The Connecticut couple did not expect the news from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services after spending a year following all the rules and processes in applying for a green card.
The man from Haiti residing in Connecticut was told recently by the USCIS officer that he was eligible for permanent residency but that his application would be put on hold because of a new policy from the Trump administration to halt permanent residency applications for people from 19 countries, including Haiti.
“I was waiting to finally start a move and have a real life,” said the man, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of being scrutinized by federal authorities. “I am not here to be a problem. I am here to follow the rules and live my life as a human being.”
The new policy change is one of many implemented in the country restricting immigration since the shooting Nov. 26 of two National Guard members near the White House. The suspect is a legal Afghan immigrant. Other changes implemented include reexamining green cards for people from 19 countries; the suspension of all asylum application processes; reviewing the cases of an estimated 233,000 refugees admitted during the Biden administration; suspending the processing of green card applications for refugees; halting visas for Afghans who assisted the U.S. war effort; and terminating temporary protected status for Haitian nationals.
Immigration advocates and attorneys told the Courant that the sweeping changes are leaving immigrants in limbo. Immigration attorneys also contend that the reopening of refugee cases will cause an enormous backlog in the courts, also undermining immigrants’ pathway to becoming citizens. The changes are causing heightened stress, with many deciding not to pursue green cards out of fear they will be arrested by ICE, the advocates say. The halt of visas for Afghan nationals also presents new fears that U.S. allies, if forced to return to Afghanistan, will be killed, refugee advocates said.
Since 2018 there have been approximately 2,500 refugees settled in Connecticut, according to Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services. Further, there are approximately 10,000 to 15,000 asylees who currently reside in the state, according to the Center for Immigrant Rights. There are also an estimated 30,000 Haitians in Connecticut, according to the Haitian Community Center of Greater Norwich.
In limbo
Dana Bucin, an immigration attorney and partner with Harris Beach Murtha in Hartford, said there are many seeking asylum with compelling stories.
“It is a shame to keep them in limbo like this,” she said, explaining that in this status they could be detained by ICE.
“Many people have ended up in detention,” she said. “We want cases to be adjudicated and we want people who are eligible for asylum to keep receiving it.”
Bucin said she is “seeing an attempt to delay and stop altogether legal immigration.”
She also cited concerns about the decision to review all refugee cases, explaining that she has a high respect for USCIS officers who have enforced the laws. For the administration to come back and review the cases is a slap in the face to those officers, she said.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the vetting and review of people for asylum or other status should be person-by-person based on “individual history and background and not a blanket ban or block on whole groups of people based on their national origin.”
He also shared misgivings about halting visas for Afghan nationals.
“I am very sympathetic to the Afghan allies who have served as interpreters, translators and CIA operatives and others because they put their lives on the line to protect and serve our troops and diplomats and they have targets on their back,” he said. “If they are sent back to Afghanistan they and their families will be tortured or murdered simply because they served our country against the Taliban. I have advocated when they have been unlawfully detained or challenged in terms of their status here.
Blumenthal has advocated for the release of Zia, who served as a translator for the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan and was granted a chief of mission special immigration visa in 2024. He was detained at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts in July and was released in October.
Jessica Bradley Rushing, of AfghanEvac, Massachusetts Congressman Bill Keating and Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal speak at a press briefing in Plymouth, Mass., after they toured the facility where a Connecticut man was then being held by ICE. (Livi Stanford/Hartford Courant)
Daad Serweri, associate director of sponsorship at IRIS, who served as a translator for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said “it is disheartening and disappointing to see that an individual act is now actually used to define the entire community and entire people, which I don’t think is a fair thing because many many Afghans who are living in the United States had genuinely supported the U.S. mission for many years in Afghanistan and now they call this country home.
“The entire Afghan community is strongly condemning this heinous act that took away the life of our two heroes in Washington D.C.,” he said. “That should not be used to justify unfair treatment of the entire community.”
Blumenthal also cited concerns about potentially rough estimates of hundreds of U.S. citizens who have been detained by ICE.
“They have been detained not just a couple of hours but literally days without access to phones to call their lawyers,” he said. “Americans should well understand the apprehension of immigrants even when they are here legally having applied for asylum because here is what is happening to American citizens.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy also expressed his frustrations about Trump’s new policies, calling them a slap in the face to the rule of law, while stating that his heart breaks for the members of the National Guard injured and killed in the violent attack last week.
“These courageous young Americans joined the Guard because they believed American values are worth protecting,” he said in an email. “It is shameful that Donald Trump is now turning this tragedy into a political opportunity to escalate his campaign against immigrants who escaped persecution, did everything they were supposed to do, and are contributing to our communities every single day.”
The rule of law
Michael Doyle, managing director of legal services for IRIS, has been working in immigration law for two decades and has never seen anything similar to Trump’s new policies.
“There is ideological McCarthyism creeping into the process,” he said, citing two interviews with Trump featured in the New York Times where the president stated he wanted to “deport those who are non compatible with western civilization and revoke and remove naturalized citizens who undermine domestic tranquility.”
“The rule of law always meant something and to see an administration do what they want,” he said. “It is sad to see the death of the rule of law and the process of the law.”
Fear of the future
Erin O’Neil, an immigration attorney with Norte Immigration Law, in East Hartford, said the policy changes by the Trump administration have increased fear in the immigration community.
“There has been an increase of fear of being detained and deported,” she said. “That is prevalent with a lot of my clients. Even if they are eligible for their green card they don’t want to start the process. They are afraid to travel out of the United States even if they have their green card.”
O’Neill said she has had many clients that have been detained, a few have been deported and a few have chosen to depart on their own so they could get out of detention.
“Our clients who are currently detained generally do not have criminal convictions,” she said. “While some may have pending charges, there are no convictions in these cases. The distinction is important because it highlights that many individuals are being detained despite not having a criminal history, which underscores the broader implications of current enforcement practices.”
Flor, who asked to just use her first name, received asylum in 2024 from Guatemala after leaving an abusive relationship in her home country.
Now, the single mother of an 8-year-old said she fears moving forward with her green card application, afraid of being arrested by ICE. She doesn’t feel safe or protected, she said, describing how she thought when her asylum was approved that she would finally feel safe. She no longer feels comfortable in her country, she contended.
Maggie Mitchell Salem, executive director of IRIS said that “there is not an immigrant in the country who feels secure right now.
“We are a nation of immigrants and we are turning on our own super power,” she said.
