How Would A Donald Trump Presidency Affect Karen and Burmese Refugees Resettlement To The U.S?

Karen Times | November 14, 2016

(Washington, D.C)  In one of the most upset wins in modern American political history, Donald Trump pulled off a stunning victory over his challenger Hillary Clinton on November 8 election that sent shock wave across the political world. For most of the election campaign seasons up to the day before the election, repeated opinion polls had shown him trailing Clinton in most surveys conducted. But Trump stunned the American political establishment by beating Clinton in what many political experts and analysts considered beyond extraordinary.

But now that Mr. Trump is the president-elect, how much the U.S Karen community know about his policy and what he intends to do once he takes over from the Obama administration on January 20? And how would his presidency affect future resettlement of Karen and Burmese refugees in the U.S?

Donald Trump campaign was based on three core policies he intended to implement as a president. Economically, he has promised to bring back jobs and make it difficult for U.S companies to shift operations overseas. He would raise tariff and tax on imported goods from foreign countries and would try to negotiate better trade deals with American trading partners.

On security and defense, he said he would rebuild the U.S military and make it the strongest armed force in the world. To do this, he would heavily increase spending on defense and pay raise for the uniformed soldiers. At the same time, he would try to avoid getting the U.S military involved in overseas adventure and instead build up American defense to protect its domestic security and interests.

On immigration issue, he has promised to restrict immigration to the U.S on many fronts. He said he would deport all the 11 million undocumented or illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. He would also build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent illegal crossing. He would restrict immigration from countries prone to terrorist activities. He would also cut or stop all refugee resettlement to the U.S so that “the country can take care of American citizens first.”

Many in the Karen community in the U.S are worried about their future and how Donald Trump administration would affect them. In fact Karen community is not the only group that has major concern about their wellbeing and future. Other minority groups in the U.S also have similar concern due to his strong rhetoric and racist comments about immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants.

But would the Karen refugee community in the U.S be affected by Trump policy? Should the Karen refugees worry about being deported? The answer is that if you are here in the U.S legally through refugee program or other means, there is no need to be worried about your future or whether you will be deported. Trump immigration policy targets only illegal immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S without legal documents or visas. This means that anyone who are and work in the U.S illegally would be subjected to deportation. But for anyone, Karen or other groups, who are here legally as refugees or other category of immigrants, they need not worry about their future.

However, despite the fact that Trump immigration policy would not target or affect refugees who are already here legally, it is important to note that anyone who have committed crime, major or minor, could be easily subjected to deportation under Trump administration. Mr. Trump made it clear from the beginning after winning the election that he would focus on deporting criminal undocumented immigrants as his first priority before dealing with other immigration issues. This means that Karen refugees who have committed crimes in the U.S could be subjected to easy deportation.

Would the current U.S refugee resettlement program for Karen and Burmese refugees continue once Mr. Trump assume power on Jan. 20? At this stage it is unclear what Trump would do with the current Karen and Burmese refugee resettlement program, whether he would discontinue or reduce it. But his wider refugee policy is that he would cut or if necessary, temporary stop all refugee resettlement to the U.S because he thinks that refugee resettlement program is too burdensome and expensive. According to report by Vox news website, Trump and his supporters believe that refugee resettlement program has taken a financial toll on the state and federal governments because two third of refugees in the U.S are on food stamp. With this in mind, it is possible that Trump would reduce or discontinue Karen and Burmese refugee resettlement program once he assumes power.

Other issues to be concerned is visitor and spousal visas to the U.S would get more difficult to obtain. In his campaign, Trump has mentioned that his government would tighten vetting process for immigrants and refugees coming to the country as part of security measures. He would also make it difficult for would be immigrants to receive permanent resident or green cards. This means that getting visitor visas to the U.S will get tougher and the process to sponsor and bring your spouses will also be more difficult and take longer.