The Great Denial: America No Longer a Nation of Immigrants, According to Trump

Did you get the memo? America is no longer a nation of immigrants. As the Trump administration took control of the country, the nationalist administration has left no stone unturned in efforts to whitewash the nation - including efforts to wipe the acknowledgment of our rich history as a "nation of immigrants," from the very mission of the USCIS.
One of the most common questions we're asked when people learn about our battle with immigration, "How is immigration different under Trump?" The answer is always the same. "What isn't different about immigration under Trump?"  We often continue, "The only thing rational is that everything is irrational in the administration's inhumane stance on immigration." Their history-altering dismissal of the nation's truth is but one of many examples. Senator John F. Kennedy acknowledged the role immigrants played in our nation's history. In Restoring the Rule of Law Through a Fair, Humane, and Workable Immigration System(1), Immigration law and policy expert Tom Jawets wrote, "In 1963, then-Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-MA) delivered a speech to the Anti-Defamation League titled “A Nation of Immigrants,” in which he declared: “It is a proud privilege to be a citizen of the great republic … to realize we are the descendants of 40 million people who left other countries, other familiar scenes, to come here to the United States to build a new life, to make a new opportunity for themselves and their children.”


Fifty-seven years later, the Trump administration's efforts to reverse the course of history by changing the very mission of USCIS, intentionally removing the recognition of immigrants, is but one of many signals the tides have changed on immigration. Replaced with nationalist language with an undertone intended to spark fear to perpetuate a false narrative about security, this administration's stance on immigration couldn't be more about discrimination.

How has this impacted our case? During the Obama Administration, we successfully filed for and received two consecutive Stay of Removals, an administrative tool that allowed us the necessary time to file the various available documents to ultimately remedy the situation. We then filed for the green card on the basis of our marriage and began the long and complex process to correct the outstanding order for deportation discovered as part of the process. But, just as our last stay was about to expire, the Trump administration's chokehold on all things immigration was underway. Rather than to simply renew the current Stay and allow us to continue to seek legal remedies, the new administration sent an official letter informing us that not only would our request for the extension of our Stay be denied, but that we must respond with a travel itinerary outlining our plan to leave the country. And so our battle with immigration intensified. 

Since receipt of the letter denying our Stay, we've faced one delay, denial, or dismissal after the other. We've faced obstruction, coercion, and corruption. The administration's zero-tolerance stance and constant shifts of policies continue to make it impossible for us and our lawyers to keep pace. At its roots motivated by the xenophobic GOP, America is being stripped of its long legacy as a "nation of immigrants."  The current administration's inhumane stance on immigration policy continues to force innocent immigrants from the country and into harm's way. With an asylum hearing April 8, 2020, we may be the next to go - the collateral damage of Trump administration's nationalist policy on immigration. 

(1) Restoring the Rule of Law Through a Fair, Humane, and .... https://www.immigrationresearch.org/node/2834

(2) Video - YouTube - Anti-Defamation League - April 18, 2013, John F. Kennedy ADL Address, 'We Are A Nation of Immigrants'

(3) America No Longer a "Nation of Immigrants," USCIS says. - https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/22/588097749/america-no-longer-a-nation-of-immigrants-uscis-says