Recent federal actions affect a wide swath of the immigrant and refugee community

By Marcia Sowles, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy

The following immigration changes along with increasingly harmful rhetoric from this administration affect many of our fellow Church of the Brethren members, neighbors, friends, and family members. These sweeping decisions create uncertainty, feelings of rejection and confusion, and an increased fear of detention and deportation in a period of waiting.

They affect people who have fled or are fleeing a dangerous homeland, poverty, and political instability; those who are seeking educational and employment opportunities; and those who have made their home in the United States for years and have been complying with all required legal immigration procedures.

The consequences are devastating to many, and we lament what we are witnessing, especially in this season of Advent.

These recent actions taken by the federal administration include
(1) terminating the Temporary Protection Status (“TPS”) for nationals from certain countries,
(2) halting the processing of all affirmation applications for asylum,
(3) re-examining approved benefit requests such as green cards and naturalization for individuals from 19 countries who entered the United States on or after Jan. 20, 2021,
(4) halting the processing of visas applications from individuals from Afghanistan,
(5) limiting the number of refugees who can be admitted in fiscal year 2026, and
(6) cutting time periods for work permits.

Termination of TPS

On Nov. 28, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice of its intent to terminate the TPS for Haitians effective Feb. 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg 54733 (2025) www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/28/2025-21379/termination-of-the-designation-of-haiti-for-temporary-protected-status.

There are between 300,000-350,000 Haitians in the United States with TPS status. TPS allows individuals whose home countries are considered unsafe the right to remain in the US and work here for a temporary, but extendable period of time. TPS is granted by an order issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security on a country-by-country basis. As part of the application process, individuals applying for TPS status under an order are then vetted by DHS. This vetting process includes national security and public safety checks, and applicants are ineligible if they have a felony conviction or two misdemeanors. In addition, those granted TPS are periodically reviewed for any security and public safety concerns.

TPS was initially granted to Haitians in January 2010 following the massive earthquake that hit the capital city of Port-au-Prince and surrounding area, and had been consistently renewed including most recently on the basis of serious gang violence in Haiti. In its termination order, DHS did not make any findings to indicate the gang activity did not continue to make conditions in Haiti unsafe. In fact, DHS acknowledged in its notice that the United Nations Secretary General reported in September 2025 that 1.3 million individuals (approximately 12 percent of Haiti’s population) have been forced to flee their homes and are internally displaced due escalating violence.

Instead, citing Executive Order 14150, which sets forth the administration’s “America First” policy, DHS sought to use the existence of gang violence in Haiti as a reason for terminating the TPS. Specifically, it alleged that some Haitians in the United States may be members of the violent gangs. To support this allegation, DHS cited a Haitian who had been convicted of various crimes and the recent arrests of Haitians who were allegedly members of the violent gangs. In its order, DHS did not cite any evidence that any of those individuals had in fact been granted TPS status. Nevertheless, based on these isolated examples, DHS sought to label all Haitians as a potential security risk and concluded that “while the current situation in Haiti is concerning, the United States must prioritize its national interests and permitting Haitian nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to United States interests.”

This finding is a shameful and erroneous attempt to label all Haitians as a potential security risk based on the acts of a few and disregards the humanitarian basis for the TPS program. It also represents a narrow view of national interests and fails to recognize the economic contributions made by immigrants from Haiti and other countries to the US economy.

The decision to terminate the TPS for Haitians is just the latest is a series of DHS orders terminating TPS. It issued orders terminating TPS for individuals from Afghanistan effective July 14, 2025; Burma on Jan. 24, 2026; Cameroon on Aug. 4, 2025; Ethiopia on Dec. 12, 2025; Honduras on Sept. 9, 2025; Nepal on Nov. 18, 2025; Nicaragua on Nov. 18, 2025; South Sudan on Jan. 25, 2026; Syria on Sept. 30, 2025; and Venezuela on April 4, 2025 and Sept. 10, 2025.

Hold to all affirmative asylum application decisions

The Trump administration has sought to use the tragic shooting by an Afghan asylee as basis for pursuing a campaign of collective punishment for all newcomers from Afghanistan as well as those from other countries. On Dec. 2, 2025, DHS issued a memorandum placing a hold on processing of all Forms I-589 (Applications for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal) regardless of the alien’s country of nationality. The memorandum is linked at www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/policy-memoranda.

Hold on pending benefit requests for individuals from 19 countries

The Dec. 2, 2025, memorandum also placed a hold on all “benefit requests” by individuals from the countries listed in Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10949, “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals To Protect the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/restricting-the-entry-of-foreign-nationals-to-protect-the-united-states-from-foreign-terrorists-and-other-national-security-and-public-safety-threats). This is pending a comprehensive review, regardless of entry date.

The term “benefit requests” as used in the memorandum includes applications for adjustments of status (green cards), petitions for naturalization (citizenship), and requests for employment authorization (work permits).

The countries included in the order are Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.

Re-review of all approved “benefit requests” for individuals who entered the United States on or after Jan. 20, 2021, from 19 countries

The Dec. 2, 2025, memorandum also ordered the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to “re-examine” all approved “benefit requests” to individuals from the same 19 countries who entered the US after Jan. 20, 2021.

Halt on all issuance of visas for Afghan nationals

The State Department has halted all processing of visas for Afghan nationals overseas. The visa halt includes Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for those who remain at risk on account of their direct support for the US mission in Afghanistan as well as other visa categories that were previously exempt from the ongoing June 4 travel ban.

Limitation on admission of refugees

Under the Refugee Act of 1980, the President is required, in consultation with Congress, to issue a Presidential Determination (PD) on the number of refugees who can be admitted. President Trump set the refugee limit at 7,500 for the 2026 fiscal year. This is a historic low. No president had ever set a limit below 60,000, and the limit set by President Biden last year was 125,000.

The PD also prioritizes Afrikaners, or white South Africans, ahead of and instead of other refugees—including tens of thousands who already had been conditionally approved for resettlement, and more than 12,000 who had flights booked to come to the US when the refugee ban went into place. While the PD notes it occurred after “appropriate consultations with Congress,” House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders (who are legally required to be consulted before a determination on refugee admissions is made) called the PD “illegal and invalid” because the administration has “brazenly ignored the statutory requirement to consult.”

Cutting time periods for work permits

On Dec. 4, 2025, USCIS updated its policy manual to cut the validity period for employment authorization documents (“EAD”) from 5 years to 18 month for refugees, asylees, those with withholding of removal, and pending asylum/adjustment of status applicants. It also reduced the validity period for individuals with TPS and parole to 1 year or the length of time remaining for their authorized stay. A link to this update of the policy manual is at www.uscis.gov/policy-manual.

How to help

Making a donation to the Legal and Mutual Aid Fund of the Deportation Defense Response will help support affected individuals and family members with legal assistance and direct needs. This is one incredible way to help sisters and brothers in Christ at this time.

Online donations are received at www.onearthpeace.org/legal_mutual_aid_fund_donations or write a check to Atlantic Southeast District with “DDR” in the memo line and mail it to: Atlantic Southeast District, 64954 Orchard Dr., Goshen, IN 46526.

To send checks larger than $10,000 and for any other questions contact Beth Sollenberger, Atlantic Southeast District interim director of administration, at atlanticsoutheastcob@gmail.com.

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