"Anxiety and Fear": Trump Militarizes Border, Ramps Up Deportation Flights, Halts Refugee Admissions

[Uncle Joe]

A dramatic standoff between the U.S. and Colombia unfolded Sunday with Colombian President Gustavo Petro turning back two U.S. military planes that were carrying deported migrants in shackles, saying immigrants should be treated with dignity. The two countries then traded tariff threats before announcing a deal in which Colombia would begin accepting flights of deported migrants. Meanwhile, Trump has sent 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, further militarizing the region. "We're very, very concerned," says immigration activist Fernando García of the El Paso, Texas-based Border Network for Human Rights, whose organization is among those providing resources like Know Your Rights training to immigrants now living under a regime of "anxiety and fear."

We also look at the impact of President Trump's halting of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program with Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, a faith-based nonprofit that helps place and resource refugees upon their arrival in the U.S. as part of the program. Some 100,000 refugees were settled in the United States last year under the highly selective program, which has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades. Now thousands of people already approved to come to the United States are stranded in unstable situations, with uncertain legal status in the U.S., or unable to leave dangerous conditions of war or persecution in their home countries. Vignarajah says the Refugee Admissions Program "reflects the spirit of American generosity," and highlights the plight of approved Afghan refugees who now risk retribution from the Taliban as evidence of the importance of refugee resettlement to U.S. foreign policy.

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