Trump wants to end immigration rule reuniting families

WHILE NERVES are still raw from a failed terrorist act, Donald Trump is using the actions of the man who tried to set off a bomb in a New York subway as the reason for curtailing a crucial immigration policy that reunited families.

"It is shameful to use moments of tragedy to scapegoat all immigrants and push for unrelated policies that would drastically harm immigrant communities while doing nothing for improving national security," said a statement from Asian Americans Advancing Justice. "We condemn the attack and extend sympathies to the people injured yesterday."

Akayed Ullah, who tried to set off a home-made bomb in the subway, relocated to the U.S. from Bangladesh in 2011. The bomb went off but did far less damage than he expected. The most injured three nearby commuters but severely injured Ullah. 

The federal government Monday charged Ullah with trying to use a bomb to commit a terrorist act.

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Trump  wants to revise the country's chain migration policy, popular with Asian immigrants because it allows immigrants to sponsor other close relatives' entry into the U.S.

"Today's terror suspect entered our country through extended-family chain migration, which is incompatible with national security," he said in a White House statement on Monday (Dec. 11).

Two-thirds of Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders are immigrants, and 92 percent of Asian/Americans are immigrants or the children of immigrants. The majority of Asian immigrants entered the U.S. through the family-based immigration system, and many Asian immigrants that come on employment-based (so called “merit-based”) visas are invested in their jobs and communities because they are able to use the family-based system to reunite with their family members.

"The administration’s attempt to use the attack is a blatant attempt to undermine immigrant families and communities. The more than 43 million immigrants living in the U.S., including their families, enrich our economy and society," stated AAAJ. 

"We call on Congress to reject the administration’s scapegoating of immigrant families and to swiftly pass the clean DREAM Act.”

Akayed Ullah, who tried to set off a home-made bomb in the subway, relocated to the US from Bangladesh in 2011. The bomb went off but did far less damage than he expected. The most severely injured was Ullah himself and he injured three others. The federal government charged Ullah with trying to us a bomb to commit a terrorist act.

According to authorities, 27-year old Ullah entered the U.S. on an F43 visa issued on the basis he has a family connection to an American citizen. He is a legal permanent resident, a step towards full citizenship.

Law enforcement officials have not announced a motive for Ullah's act but the investigation continues.

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New York subway bomber suspect charged with terrorist act

FEDERAL OFFICIALS have charged the man who attempted to bomb New York subway commuters for his alleged act of terrorism.

Akayed Ullah, 27, of Brooklyn, New York, and a permanent resident from Bangladesh, has been charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in connection with Ullah’s attempted detonation of a bomb in a subway terminal near the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City on Dec. 11. At least three people were injured as a result of what appears to be a botched detonation.

Akayed Ullah

"The Department of Justice is relentless in taking on the terrorist threat," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "In my time back at the Department, nothing has impressed me more.

"Since 9/11, the Department has convicted more than 500 criminals of terrorism-related offenses, and the FBI has open terrorism investigations in every state."  

“Yesterday, in the heart of rush hour, as thousands came into New York City through the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Akayed Ullah allegedly came with a hate-filled heart and an evil purpose: to murder as many innocent people as he could and blow himself up in the process, all in support of the vicious terrorist cause of ISIS,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim.

The suspected terrorist, who came to this country in 2011, was apparently radicalized by internet sites espousing radicalism, say law enforcement officials.

Ullah's homemade pipe bomb, which was attached to his clothing with Velcro and twist ties, malfunctioned seriously injuring Ullah and slightly three nearby commuters.

Ullah lived with his father, mother and brother in a Brooklyn neighborhood with a large Bangladeshi community. His wife still lives in Bangladesh.

“Although yesterday he allegedly stood in the tunnels under Port Authority plotting to kill, today he stands charged with federal crimes of terrorism.  Those alleged terrorists who target New York City do so because they feel threatened by the strength of our spirit, the height of our ambition and the breadth of our freedom.  They come seeking to sow hate, fear and terror.  But in New York City, they find instead strength, resilience and hope.  Like many before him, Akayed Ullah will also find another great American virtue: justice.  That justice will be tough, it will be fair and it will be swift.”

“The act of terror committed in New York City yesterday accomplished nothing,” said NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill.  “It has not changed our way of life. It was a cowardly act, fueled by a false sense of purpose — motivated by propaganda in the shadows of the internet.  What is clear is the resolve of New Yorkers to live in a free society, devoid of fear."