MIAMI — The Trump administration is cutting the time refugees have to contest the termination of their status, a move critics say could put tens of thousands of people who fled persecution and wars in their home countries on a path to deportation.
The new policy, which goes into effect Wednesday, reduces from 30 to 10 the number of days refugees have to challenge the revocation of their status. It is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to restrict and transform a program that has served for decades as a pathway for refugees.
The goal of the new policy, according to the document, is to “mitigate potential risks” associated with people who were admitted as refugees but were not eligible for refugee status.
The policy does not say exactly how many people could be affected, but it specifically refers to refugees admitted during President Joe Biden's administration, when it says there was an "alarming erosion of the integrity" of the refugee program. Refugee advocates dispute that claim.
The Trump administration is already reviewing the cases of at least 185,000 refugees admitted during the Biden administration who still have pending green card applications.
Welcoming refugees has been a matter of bipartisan consensus in the United States since Congress passed the Refugee Act with overwhelming support in 1980. That law made refugee applications some of the most rigorously scrutinized within the immigration system.
Advocates and refugee resettlement groups condemn the new policy
Some maintain refugees will not have enough time to defend their status under the new policy.
“These families did everything asked of them,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge. “They submitted to interviews, background checks and years of waiting abroad, only setting foot on U.S. soil once government officials approved their applications.”
Now, she said, "the Homeland Security Department wants to revisit those decisions on a 10-day clock, a notice period wholly insufficient to find a lawyer, translate documents or get records out of a country they were forced to flee.”
HIAS, a major refugee aid group, warned that refugees who have fled violence, persecution and displacement will be at risk of being deported to the countries where they could face harm, persecution and torture.
“They are trying to upend the core principle that refugee resettlement represents permanent protection,” said HIAS vice president Naomi Steinberg.
Church World Service (CWS) said refugees will have “no meaningful opportunity” to respond or appeal before their status is terminated.
“This is a policy designed to facilitate the uprooting and expulsion of members of our communities who fled persecution and were promised safety,” Danilo Zak, director of policy at CWS said.
Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The State Department referred questions to DHS.
The refugee program has been transformed
The Trump administration has drastically altered the refugee program and transformed it into a mechanism for resettling white South Africans in the country.
In September, the government announced plans to limit the total number of refugees admitted to the country in 2027 to 17,500, the majority of whom are white South Africans.
During his first administration, Trump slashed the number of refugees approved every year. The Biden administration built it back and set a goal of admitting 125,000 refugees during the final year of his term.
Upon returning to the White House for his second term, Trump immediately suspended the refugee program, stranding people around the world who had been slated to come to the U.S. Later the administration reopened the program and limited it mostly to white South Africans.
The difference between a refugee and an asylee
Refugees are individuals who applied for their status while outside the U.S., often while living in a refugee camp or a transit country. They undergo screening and processing abroad and are approved for and granted refugee status before arriving in the U.S. Once in the U.S. they can request the green card.
A refugee differs from an asylee, although both are individuals fleeing persecution in their home countries.
An asylum seeker submits a request upon arriving at the U.S. border or after already being within U.S. territory. The process can take several years. An asylee is someone who has already been granted asylum while residing in the United States.