SPRINGFIELD — A local refugee resettlement agency has entered into a class action lawsuit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to stop policy changes that it says would violate refugees’ constitutional rights to due process.
Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts is an organization that helps refugees, immigrants and new Americans with services, including case management, English language classes, enrollment in school and help finding employment.
In March, JFS joined in a class action suit to stop the Department of Homeland Security from implementing a policy change that would have required refugees in the country for one year who had not been granted a green card to report to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for detainment during a second round of vetting. A stay was issued temporarily blocking the Trump administration in that case.
On Oct. 14, JFS once again joined the International Institute of New England and other refugee resettlement organizations and four refugees in suing the Trump administration. This lawsuit, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans v. Edlow, is in response to a new interim final rule that would reduce the time refugees have to respond to notice to terminate their status from 30 days to 10 days. The suit also challenges an indefinite hold placed on the green card applications of more than 130,000 refugees who were admitted to the country under the Biden administration, including about 1,000 Jewish Family Service clients.
The lawsuit states, “The Adjustment of Status Hold, the Re-vetting Policy, and the Refugee Status Termination IFR violate the Administrative Procedure Act because they were issued without notice and comment procedures, are inconsistent with the statute and regulations governing refugee status, are arbitrary and capricious, and violate the Due Process Clause.”
Two weeks later, in response to the suit, U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick halted enforcement of the new rule until Nov. 6 to provide courts with time to consider whether to issue a longer injunction. The stay has since been extended to Dec. 4.
Once accepted into the country as a refugee, JFS Director of Special Projects Camille Wathne said that status does not expire. Wathne said a 10-day window is not long enough to respond to a notice that your status is being unexpectedly terminated. “You can imagine someone may not have gotten the notice, or they may have two to three days to gather the paperwork,” she said.
Wathne said there is an expectation that refugees transition to permanent legal status after a mandatory period of one year in the country. “We serve 1,000 clients who have applied for a green card. They’re just waiting,” Wathne said.
Wathne explained that green cards are required to be eligible for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program and other services. The Trump administration has also changed which health insurance plans are available to people without permanent legal status, so pausing the process has potentially serious real-world implications.
To address the fallout of the changes to refugee and green card policies, Jewish Family Services has had to pivot their services to fill the gap left by the green card hold, including hastily opening a food pantry.
After five years with a green card, immigrants are eligible to apply for citizenship. “There’s a great degree of honor and respect in that process,” Wathne said. While not all green card holders choose to become citizens, the choice is theirs once they receive their green card.
“Our government and administration is basically going back on their promise,” Wathne said, describing the cutting off the green card process as “a very rough stripping of a path to citizenship.”
