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The Donald Trump administration ordered a comprehensive review of all refugees admitted to the United States during Joe Biden's administration.
The measure will affect nearly 200,000 people and has raised alarms among human rights organizations and immigrant advocates.
According to Associated Press (AP), which had access to the memorandum, the document, signed by Joseph Edlow, director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), indicates that during Biden's years, "speed" and "quantity" were prioritized over "detailed review" of applicants.
That would be a reason justifying a "reinterview of all refugees admitted between January 20, 2021, and February 20, 2025."
The review will include the creation of a list of individuals who will be summoned again in the next three months.
The memorandum also orders an immediate suspension of the approval of residency cards (green cards) for all refugees who arrived during the previous period, including those who had already begun the legal process for permanent residency.
According to AP, the text warns that those who do not qualify under the new evaluation will have no right to appeal, although they will be able to present their case if they are brought before an immigration court. Even refugees who have already obtained their residency could be subject to review.
"USCIS is prepared to enforce the law and ensure that the refugee program is not abused," Edlow wrote in the memorandum.
Refugee advocates and humanitarian organizations described the decision as "cruel" and "senseless."
Naomi Steinberg, vice president of policy at the Jewish resettlement agency HIAS, stated that "this plan is yet another example of the cold and insensitive treatment towards individuals who are already building new lives and strengthening the communities in which they reside."
Sharif Aly, president of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), pointed out that refugees "are already the most rigorously screened immigrants in the United States" and that "reviewing and re-interviewing 200,000 people who have been living in peace for years would be an enormous cruelty and a waste of public resources."
The refugee program had been partially suspended earlier this year and then limited to only 7,500 annual entries, prioritizing applicants of white South African descent, the lowest level since the program's inception in 1980.
During Biden's administration, from October 2021 to September 2024, 185,640 refugees were admitted, primarily from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Syria.
Many of them could now be subject to review under the new regulations.
The measure is part of Trump’s promise to tighten immigration policies and increase deportations, arguing that it is necessary to "restore control of the immigration system and protect national security."
Meanwhile, civil and human rights organizations are preparing legal actions to stop the mass review and prevent thousands of refugees—many of whom are survivors of wars and persecution—from being interrogated again or losing their legal status in the country that welcomed them.
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