, a predominantly white ethnic group in South Africa.
During his first term in office, President Donald Trump reduced the number of refugees approved each year. The Biden administration reversed that trend, capping refugee admissions at 125,000 for fiscal year 2025.
When Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, he immediately suspended the refugee program, stranding people around the world who were supposed to come to the United States. The government later reopened the program but mostly restricted it to white South Africans.
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