Caribbean immigration advocates on Monday, Dec. 1, strongly condemned what they described as the Trump administration’s “escalating attacks” on lawful immigration pathways for Caribbean and other immigrants.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, noted that the administration has ordered the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to “pause all asylum decisions, impacting every case approved under the Biden administration.”
Murad Awawdeh, NYIC’s president and CEO, told Caribbean Life that the move includes cases filed by Afghans resettled through the “Operation Allies Welcome” program.
“Officers have also been instructed not to approve, deny, or close asylum applications currently pending with the agency,” he said.
Additionally, Awawdeh noted that the Trump administration recently announced it was reviewing all green cards issued to nationals from 19 countries deemed of concern, including Afghanistan, Haiti, and Venezuela.
“These moves, justified as a response to the shooting of two National Guard members, are part of the Trump administration’s continuous efforts to strip people of legal status and restrict established immigration pathways to meet the goals of their deportation agenda,” he said.
“The Trump administration’s latest announcements are part of an ongoing campaign to attack immigrants’ legal status and dismantle lawful pathways to safety,” he added. “These cruel actions reflect a strategy to put increasing numbers of people on a direct path toward deportation, no matter the cost to our families, communities, or economy.
“Many of those affected have already undergone extensive vetting, often taking years, and arrived in the United States seeking safety, stability, and the opportunity to rebuild their lives,” Awawdeh continued.
“Stripping away these legal protections uproots individuals who have worked to establish homes and careers, creating fear and uncertainty for families, while destabilizing entire communities.”
He said these policies also weaken the protections guaranteed under US immigration law and “put families in jeopardy, unjustly shattering their hopes for safety and dignity.
“We call on the Trump administration to reverse these policy decisions immediately,” Awawdeh said.
In the wake of the recent shooting of two National Guard service members in Washington by an Afghan national, USCIS issued new guidance allowing for “negative, country-specific factors to be considered when vetting aliens from 19 high-risk countries.”
USCIS said on Nov. 27 that this guidance comes after the Trump administration halted refugee resettlement from Afghanistan and the entry of Afghan nationals in its first year of office.
“My primary responsibility is to ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” said USCIS Director Joseph Edlow in a statement. “This includes an assessment of where they are coming from and why.”
“Effective immediately, I am issuing new policy guidance that authorizes USCIS officers to consider country-specific factors as significant negative factors when reviewing immigration requests,” he added. “American lives come first.”
Edlow said that the updated guidance, including consideration of country-specific factors, such as a country’s ability to issue secure identity documents, “will further strengthen USCIS’ implementation of President Trump’s Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10949, Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.
“It will allow USCIS officers to more meaningfully assess whether an alien is a threat to public safety and national security,” he added.
In a White House Proclamation, on Jun. 4, 2025, Trump said he was “restricting the entry of foreign nationals to protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats.”
At the time, Trump said he had “determined to fully restrict and limit the entry” of nationals from 12 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Burma, Iran and Libya, and primarily from African countries — Chad, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The US President also said he had “determined to partially restrict and limit the entry of nationals” from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
At the same time, the administration has been unrelenting in deporting undocumented, and often documented, Caribbean and other immigrants.
On Sunday, NYIC, elected officials, member organizations, allies and immigrant New Yorkers rallied and held a press conference at a federally-owned parking garage in lower Manhattan.
The day before, several immigrants were arrested amid a protest outside the entrance of the parking garage, where dozens of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents appeared to be gathering for an immigration raid nearby.
Awawdeh said the protest led to scuffles with the New York Police Department (NYPD) officers.
He said that while police officers are barred from colluding with ICE in New York City due to sanctuary protections, “they continue to provide ‘crowd management’ assistance to federal agents, which led to increased tensions with protesters.
“Hundreds of New Yorkers gathered today to stop ICE from attacking our neighbors,” Awawdeh said. “Instead of protecting the residents of our city, the NYPD violently confronted and arrested protesters. New York is a sanctuary city, and the NYPD has no business collaborating with ICE.
“The violence that occurred today could have been avoided had ICE agents not escalated tensions,” he added. “But instead of holding federal agents accountable for their aggressive tactics, the NYPD instead helped facilitate ICE’s campaign of terror. ICE must stop wreaking havoc across New York — separating families and harming our communities.
“The NYPD must immediately release the New Yorkers who they arrested, and stop all collaboration with ICE,” Awawdeh continued. “Our police force should be using its resources to improve public safety for all New Yorkers.”
Natalia Aristizabal, deputy director of the immigration group Make the Road New York, said that “the NYPD’s response, to escalate tensions, violence, and make arrests, all to clear the way for ICE, runs counter to the spirit of the laws and culture of our city.
“The NYPD must release all New Yorkers arrested and stop facilitating ICE’s actions,” she added. “New Yorkers will not back down in defense of our neighbors, our communities, and our rights, on Canal Street (in lower Manhattan), in Corona (Queens), or on any block in our city.”
Last month, New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York immigration advocates welcomed a US federal judge’s dismissal of a Trump administration lawsuit challenging New York’s Protect Our Courts Act.
“Everyone deserves to seek justice without fear. This ruling ensures that anyone can use New York’s state courts without being targeted by federal authorities,” James told Caribbean Life.
“My office will continue fighting to defend the dignity and rights of immigrant communities throughout New York,” she added.
Judge Mae Avila D’Agostino in the Northern District of New York dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against New York State over limits on federal immigration enforcement at state and local courts.
In 2020, New York State enacted the Protect Our Courts Act and two executive orders that prohibited federal immigration agents from making arrests at courthouses without having a judicial warrant. The lawsuit challenging this was filed by US Attorney General Pam Bondi.
In 2020, Attorney General James won a ruling that stopped the Trump administration from making immigration arrests in and around New York courthouses. Later that year, New York State solidified those protections when it approved the Protect Our Courts Act. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) unsuccessfully challenged the law in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York.
Awawdeh said this ruling does not affect immigration arrests at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan or other federal courthouses.
“Every New Yorker deserves to participate in our justice system without fear that, just by showing up to court, they will be abducted and separated from their families,” he told Caribbean Life.
“When ICE agents arrests people who show up for their court cases, it disincentivizes people from following the legal processes set forth in our country,” he added. “Courthouses must be a place of justice, not a trap used to terrorize and disappear immigrant New Yorkers.
“Judge D’Agostino’s ruling is an important step towards maintaining the integrity of local and state courts in New York,” Awawdeh continued. “New York must further its commitment to the safety of all New Yorkers by passing the New York For All Act, and the federal government must stop its unlawful detentions of New Yorkers at federal immigration courts throughout the state.”
