Immigration

 Dara Lind, Immigration Impact -  Over the weekend, I got a WhatsApp message from Mr. A.

Mr. A and I have been in touch since he was trying to get out of Afghanistan after American troops withdrew in 2021. After finally escaping with his young family and making it to Mexico, he eventually got an appointment using the CBP One app to present himself requesting asylum at a U.S. port of entry. He quickly won his asylum case and currently works in I.T. while he waits to become eligible for a green card.

Except that he was concerned, this weekend, that it was all about to come crashing down. He’d gotten a letter from the U.S. government that began, “It is time for you to leave the United States.”

Countless letters like this have been sent to people over the last few weeks, announcing that the government is terminating their humanitarian parole – stripping them of a form of legal permission to live and work in the U.S. The letters have been sent to some U.S. citizens – mostly immigration attorneys – to whom it clearly doesn’t apply, but also to people like Mr. A, who aren’t affected by the parole termination because they don’t have parole. Many people in Mr. A’s situation may not realize they don’t need to comply with a sentence like “It is time for you to leave.” Even the people who are directly affected by losing their parole are in danger of hurting their own cases if they do what the Trump administration’s letter demands.