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Migrants or Refugees? The terminology matters

Chicago Immigration Law Office

It is a well-known fact across the nation that the United States has a problem at the Mexican border. The country has been flooded with refugees from Mexico and Central America who have made the trek completely across Mexico to arrive at the United States border in hopes of entry into one of the southwestern states. Many of these individuals are claiming asylum from tyrannical governments and unlivable conditions in their home countries wanting refuge in the U.S., and they ultimately are being shipped to strategic regions of the country such as Illinois. Traditionally these potential residents have been termed “migrants,” many of which enter the U.S. by applying with the USCIS.

Traditional handling

The U.S. has long had a migrant worker program allowing a certain number of foreign nationalists entry into the country for employment or family reasons. There is nothing unusual about this process in terms of immigration news. However, the flood of asylum seekers has become a primary news story.

Potential new policy

The problem these new arrivals are creating is one of executive order to handle the inflow as opposed to actually legislating changes that are traditionally made by Congress. The Trump Administration had established an immigration policy enforcing the rules that were already established, which was a policy that had been changed previously during the Obama Administration by executive order. The Biden Administration has not only reverted to the Obama-era policy but has essentially allowed all of these former migrants who are now “refugees” to be allowed entry regardless of background check approval by the USCIS.

This dilemma is essentially making immigration an unacceptable situation for many states, including how to terminate their status within the system. “Migrants” have traditionally been verified individuals who are sponsored into the U. S. by legal residents. The new situation is broadening the scope of refugee policy, but officially terming the new arrivals as migrants is not technically accurate.

Chicago Immigration Law Office
Francis Law Center - Immigration Law
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