Growing nervousness for refugees from Asia as they face the threat of deportation

Thanks to the Donald Trump administration and its conservative propaganda arms, (Fox News, Elon Musk's social media giant X and The New York Post are among the most prominent) there is a lot of confusion these days about immigrants, refugees and the undocumented immigrants.

During Immigration Heritage Month, June 20 has been designated as  World Refugee Day as the world's people flee  all sorts of unsafe conditions caused by war, famine and political, religious or racial persecution.

As of June 28, 2025, no official Presidential Proclamation for World Refugee Day has been issued by the White House. However, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations introduced a resolution on June 20, 2025, which was also referenced by the Refugee Council USA in their statement.

The resolution introduced by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on June 20, 2025, reaffirms the United States' commitment to supporting the safety, health, and well-being of refugees and asylum seekers and advocates for fair and humane policies to address forced migration and refugee challenges. It highlights the importance of the United States Refugee Admissions Program and asylum systems.

The resolution emphasizes several key points, including the urgency of establishing and following comprehensive, fair, and humane policies for forced migration and refugee challenges. It also reaffirms the bipartisan commitment to promoting the safety and well-being of refugees and asylum seekers, providing assistance to host countries, and including refugees and displaced populations in policy solutions. 

WORLD REFUGEE DAY

The resolution stresses the need to respond to the global refugee crisis by meeting robust admissions goals and addressing barriers faced by refugees with disabilities. It concludes by reaffirming the goals of World Refugee Day and the United States' commitment to protecting refugees and asylum seekers.

World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20 and honors the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.

Although most of the radical rightwing media have focused their attention in negative portraits of refugees, particularly those from Mexico, Central and South America, many refugees from Asia have come to the United States, particularly since the 1970s following events like the end of the Vietnam War. The US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) formalized the process for accepting and resettling refugees, and it has admitted over three million refugees since its creation in 1980.

Key Points:

• Significant Numbers: Asia has been a major source of refugees resettled in the United States, with Southeast Asians making up the largest historical group due to the aftermath of the Vietnam War.
• Top Origin Countries: From 2010 to 2020, Myanmar, Iraq, and Bhutan were among the top countries for refugees arriving in the U.S. In more recent years (as of 2024), Afghanistan has also been a significant country of origin for refugees, with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela also being prominent.
• Government Policy: U.S. policies, like the Refugee Act of 1980, have established procedures for refugee processing. However, policies like the "travel ban" under the Trump administration temporarily impacted the entry of refugees from some Muslim-majority Asian countries.
• Resettlement Challenges: Many Southeast Asian refugees were resettled in areas with limited resources and faced challenges related to poverty, violence, and deportation, particularly those with past minor convictions. Advocates continue to work towards policies that support family reunification and address the unique challenges faced by refugees.

Many refugees from Asia have resettled in the United States, with the largest influx stemming from Southeast Asia following the Vietnam War.

The end of the Vietnam War in the 1970s led to a large-scale displacement of people, many of whom had supported the US war effort. The US responded by resettling over 130,000 Southeast Asian refugees through the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975, with a total of 1.3 million resettled over three decades.

The US has a history of resettling refugees from various Asian countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and more recently, Afghanistan. Currently, a significant number of asylum seekers also originate from Asia, particularly from Afghanistan and mainland China. 

In the recent past, the US also granted asylum to those fleeing the dictatorial regime of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

SOUTHEAST ASIANS

More recently, countries like Myanmar, Iraq, and Bhutan have also been significant sources of refugees resettled in the US.

Refugees from Southeast Asia, particularly those from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, have faced significant challenges in the US, including the threat and reality of deportation. The US has been deporting those who have had run-ins with the law., no matter how minor the infraction might be.

Over 2,000 Southeast Asian Americans have already been deported to countries soe have never lived in. Approximately 15,000 are currently living with final removal orders. Deportation rates, particularly for Cambodians and Vietnamese, have seen significant increases in recent years.

There have been instances where individuals who have served time in jail or prison for a crime are met at the prison door by federal agents to begin the deportation process.

Advocacy groups view these deportations as a form of "double punishment" for individuals who have already served their sentences for past offenses and have established lives in the US.

AFGHAN REFUGEES

In the wake of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the US has been involved in evacuating and resettling Afghan refugees, including those with Special Immigrant Visas. Most of the latter included those Afghans who sided with the US or employed by the US government or mlitary, including translators and office staff.

More than 11,000 Afghan refugees are currently in the US legally fulling under.  Temporary Protected Status (TPS) but under Trump's orders, will soon end for thousands of legal immigrants who fled their home countries, including several from Asia.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is terminating TPS for Afghanistan, with the termination effective on July 14, 2025. This action leaves many Afghan refugees vulnerable to deportation, as they will no longer be shielded from deportation or eligible for work permits.

Rahmat Mokhtar, who served as a military interpreter for US Marines in Afghanistan for 4 years came to America on a specal immigration visa in 2016, now works as an advocate for Afghan refugees settling in the US. He. warns that deportations could amount to a death sentence for many.

Mokhtar disputes Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's claims that conditions in Afghanistan have improved.

"If you're a Christian, or if you're from LGBT community, no one knows what will happen to them," Mokhtartold the CBS. "They just disappear in [many] cases."

Shawn VanDiver is a veteran and founder of Afghan Evac, a volunteer organization working with the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, or CARE, said these refugees helped the US during wartime.

"Prosecutors and lawyers who put the Taliban away, female tactical platoon members who gathered intelligence for us. They partner with forces who trained, fought and bled alongside our Navy Seals and Green Berets," VanDiver told the CBS affiliate in San Diego.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge. Now on BlueSky.

Nepalese asylum seekers get temporary reprireve from deportation

The immigration status of Nepalese refugees has been given an extension by the courts and allowed to temporarily remain in the U.S.

The court decided last March 12 to allow Nepalese Keshave Bhattarai and his fellow plaintiffs to keep his Temporary Protected Status, which was due to end June 24, 2019. 

"I feel like I’ve been sick and this agreement is a few drops of medicine. If approved by the court, it means the government can't end TPS for Nepal and Honduras until the appeals court decides whether the Trump Administration’s previous TPS terminations violated the law. said Bhattarai, whose name is affixed to the case - Bhattarai v. Nielsen - challenging the Trump administration's immigration polices. Kristen Nielsen is the director of Homeland Security.

"It gives us all some breathing room to call on Congress to give us what we really need: permanent protection for TPS holders," he said.

Bhattarai's case hinges on whatever the court rules on Ramos v. Nielsen, another TPS case

Under the agreement, TPS for Nepal and Honduras — slated to end on June 24, 2019 and January 5, 2020, respectively — would remain in place at least until the appeal in Ramos v. Nielsen, another TPS case, is decided. 

The district court in Ramos previously found substantial evidence that the terminations of TPS for Sudan, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Haiti were motivated by the Trump Administration's racism against non-white, non-European immigrants, and also that the terminations violated the Administrative Procedure Act. 

Plaintiffs in Bhattara raised similar challenges to the termination of TPS for Honduras and Nepal. The Ramos decision is currently on appeal to the Ninth Circuit. A hearing is expected sometime this summer, with a decision to follow.

A devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake had leveled their home in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2015. After living in a tent amidst the rubble of what used to be his home, Bhattaria was able to get tourist visas to the U.S. for his family. His son was already in the U.S. studying medicine.

In June of 2015, the Obama administration announced that Nepalis were eligible for Temporary Protected Status, a special legal protection that allows people from certain countries grappling with the aftermath of a natural disaster or other catastrophic event to live in the US. Bhattarai and his wife promptly applied, becoming two of about 15,000 Nepalis to obtain the legal status.

With Nepal still reeling from the twin natural disasters, Bhattali and seven other plaintiffs are seeking to remain in the U.S. until it is safe to return to thier homes in Nepal.

According to eyewitness accounts, Nepal has not recovered from the earthquake and a flood that occurred in 2017. A report last year from Adhikaar, a New York-based Nepali advocacy group, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network concluded that “conditions in Nepal remain dangerous and unstable with no possibility of the country being able to safely absorb TPS holders.”

"We are pleased the government agreed to this interim measure, but we know that justice for TPS holders and their families must ultimately come through Congress, which should pass legislation providing lawful permanent residence to these people, who have contributed so much to our society," said Ahilan Arulanantham, Senior Counsel at the ACLU of Southern California.

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Nepalese lawsuit claims racism behind Homeland Security's policy vs. TPS program

Immigrants from Nepal and Honduras and Nepal have filed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration unfairly ended a program that allows them to live and work in the United States.

The lawsuit filed late Sunday (Feb. 10) in federal court in San Francisco alleges that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's decision to end so-called temporary protected status, or TPS, for the countries was motivated by racism.

"I am proud to be a part of this lawsuit, for all the other Nepali TPS holders like me," said Keshav Raj Bhattarai, one of the six plaintiffs. "With TPS I have been able to build a new life here with my family and I have a found a stable job. When I see so many people's lives at risk in losing TPS, I am troubled to see that this country would harm its hardworking workers and people. I wish to continue working to support this country, and also continue supporting the rebuilding of Nepal, which is still recovering from the earthquake."

The class-action suit — which was filed on behalf of six immigrants and two of their American-born children — seeks to stop the unlawful termination of TPS for over 100,000 TPS holders from Honduras and Nepal and prevent the separation of tens of thousands of U.S. citizen children from their TPS-holder parents. 

"We bring evidence the Trump administration has repeatedly denigrated non-white non-European immigrants and reviewed TPS designations with a goal of removing such non-white non-European immigrants from the United States," said Minju Cho, a staff attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Los Angeles.

Besides the AAAJ-LA, the immigrant plaintiffs, who live California, Minnesota, Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut, are represented by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California of Southern California, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Sidley Austin.

The complaint alleges that, in terminating TPS for Honduras and Nepal, political appointees in the Department of Homeland Security deliberately ignored recommendations from U.S. Ambassadors and evidence of conditions on the ground. Instead, they predetermined that TPS must be terminated to further the President's "America First" policy, which seeks to exclude non-white, non-European immigrants. The complaint recites a litany of racist statements made by Donald Trump in reference to Latin American and South Asian countries and immigrants.

"TPS holders are valued members of our communities. They are parents to tens and thousands of U.S. citizen children. TPS is vital to people's ability to work and provide for themselves and their families," said Cho.

Read the complaint here.

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