Refugees
America has been in the frontline since 1980 for accommodating refugees from all over the world who run away from their countries due to persecution and violence. Ronald Reagan, who was the President of the United States in 1981, promised to keep fulfilling the culture of America as a nation that receives individuals from other countries who flee due to oppression and persecution from their countries of origin. According to reports released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2017, the number of forcibly displaced individuals keeps increasing rapidly; therefore, the most significant time for America to follow Reagan’s promise. During the reign of former US president, Barrack Obama, he set an objective of admitting 110,000 refugees in America in the year 2017 (Hesson,2019). However, the administration of Donald Trump has decided to close the countries’ doors for refugees and immigrants regardless of their increasing numbers. Trump attributes his judgment to the rising security threats facing America, claiming that Refugees pose as potential sources of harm to the country. (Kerwin,2018). Trump’s argument is ironic since the United States has been home for refugees since the late nineteenth century; therefore, triggering one to want to understand the reason for the sudden change of heart. Refugees usually contribute to the growth of the American economy; therefore, there is also a need to know why Trump is against refugees, whereas logically, he should be encouraging refugees to continue boosting the American economy. The imposition of policies to decrease the number of refugees entering the United States is making it difficult for refugees to live in America.
Dropping the number of refugees
Shortly after Trump assumed office, his administration announced its intention to implement immigration policies meant to limit the number of refugee admissions in the country. These policies revolve around several areas, such as dropping the number of refugees entering the country. America signed a treaty with the United Nations in 1951 that stated that “refugees should not be penalized for their illegal entry” because extreme situations sometimes “require refugees to breach immigration rules.” America has since honored this treaty since then, with Reagan vowing to keep observing this rule in 1980. However, in 2017 March, President Trump gave an executive order that barred refugees in the United States for 120 days, exempting only those who have booked to travel into the country (Amadeo,2020). Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to review the process of application to ensure chances for a terrorist to enter America are zero-rated. The goal of Trump was to reduce the number of refugees who came to America by half every year, perhaps until it gets to zero.
Judges from the federal courts, however, delayed approving these orders hence allowing the state department to increase the number of refugees who entered the country in 2017, which was approximately 70,000 from the previous year, which was 50,000 (Pierce & Meissner, 2017). The administration of Trump became lenient in October of 2017 and permitted refugees from all nations to enter the United except those from 11 countries. America denied the refugees from these countries access since Trump viewed them as potential sources of threats to the welfare and security of America. Therefore the country needed to assess the nations for ninety days. Some of these countries include Iran, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, and Sudan, which accounted for approximately 63% of American refugees (Pierce & Meissner, 2017). In 2018, the administration of Trump laid-off employees responsible for conducting clearance interviews in countries abroad and strengthened the procedures for screening refugees. America also started using a risk approach upon admitting refugees in the country, which included collecting biometric and biographic data from counterterrorism and intelligence databases to enhance the process of screening and background checks. Amadeo (2020). Claims that these strict processes reduced the number of refugees that entered America in 2018 to an estimation of around 22,491 people, which was the lowest number the country recorded ever since the introduction of the resettlement program BY Reagan in 1980. Muslims marks the highest decline since, in 2016, the state department recorded the number of Muslim refugees in America to be 38,900, while in 2017, the number decreased to 22,861 (Shear & Cooper, 2017). In 2018, the number reduced drastically to 3,495, meaning that Trump’s refugee policies have significantly affected refugees. Based on the trend, the numbers are likely to keep decreasing as long as Trump remains in office.
Travel ban.
On 27th January 2017, President Trump gave an order that prohibited seven Muslim countries from accessing the United States, including refugees from Syria. The federal courts blocked this directive, although the supreme court permitted it partially after Trump revised the previous order rejected by the federal courts. Trump did not stop there as ion September of the same year; he released another report of the travel ban that restricted another eight countries from entering the United States, allowing only business and education visas for some countries like Iran. Examples of countries affected by the travel ban include Libya, Chad, Venezuela, North Korea, and Yemen (Narea,2019). These declarations, however, provide allowances for special situations such as people who require urgent medical treatments and infants who need foster care. The provision of these allowances relied on how the countries followed the measures of security recommended by the US government.
In the meanwhile, the federal courts disagreed with Trump’s choice of countries to impose the travel ban. The judges argued that the travel ban was for Muslim countries, which is against the constitution. They viewed the travel ban as Trump’s discrimination based on religion. The Supreme Court accepted the administration of Trump to go through with the travel ban in December 2017 while the process of the legal process of the issue continued (Hesson,2019). The Supreme court, after that, released a ruling in 2018 June, which endorsed the lawfulness of the travel ban. Recently, Trump banned immigration applications of another six countries, which include Tanzania, Eritrea, Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, and Myanmar. America only allows people from these countries to visit the United States as tourists only. Observing Trump’s rules, it seems if he wins the upcoming elections, the number of refugees and immigrants will be zero at the end of his second term as president of the United States.
Decreasing the number of Asylum Seekers.
Asylum refers to the security offered by a state to a person who has left their country of origin due to political wars or violence. A person first seeks asylum in a country before becoming a refugee. The Nationality and immigration Act of 1965 states that any refugee or immigrant who arrives in America “whether or not at a designated port of arrival” is legible to seek asylum in the country. Once again, the administration of Trump attempted to decrease the number of people seeking asylum in the United States several times. The court, however, rejected turned down these efforts since it was a violation of the Act of 1965. The court’s adamant nature did not intimidate Trump as he put efforts to deport any person seen around the American border who fails to produce documentation papers. Trump also set aside specific ports for asylum seekers to use while entering the United States, which provides an opportunity for him to monitor the numbers of people seeking asylum in America (Kerwin,2018).
Further, Trump’s administration even tried to separate immigrant parents from their children, which did not last for long due to the complaints presented by the people. However, there are still rumors that these policies of separation still exists. These policies show the extent that Trump and his administration are willing to go to eliminate foreigners from entering America completely.
As if the above practices are not enough, Trump ordered the construction of a border wall separating the United States from Mexico and other Latin American countries. The purpose of building this wall is to prevent immigrants and refugees from South American countries from entering the United States. The administration of Trump is also responsible for creating a patrol situated at the border in Guatemala, which is under the National Guard of Mexico. Trump’s government also participated in negotiations concerning asylees from regional areas such as Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala and suggested they should seek asylum in other countries instead of America. Trump authorized that all pursuers of shelter to travel back to Mexico and wait for the decision of the court in that country without considering the dangerous situations exposed to them in camps such as kidnapping, rape, and torture.
Trump is likely to face a difficult time in his fight against refugees and immigration since the situations facing some Latin American States are deteriorating rapidly. Venezuela, for instance, is currently facing a crisis, and therefore the number of people in need of protection keeps increasing. The World Bank approximates that there is a possibility that changes attributed to climate could displace an estimated number of 1.4 million people by 2050 (Amadeo,2020). Extreme weather conditions, drought, and unpredictable patterns of rain damages crops, leading to inadequate production of food. According to the World Food Program, half of immigrants and refugees from Central America left their countries due to the lack of food. Results from university research revealed that people from the rural parts of Mexico left their country due to low rainfall, drought, and famine. In addition, the main reason for the rapid increase of asylum searchers is because of violence attributed to drugs in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. America serves as the primary market for illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. It is, therefore, likely for Trump to keep fighting against immigration and refugees from these countries since his main reason for the policies is to protect America against violence and security threats.
Effects of Reducing Refugees in America
Reducing the number of refugees that access the United States might affect the overall economy of the country since refugees play a significant role in any nation that hosts them. It might seem as if refugees are not crucial to a native country like the United States where they seek protection, but the truth Is that nations such as America benefit from refuges in several ways, like providing cheap labor force for the country hence encouraging production, cultivation and manufacturing activities. (Bahar,2018). According to research conducted by Maystadt and Verwimp (2014), refugees are a competition threat in terms of labor to agricultural employees working locally. Refugees are likely to offer cheap labor since they are mostly interested in means of survival, unlike local workers who are probably stable, perhaps working to improve their standards of living. Cheap labor motivates farm owners to increase their production levels since labor is readily available. An increase in agriculture production boosts the economy since the country is sure of having food while America could export the surplus produce to earn the country foreign exchange.
Refugees can also create an opportunity for employment to educated, skilled individuals not invested in the sector of agriculture. Refugees provide employment opportunities by offering chances in international and nonprofit making organizations running programs meant to help refugees. Reducing the number of refugees means that America will have to eliminate all organizations and projects focused on providing help for refugees (Maystadt & Verwimp, 2014). Closing these organizations means that people will lose their jobs, which will affect the economy negatively since it will reduce the amount of tax collected from these organizations and increase the rates of unemployment. Trump should, therefore, reconsider the implementation of these refugee policies since the United States is gaining from the refugees as well.
Refugees have the potential to trigger economic innovation and expansion, therefore, creating new dynamism into the economy. Refugees are likely to enhance the activities of trade in the market due to increased business between the refugees and the host country. Usually, refugees depend on relief food and help once they get into the host country (Maystadt & Verwimp, 2014. However, after some time, they find something to do either venture into a business to cater to their lives. This aspect of trading creates opportunities for the invention of new ideas and trade, which increases trading activities locally. America is likely to affect such creativity and business innovation, which is a negative impact on both the country and the refugees. The state loses the chance to grow while the refugee losses the opportunity to grow and make their lives better.
Who gains and who losses
President Trump’s refugee policies will affect both the country and the refugees negatively. It is easy for one to miss on the contribution that refugees bring into a nation, and perhaps this is what is prompting the administration of Trump to keep sending refugees away from America. However, the reality of the matter is that refugees benefit a nation in many ways, especially economically. They create employment opportunities and increase trading activities in the country. Refugees also provide affordable workforce needed in the production and manufacturing industries. Further, skilled refugees possibly trigger innovation and introduction of new ideas and businesses that perhaps they used to conduct from their original countries (Kerwin,2018). Therefore, the United States is likely to lose more than gain from sending refugees away.
The administration of Trump claims that the primary reason behind wanting to reduce refugees and immigrants in the US is security issues, which makes little sense since the country has been home for refugees for more than five decades. Besides, America is an influential nation meaning it has the resources to employ the needed measures to ensure the country remains safe from terrorism attacks. Sending refugees away is not the solution to the problem since most of them are harmless, and they seriously need help. Consequently, the refugee policies imposed by Trump and his administration affect refugees negatively since they do not know where to look for protection. Chances of surviving this phase of their lives are becoming more challenging since they are unable to enter America and find opportunities to make their lives better. However, perhaps they might find new countries with better opportunities than the United States and continue increasing their standards of living, which will be a significant loss for the US.
Different authors have addressed the possible effects of these policies imposed by Trump regarding limiting refugees from accessing the United States. Narea (2019) claims that the refugee policies of Trump reflect his broader attitude toward immigrants. She notes that the governance of Trump is claiming to lower refugee admissions to accommodate more people running away from their countries due to persecution and violence and request for American protection while in the country rather than refugees brought in by international organizations. The problem, according to Narea (2019), is that the same government is putting efforts to get rid of these same people it claims to want to protect by reducing refugees. She, therefore, concludes that Trump’s decision to get restrict refugees from accessing the Unites states is more of his perception about the matter, which is unfortunate since it will affect the entire country and destroy the lives of many refugees.
Amadeo (2020), on the other hand, claims that the refugee policies imposed by Trump need comprehensive amendments. He notes that the president’s concerns about improving security in the United States aim to fulfill the refugee and immigration policies imposed by the same government. Amadeo, however, does not take a position on whether these policies are ideal for the country or not. Instead, he suggests that these reforms are necessary. Americans need to be aware of the implications of these policies since they are significant to both local and international regions and could have unbearable effects on the economy of the United States. Therefore, Trump should perhaps consider opinions from other people regarding his refugee policies.
Kerwin (2018) notes that refugees benefit their new country of residents over time. He notes that in the past year, the US resettled the highest number of refugees compared to any other state across the world, therefore, contributing a considerable amount towards the operation of organizations catering to refugees such as the UNHCR. However, Kerwin shows concerns about Trump’s refugee policies that are putting efforts to reverse this norm. He goes ahead to note that even though refugees enter a country with nothing, they play a significant part in boosting the society and economy of America. Kerwin refers to studies conducted in New York by the Migration Centre, which compared the number of refugees who entered America between the years 1987 and 2016 with the overall population of Americans who are either citizens or born in the country. The study showed that refugee contributes to 68% of the labor force in the country, which increased their employment rates by 64% (Kerwin,2018). These percentages are lower than that of the average population, which was 63% labor force and 60% rates of employment. The personal income of refugees equaled that of American citizens and even surpassed the overall revenue of foreigners born in the US. Besides, refuges recorded the highest number of skilled workers compared to foreigners and citizens. It is, therefore, evident that refugees are an asset to a country rather than a liability since their contribution to the American economy is immense.
Refugees are having a difficult time seeking protection from the United States following new policies developed by President Trump. Such measures are worrying since America is famous for welcoming refugees across the world without any problems. Examples of these policies include: lowering the number of refugees entering the United States, travel ban, and decreasing the number of individuals seeking asylum in America. Refugees contribute to the economy of America, and therefore getting rid of them affects the economy of the country negatively. Refugees are a source of cheap labor; they help create employment opportunities in organizations formed to manage their situation and help to increase the trading activities in the local market. America is, therefore, likely to lose a lot from sending the refugees away. Narea, Amadeo, and Kerwin are among the several authors who have articles addressing these refugee policies invented by Trump and his administration. The three authors agree that these policies will possibly negatively impact the United States economy. Therefore since refugees are likely to improve the economy of the country that hosts them, America should consider making changes to the current refugee policies since they are an advantage to the country.