BURLINGTON-Following is a joint statement from the Vermont Afghan Alliance and the Central Vermont Refugee Action Network on the proposed action regarding refugees:
The latest proposed action from the presidential administration regarding refugees is a truly disheartening one. What the administration describes - a reopening and review by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of over 200,000 refugee cases dating from January 2021 to February of this year - would be devastating to a group in this country that has already been faced with mounting challenges this year.
Refugees, after leaving their homes due to any number of destabilizing factors, including war and persecution, receive a tremendous amount of vetting before entering the United States, providing little legitimate basis for a blanket review such as the one outlined by USCIS.
Moving forward with this action would not only be a highly impractical use of government resources, it would also send hundreds of thousands of people in this country into a place of uncertainty and fear, with extreme consequences for those who do not meet the government's new standards.
As organizations dedicated to serving the refugee population in Vermont, we are deeply opposed to this proposed action. We will continue to work alongside refugees, who have only made our communities stronger and more vibrant.
Vermont Afghan Alliance
Burlington
Drew Gustafson, immigration lawyer
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.
This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at voices@commonsnews.org.