This past Friday, like many other Americans, I was disappointed when President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the entire United States refugee resettlement program for at least the next 120 days and indefinitely suspending the resettlement process for admitting Syrian refugees to this country.
As an immigration lawyer and former consultant to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, I was dismayed that our country was shutting its doors to the most vulnerable. I have seen firsthand the horrors these refugees face and the lifeline that this program provides. Shutting down the resettlement program means that many individuals will be sent back to face certain harm and, very often, death.
When I worked in Zambia, I assisted in resettling many refugees who had seen unspeakable violence, including four Congolese children who were orphaned when their parents were murdered for their political beliefs, a Somali woman who was gang-raped by insurgents, and an Afghan family who fled the Taliban in search of safety for their four daughters.
But fortunately for the many refugees flying to the U.S. on Saturday, there was a small army of volunteer lawyers and law professors set up in makeshift offices at airports around the country fighting for them. They dug into their trenches and were ready to help. Together they worked as a community and were able to file lawsuits in Boston, New York, Virginia and San Francisco, convincing federal judges to halt the deportation of refugees en route to the U.S. with valid visas.
Yet, for those refugees still abroad who were approved to come to the United States, their future is much more uncertain.
In my immigration law class, I teach students that resettlement is one of the lasting solutions for those fleeing violence. In addition to providing individuals safety and the opportunity to rebuild lives, refugee resettlement is the embodiment of the most important canon of the UN Refugee Treaty – a nation has a duty to not expel or return (“refoul”) a refugee to the “frontiers of territories” where he or she would face persecution.
Due to proximity, inevitably certain nations – often resource-poor countries – are the first frontiers refugees cross in search of safety. Often, they do not have the capacity to absorb mass influxes internally for the long term and need the assistance of other countries. By slamming the door in the faces of many around the world who most need our help, President Trump is also slamming the door on the United States’ ability to fulfill our legal and moral obligations and continue to enjoy the high esteem and friendship of other nation states whose goodwill we have long treasured.
By turning away refugees, President Trump is sending dangerous signals to oppressors and rogue nations that they are free to act with impunity because powerful nations are unwilling to protect their victims. This act provides them with propaganda, possibly undermining any strategic military device to protect our troops.
Refugees in search of protection are the collective responsibility of the international community, and efforts by the U.S. president to renounce our duties are not only wrong, they are politically dangerous for the world.
(Erin Corcoran is a professor of law at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. Her research is on immigration law with focus on protecting non-citizens through systemic changes to the immigration system, including providing government-funded non-attorney legal representation, professionalizing the immigration prosecutors’ office and requiring best practices for adjudicating claims of unaccompanied minors seeking immigration relief. She serves on the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission. The view and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not imply endorsement by UNH.)