Fearing Donald Trump, illegal immigrants dare not leave the US

Illegal immigrants who entered the US as children are being warned not to travel abroad after Mr Trump is sworn in.

According to AP, many consultants, lawyers and universities have expressed concern that, as soon as he takes office on January 20, Mr. Trump will change President Barack Obama's policy of allowing young immigrants to go abroad for humanitarian, educational or other work reasons. According to them, this could lead to these young people being banned from returning to the US after going abroad.

Two Mexican-American students discuss going abroad before Mr. Trump is sworn in on January 20. Photo: AP

Trump reassures illegal immigrants

“We recommend that any travel abroad be completed by January 20 in case there are rapid changes in laws and regulations,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles. “We don’t want to leave them exposed to uncertainty if they are not allowed to return to the United States.”

Previously, during his election campaign, Mr. Trump always considered illegal immigration a key issue and pledged to build a wall along the Mexican border to prevent immigrants from entering the US as well as push millions of illegal immigrants out of the US.

However, in a recent interview with Time magazine, Mr. Trump expressed sympathy for the more than 714,000 people under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program under US President Barack Obama.

“We’re going to find a way to make these people happy and proud. They were brought to the United States when they were very young and have studied and worked here. Many of them are good students and have good jobs. But they still feel insecure because they don’t know what’s going to happen,” Mr. Trump said.

There are still many doubts

But Trump’s reassuring statements have not eased the concerns of many immigrants. Nancy Lopez-Ramirez, a 20-year-old student who was born in Mexico and brought to the United States when she was 4 years old, is planning to leave the United States with her class and said she is happy that her group will return to the United States on January 15.

“My mother told me she was worried about whether I would be able to return. At first, I was hesitant, but I thought it was worth the trip,” said Nancy Lopez-Ramirez.

Not only immigrant students, many American universities such as New York University or the University of California have recommended that school administrators notify DACA students to return home before Mr. Trump's inauguration day.

“Mr. Trump can dismantle the DACA program as soon as he takes office with a “memorandum of understanding” like when Mr. Obama applied this program,” said Mr. William Stock, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Federation.

Mr. William Stock also warned that people in the DACA program should not consider traveling abroad for tourism or business, except in cases of extreme necessity.

US Customs and Border Protection spokesman Anthony Bucci said they “cannot provide a specific timeline” on when agency officers might deny entry to DACA recipients if Mr. Trump decides to rescind the program.

According to statistics from the US Immigration Service, as of December 31, 2015, more than 22,300 people under the DACA program had been approved for “amnesty” and had the right to leave the US. However, Mr. Trump said that the DACA program was an “illegal amnesty”.

Tatyana Kleyn, a staff member at New York University who is organizing an upcoming trip to Mexico, said more and more students are interested in the trip, especially after Mr. Trump was elected President of the United States.

“Each of our buses can only carry 18 people, but we will have to carry 20 people. It seems that for many students this is their last chance to get out of the US.”

According to VOV