Trump’s reckless new decree just threw 200,000 Biden-era refugees into chaos. The one thing they are now being forced to prove is an ethical betrayal of due process

President Trump’s administration just ordered a massive and concerning review, decreeing that immigration officers must re-interview every single refugee admitted during the four years of the Biden administration, as per The Hill. This sweeping directive immediately throws the lives of roughly 200,000 people, who have already fled danger and persecution, into complete chaos.

An internal memo instructs officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to conduct a “comprehensive review” of this massive group. The goal is to verify that these individuals met the statutory definition of a refugee under the Immigration and Nationality Act “at the time of their admission.” Officers are also required to reassess any potential inadmissibility issues that might have existed when they were first admitted.

This isn’t just a bureaucratic hurdle; the stakes are incredibly high. Should an officer choose to revoke a refugee’s status, that decision would also automatically unwind the status of any children associated with that individual. Furthermore, this move places an immediate freeze on pending applications for green cards.

Thousands of families are left in total limbo as this review plays out

The administration suggests the sheer volume of refugees admitted under the Biden administration could create “vulnerabilities.” However, this justification feels completely contradictory to the facts. Refugees are already among the most thoroughly vetted immigrants who come to the U.S. They go through multiple, rigorous screening rounds that often take years to complete before they ever step foot on American soil. To suggest that these folks need to be re-vetted is frankly alarming.

Refugee advocacy groups are absolutely furious about the order, pointing out the moral implications of this move. Myal Greene, the president of World Relief, issued a strong statement calling the initiative “nothing less than a calculated effort to strip lawful status from thoroughly-vetted, law-abiding people.” Greene argued that the directive represents a “moral and ethical betrayal of due process.”

Shawn Van Diver, the president of AfghanEvac, specifically highlighted the devastating impact this will have on those who were airlifted out of Afghanistan by U.S. forces during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal. He noted that these families survived war and persecution, only to now “find themselves forced back into instability by their own government.” He called the entire situation “unprecedented and cruel.”

Van Diver strongly criticized USCIS, stating that the agency is “positioning itself to revoke refugee status by implying without evidence that thousands of Afghans fabricated the persecution they survived.” He correctly pointed out that this implication is not just wrong; it’s “defamatory and reckless.”

This massive review comes while President Trump has already set the annual refugee cap to a historic low. The U.S. will now admit just 7,500 refugees, which is a drastic reduction from the 125,000 cap that was in place under the previous administration.

In addition to setting this exceptionally low number, the president also controversially stated that white South Africans should be prioritized for those extremely limited slots. Human rights advocates also questioned legality and ethics of Trump’s earlier plan to use refugee assistance funds for deportations.