Refugees and undocumented immigrants both leave their home countries to seek a better life. Often, both groups flee oppression and violence but once they arrive in Arizona their experiences can be very different.
Arizona has a large population of both refugees and undocumented immigrants. According to the latest report from the Arizona Department of Economic Security, Arizona has accepted over 80,000 refugees since 1980. As of 2014, there were 325,000 undocumented immigrants in Arizona, according to a Pew Research study.
When refugees arrive in Arizona, they receive help from the government, from local organizations and volunteer groups, including Refugee Focus, and the International Refugee Commission, which has a large office in Phoenix. They also go through a rigorous vetting process. Undocumented immigrants often have a much different experience.
Steve Kilar, the Communications Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, says he believes that the word “refugee” does provide the public with a greater sense that the person has been vetted and has gone through turmoil in their home country, even though they sometimes face criticism as well.
“These people are fleeing violence, war, unimaginable terrors that we can’t understand and for us to say we won’t accept them because of some imaginary threat that they supposedly present, that’s wrong and unfair. We know that the refugee system screens people well, sometimes people wait for years to get into the US so for that kind of rhetoric to start bubbling up about refugees is really, really problematic,” he said.
Sandra Sheridan Reguerin is a partner at Fragomen Worldwide, a law firm that specializes in immigration law. Reguerin helps Fortune 100 companies acquire H1-B visas for their employees, but she also does pro-bono legal aid for special immigration cases.
Arizona has a large population of both refugees and undocumented immigrants. According to the latest report from the Arizona Department of Economic Security, Arizona has accepted over 80,000 refugees since 1980. As of 2014, there were 325,000 undocumented immigrants in Arizona, according to a Pew Research study.
When refugees arrive in Arizona, they receive help from the government, from local organizations and volunteer groups, including Refugee Focus, and the International Refugee Commission, which has a large office in Phoenix. They also go through a rigorous vetting process. Undocumented immigrants often have a much different experience.
Steve Kilar, the Communications Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, says he believes that the word “refugee” does provide the public with a greater sense that the person has been vetted and has gone through turmoil in their home country, even though they sometimes face criticism as well.
“These people are fleeing violence, war, unimaginable terrors that we can’t understand and for us to say we won’t accept them because of some imaginary threat that they supposedly present, that’s wrong and unfair. We know that the refugee system screens people well, sometimes people wait for years to get into the US so for that kind of rhetoric to start bubbling up about refugees is really, really problematic,” he said.
Sandra Sheridan Reguerin is a partner at Fragomen Worldwide, a law firm that specializes in immigration law. Reguerin helps Fortune 100 companies acquire H1-B visas for their employees, but she also does pro-bono legal aid for special immigration cases.
People can't be illegal. They can be out of authorized status but there is no such thing in my mind of a person being ‘illegal’,” said Reguerin.
While working on a refugee case for an Iraqi citizen, Reguerin found that there are certain requirements that must be met to qualify for refugee status, and that can vary even by the country of citizenship of the applicant.
She described the process of filing the application with a description of the dire circumstances the applicant faces, and what their visa options are. It’s then up to a specific branch of the Department of Homeland Security to decide whether or not the person qualifies. Reguerin was told that only about 25% of those cases ever get approved.
Refugee status comes from international law and treaties, through the United Nations Human Relations Commission according to Reguerin. There are three domestic agencies that coordinate to vet and settle refugees in the U.S., the D.H.S, the State Department, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement according the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
The State Department handles the application process and international coordination including transportation, the DHS handles the vetting process to make sure applicants meet all of the requirements to come to the U.S. as a refugee, and the ORR offers services and resources to help refugees get settled once they arrive.
Reguerin has also worked on several cases helping unaccompanied, undocumented children who arrived in Arizona from Central American countries to apply for a state dependency, which essentially makes them a dependent of the state.
But these kids don’t automatically get visas. There is a waiting period because the demand outnumbers the visas that are available, especially in the face of increased arrivals from countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. There is also an issue with the designation of certain types of visas, according to Reguerin, where there aren’t specific visas available for certain groups, so they have to be put in with a different classification.
For example, these unaccompanied children from Central America are put into a pool of applications for an employment-based visa, which is another example of the broken immigration system, according to Reguerin.
“It’s such a politically charged issue, that’s why you can’t get anything comprehensive done. You’ll get little fixes around the edges and they want to help somebody but nobody is willing to create a new carve out, so now they put them into an existing category so they are sharing a limited number of visas,“ she said.
Kilar does believe that there is anti-immigrant sentiment in Arizona, partly because it is a border state, but he says that racism plays a part as well, because people make assumptions about the legal status of others based on their appearance.
She described the process of filing the application with a description of the dire circumstances the applicant faces, and what their visa options are. It’s then up to a specific branch of the Department of Homeland Security to decide whether or not the person qualifies. Reguerin was told that only about 25% of those cases ever get approved.
Refugee status comes from international law and treaties, through the United Nations Human Relations Commission according to Reguerin. There are three domestic agencies that coordinate to vet and settle refugees in the U.S., the D.H.S, the State Department, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement according the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
The State Department handles the application process and international coordination including transportation, the DHS handles the vetting process to make sure applicants meet all of the requirements to come to the U.S. as a refugee, and the ORR offers services and resources to help refugees get settled once they arrive.
Reguerin has also worked on several cases helping unaccompanied, undocumented children who arrived in Arizona from Central American countries to apply for a state dependency, which essentially makes them a dependent of the state.
But these kids don’t automatically get visas. There is a waiting period because the demand outnumbers the visas that are available, especially in the face of increased arrivals from countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. There is also an issue with the designation of certain types of visas, according to Reguerin, where there aren’t specific visas available for certain groups, so they have to be put in with a different classification.
For example, these unaccompanied children from Central America are put into a pool of applications for an employment-based visa, which is another example of the broken immigration system, according to Reguerin.
“It’s such a politically charged issue, that’s why you can’t get anything comprehensive done. You’ll get little fixes around the edges and they want to help somebody but nobody is willing to create a new carve out, so now they put them into an existing category so they are sharing a limited number of visas,“ she said.
Kilar does believe that there is anti-immigrant sentiment in Arizona, partly because it is a border state, but he says that racism plays a part as well, because people make assumptions about the legal status of others based on their appearance.
Unfortunately what we’ve seen in Arizona, contempt for undocumented people, doesn't just stop with undocumented people. It extends to people who speak with an accent or their skin color is a little bit darker,” he said.
Kilar also says that the anti-immigrant sentiment comes through in certain pieces of legislation, the controversial SB-1070 law for example, as a way for politicians to score points with people who dislike immigrants. He hopes for a respite from similar laws after the legal defeat of certain parts of SB-1070.
“After the significant legal fight that confronted the passage of SB 1070, many legislators in the state of Arizona stopped showing an interest in trying to pass more immigration laws. They discovered that is not a winning formula for them,” he said.
Reguerin has lived in Phoenix for fifteen years, and says the reason for the disparity in assistance is that refugees are coming according to a treaty, and there are systems and a support network in place to help them adjust and be successful. She believes there could be better support networks in place for undocumented immigrants, especially children.
“They have had traumatic experiences. It’s not a joke; it’s not a fraud. These kids really have suffered a lot. They have psychological needs, they make not speak English, they have difficulty in school because they are the odd kid out, there are so many issues they are dealing with,” she said.
One of the support programs that is currently in place is DACA, short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA provides temporary relief from deportation to people who are not legal residents of the U.S.A., but were brought here as children, according to the USCIS website.
DACA recipients must be between ages 15-30, must be enrolled as students or have a degree, and must not have a criminal record. DACA is renewable every two years, and allows recipients to work and legally apply for driver’s licenses and social security numbers.
One of the concerns that has been raised after the recent election is whether DACA will be continued under the next administration, as it was implemented by executive action, not by law.
Reguerin explains:
“We aren’t talking about something that was created through either a statute passed by a statute through congress or even by administrative regulation which would require some legal process to change or amend, it was actually an administrative action,” She said. “The president just basically signed something and said, “This is what we’re going to do.’’
Also, because DACA applicants had to supply personal information about themselves in order to apply for the program, some people are worried that this information could be used to help find and deport people who are in the U.S.A without documentation if DACA is eliminated.
Reguerin says she was concerned about that when DACA was initially being implemented, and hopes that other lawyers working with DACA applicants warned them appropriately.
“This is all that this is. You are giving your information. If you don’t find some other path to stay here in the interim, you could be subject to removal and yes, they will have information on where you are and how to find you,” she said.
During a campaign speech in Arizona on August 31, 2016, President-Elect Trump detailed his immigration plan, stating he would “cancel unconstitutional executive orders and enforce all immigration laws.” During the same speech, Trump also called President Obama’s executive actions illegal.
Kilar believes it is very unlikely that any administration would use information obtained for a government program against people in that way, but says there would very likely be legal challenges if they did.
There has been significant interest in supporting the ACLU since the election, according to Kilar, in part because of the unconstitutionality of some of the plans President Elect Trump has outlined, including mandating a religious test to enter the country.
“Moreso than many other politician, Donald Trump presented plans that were blatantly unconstitutional and will not survive if they are challenged in court so I think people feel heartened that there is an organization out there that will challenge them,” he said.
Even though there are uncertain futures ahead for both refugees and immigrants when they arrive in Arizona, people still find a way to come here, either through legal channels as a refugee or illegally without documentation, because they believe it’s worth the risk.
Kilar says that’s because even though certain people may not qualify for refugee status, they are willing to do almost anything to escape the bleak or even dangerous situations they would face if they stayed in their home country.
“Unfortunately a lot of immigrants that are coming to this country are refugees and don’t receive that designation from the government, so the terminology does become confusing because there are a lot of immigrants who are seeking refuge but may not actually be refugees,” said Kilar.
“After the significant legal fight that confronted the passage of SB 1070, many legislators in the state of Arizona stopped showing an interest in trying to pass more immigration laws. They discovered that is not a winning formula for them,” he said.
Reguerin has lived in Phoenix for fifteen years, and says the reason for the disparity in assistance is that refugees are coming according to a treaty, and there are systems and a support network in place to help them adjust and be successful. She believes there could be better support networks in place for undocumented immigrants, especially children.
“They have had traumatic experiences. It’s not a joke; it’s not a fraud. These kids really have suffered a lot. They have psychological needs, they make not speak English, they have difficulty in school because they are the odd kid out, there are so many issues they are dealing with,” she said.
One of the support programs that is currently in place is DACA, short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA provides temporary relief from deportation to people who are not legal residents of the U.S.A., but were brought here as children, according to the USCIS website.
DACA recipients must be between ages 15-30, must be enrolled as students or have a degree, and must not have a criminal record. DACA is renewable every two years, and allows recipients to work and legally apply for driver’s licenses and social security numbers.
One of the concerns that has been raised after the recent election is whether DACA will be continued under the next administration, as it was implemented by executive action, not by law.
Reguerin explains:
“We aren’t talking about something that was created through either a statute passed by a statute through congress or even by administrative regulation which would require some legal process to change or amend, it was actually an administrative action,” She said. “The president just basically signed something and said, “This is what we’re going to do.’’
Also, because DACA applicants had to supply personal information about themselves in order to apply for the program, some people are worried that this information could be used to help find and deport people who are in the U.S.A without documentation if DACA is eliminated.
Reguerin says she was concerned about that when DACA was initially being implemented, and hopes that other lawyers working with DACA applicants warned them appropriately.
“This is all that this is. You are giving your information. If you don’t find some other path to stay here in the interim, you could be subject to removal and yes, they will have information on where you are and how to find you,” she said.
During a campaign speech in Arizona on August 31, 2016, President-Elect Trump detailed his immigration plan, stating he would “cancel unconstitutional executive orders and enforce all immigration laws.” During the same speech, Trump also called President Obama’s executive actions illegal.
Kilar believes it is very unlikely that any administration would use information obtained for a government program against people in that way, but says there would very likely be legal challenges if they did.
There has been significant interest in supporting the ACLU since the election, according to Kilar, in part because of the unconstitutionality of some of the plans President Elect Trump has outlined, including mandating a religious test to enter the country.
“Moreso than many other politician, Donald Trump presented plans that were blatantly unconstitutional and will not survive if they are challenged in court so I think people feel heartened that there is an organization out there that will challenge them,” he said.
Even though there are uncertain futures ahead for both refugees and immigrants when they arrive in Arizona, people still find a way to come here, either through legal channels as a refugee or illegally without documentation, because they believe it’s worth the risk.
Kilar says that’s because even though certain people may not qualify for refugee status, they are willing to do almost anything to escape the bleak or even dangerous situations they would face if they stayed in their home country.
“Unfortunately a lot of immigrants that are coming to this country are refugees and don’t receive that designation from the government, so the terminology does become confusing because there are a lot of immigrants who are seeking refuge but may not actually be refugees,” said Kilar.