Amid the crackdown on immigration, a report suggested that US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering a radical overhaul in the country’s refugee system. According to the documents obtained by The New York Times, the administration plans to give preference to English speakers, white South Africans and Europeans who oppose migration in the plan.
As per the report, some of the aspects of the proposal have already gone into effect. The controversial plan was presented to the White House in April and July by officials in the State and Homeland Security Departments. It came to the forefront shortly after Trump directed federal agencies to study whether refugee resettlement was in the interest of the United States.
On his first day back at the White House, Trump had suspended refugee admissions and ordered proposals on how and whether the administration should continue the program. People familiar with the matter told the NYT that the Trump administration has not ruled out any of the ideas. However, there is reportedly no set timetable for approving or rejecting the ideas.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told NYT that the proposed changes would put new emphasis on whether applicants would be able to assimilate into the United States, directing them to take classes on “American history and values” and “respect for cultural norms.”
Trump administration to prioritise Europeans
The report alleged that the proposals advised the Trump administration to prioritise Europeans who have been “targeted for peaceful expression of views online, such as opposition to mass migration or support for ‘populist’ political parties.”
This appeared to be in reference to the European far-right political party Alternative for Germany, whose leaders have trivialised the Holocaust, revived Nazi slogans and denigrated foreigners. In the past, US Vice President JD Vance slammed Germany for trying to suppress the voices of the group.
Interestingly, Trump had already enacted some of the proposals in the documents way before it was even made public. These measures included slashing refugee admissions and offering priority status to Afrikaners, the white minority that once ran South Africa’s brutal apartheid system. Trump had claimed that Afrikaners face racial persecution in their home country, a claim vigorously disputed by government officials, even the country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsNot only this, but police statistics also do not show that white people are more vulnerable to violent crime than other people in South Africa. According to the NYT, the proposal provides a window into Trump’s intentions for a program that has come to symbolise America’s role as a sanctuary.
At the heart of the proposal is the argument that America’s acceptance of refugees has made the country ’too diverse’. “The sharp increase in diversity has reduced the level of social trust essential for the functioning of a democratic polity,” according to one of the documents obtained by NYT. “The administration should only welcome refugees who can be fully and appropriately assimilated, and are aligned with the president’s objectives.”
The proposal suggests that the Trump administration should cancel the applications of hundreds of thousands of people who are already in the pipeline to come to the United States as refugees, even though most of them have undergone extensive security checks and referrals.
What are some of the suggestions?
As per the report, the federal agencies also proposed imposing limits on the number of refugees who can resettle in communities that already have a high population of immigrants. Based on this, the administration is suggested to avoid “the concentration of non-native citizens” to promote assimilation.
“It should come as no surprise that the State Department is implementing the priorities of the duly elected president of the United States,” Thomas Pigott, a spokesman for the US State Department, told NYT. “This administration unapologetically prioritises the interests of the American people," he added.
As the news started to stir major headlines, the proposal drew significant backlash. Critics pointed out that the plans expose the president’s vision for what America should look like. “It reflects a preexisting notion among some in the Trump administration as to who the true Americans are,” said Barbara L Strack, a former chief of the refugee affairs division at Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations. “And they think it’s white people and they think it’s Christians.”
Other ideas include more intensive security vetting for refugees, including expanded DNA tests for children to ensure they are related to the adults they are travelling with. The Trump administration has already maintained that it plans to slash the number of refugees allowed into the US to 7,500 in the upcoming year, a drastic decrease from the limit of 125,000 set by the Biden administration last year.