Immigration Attorney Calls Trump Immigration Policy 'Short Sighted'

The Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, initiated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has exacerbated the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border to what some have called a humanitarian crisis.

Despite President Donald Trump issuing an executive order to halt the separation of children from their families at the border, thousands of children are still caught in the system with no discernible route to being reunited with their families.

Lynn Calder, immigration attorney with the Raleigh law firm Allen & Pinnix, says that this is the worst immigration crisis she has ever seen, yet no one should be surprised.

“It’s so short-sighted,” said Calder. “If you look back on what the president ran on, if you look at his campaign promises, he’s following the list.”

Yet, the problem does not stop at the border. With the increased presence of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, fear of arrest or deportation among immigrant communities has reached a fever pitch.

“There’s so little discretion being used,” Calder said. “It’s anybody and everybody, rather than ‘let’s look for the most serious problems in the country, the things that really cause a security issue.’”

Calder told the story of one of her former clients, an African immigrant here illegally who was permitted to stay by ICE because he had not committed any previous crimes, had lived here for over 20 years and had four children, all of whom were U.S. citizens.

His authorization to continue living in the U.S. was denied, and he was sent back to Africa with his children, two of whom have autism.

“Under this administration, the prioritization of removal is such that anybody can be removed at any time rather than going after those with criminal records or constinent abuse of the immigration system,” says Calder.

Many asylum seekers who were previously granted protective statuses are seeing similar situations, as the administration’s opinion on what they consider a credible fear evolves.

Now, many of those asylum seekers and their children, formerly protected by DACA, are being sent back to countries that they left decades ago to escape gang or domestic violence.

“You can’t expect people to want to return to a country they haven’t been to, with children who have never been there, where gangs run the show and there’s not a problem with that,” says Calder.

Multiple immigration bills introduced by Republicans in the United States House of Representatives were recently voted down in the House with some Republicans joining Democrats in opposing the bills.

Attorney: ‘Short Sighted’ Immigration Policy Causing Problems at the Border and at Home

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