MISSOULA — A flurry of executive orders and other changes to the country’s immigration policy are concerning organizations in Missoula that work with refugees and other immigrants.
As of Wednesday, the Trump administration had made 127 changes to immigration policy since his inauguration less than a month ago, according to the Immigration Policy Tracking Project.
“It is an absolute dizzying experience trying to keep track of all this,” Ashley Connell Melwani, managing attorney for the International Rescue Committee’s Missoula office, said during a recent briefing. “As one of our colleagues referred to it in a global staff meeting this morning, what we’re really seeing is a complete assault on humanity.”
Last Thursday, leaders from the IRC and Soft Landing Missoula discussed the changes and answered questions during a virtual meeting that was attended by about 200 people, the Montana Free Press reports.
Connell Melwani said immigration status is not as clear as legal or illegal and pathways to residency can take many years. Refugees and asylum seekers are both defined by their need to have fled persecution in their home country, but refugees seek protected status from outside the U.S., while asylum is sought at a port of entry or within the U.S., she said.
The statuses provide a pathway to permanent residency via a green card application followed by an opportunity for naturalization, Connell Melwani said.
Humanitarian parole and temporary protected status offer provisional relief and don’t provide a pathway to long-term protection or citizenship, Connell Melwani said.
Many folks from Afghanistan are in Missoula on humanitarian parole, which allows them to pursue a different protection, like asylum, or wait until it’s safe to go back, Connell Melwani said. Most here will likely apply for asylum, she said.
One executive order that most affects the Missoula community suspends refugee resettlement until further entry “aligns with the interests of the United States.” The order halted flights for several families scheduled to move to Missoula and be reunited with family members, Connell Melwani said.
While the order requires the secretary of Homeland Security to assess the refugee admissions program within 90 days, the IRC is concerned the suspension will extend beyond that, Connell Melwani said.
Eamon Fahey, deputy director of IRC Missoula, said refugee resettlement is a large portion of the IRC’s work and the organization is trying to understand the impact of the order.
“It’s been a really difficult few weeks as our work has literally been under siege,” Fahey said.
Since refugee reception and placement were halted, the IRC is no longer receiving federal money for those programs, Fahey said. Although funding for other programs, such as casework and employment support, is available, he said, those programs are also under threat.
The organizations also work with people affected by changes to temporary protection status and humanitarian parole who are more vulnerable to deportation, Connell Melwani said.
Temporary protected status applies to those from a designated country experiencing political conflict or disaster who are already in the United States.
The Secretary of Homeland Security designates which countries fall under temporary protected status. On Feb. 1, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem vacated an extension of temporary protected status for Venezuelans and ended humanitarian parole for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Those are now heard on a case-by-case basis.
“These are programs that were announced during the Biden administration and that provided a lawful pathway for people to come here safely if they had the resources to support themselves once they got here,” Connell Melwani said. “It helped avoid people making the very dangerous journey through South and Central America to the border. So these programs are being terminated. We’re going to have a ton of people here just in a very vulnerable situation.”
The Trump administration also expanded expedited removal, which allows the government to deport noncitizens without going before an immigration judge.
“There are very little to no checks on this system or oversight,” Connell Melwani said. “And so we know a lot of people can be detained and deported unlawfully or without any ability to meaningfully seek asylum or other forms of relief here.”
Responding to an audience question, Soft Landing Missoula Executive Director Mary Poole said it’s hard to answer if there are ICE agents in Missoula. While other Montana communities have seen ICE and people have been deported, Poole had not heard of reports of the agency in Missoula, she said.
Connell Melwani said ICE enforcement actions happened in Montana before the new administration came in and seemed to have increased. Those actions have been for individuals picked up on a criminal charge or had prior removal orders, she said.
As immigration status varies widely, the organizations want to be specific about what the risks are to different people with different statuses, Connell Melwani said. IRC staff are meeting with clients to discuss their particular situations, she said.
“Immigration is very complex,” Connell Melwani said. “We have people in all different stages of the process, and we have a lot of families with mixed statuses. We have many parents of U.S.-born children who can potentially be torn apart if some of these policies go forward.”
IRC and other organizations are encouraging people to carry documentation that shows their immigration status, Connell Melwani said.
“We know that even refugees and asylees and in fact, even U.S. citizens have been swept up in ICE enforcement actions in the past,” she said. “So it is very important for people to be aware of what their rights are and to be able to assert them.”
Following the executive orders in January, Fort Peck and Fort Belknap tribal officials urged members to carry tribal IDs as some community members feared getting deported, Lee newspapers reported.
Connell Melwani said there is no one-size-fits-all advice and IRC recommends people speak with legal representation to understand their rights and how to protect themselves.
Poole, with Soft Landing Missoula, said many people are visiting the organization’s office to try to understand how the changes affect them. The removal of humanitarian protections is “really scary for folks,” including those who came to Missoula through those programs, she said.
The changes are taking a “psychological and emotional toll” on Missoula families, even those with more durable refugee status, Poole said.
“They are still trying to piece together what’s going on for them and also piecing together what’s going on for their families abroad that were on their way here and now are not,” she said.
Soft Landing is partnering with the IRC and other immigration attorneys to provide “know your rights” training to organizations, volunteers and individuals, Poole said. The nonprofit is sharing information with other refugee organizations statewide and watching certain bills in the state Legislature, she said.
Poole said that even though there are challenges, there is still joy in the community.
“Life is happening,” she said. “Many things are happening. People are getting their driver’s license, people are getting their citizenship. We’re all working together still.”
