SPOKANE, Wash. — Local immigrants and refugees are worried about not being able to reunite with their loved ones currently abroad after President Trump’s new travel plan went into effect on Monday.
The Trump Administration says the ban, imposed on 12 countries including Sudan and Afghanistan, is a national security measure.
“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,” Trump said.
Zia Danesh, who is from Afghanistan and works with World Relief Spokane, an organization that supports local immigrants and refugees, said he was sad to hear about the new policy.
“Afghan citizens, they are not in safe places in their country, unfortunately,” Danesh said.
Danesh helped the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and came to the United States in 2023 with his wife and children, but his immediate family remains in Afghanistan.
“Especially after this decision, they may never be able to come and meet us,” he said.
The travel ban comes alongside the Trump administration’s suspension of the Refugee Resettlement Program, creating additional barriers for people seeking safety in the United States.
While the White House says the travel ban will help keep America safe, local organizations working with immigrant and refugee communities argue that narrative falls short of addressing the humanitarian impact on families already separated by conflict and dangerous conditions.
Mark Finney with Thrive International, a Spokane organization that serves refugee and immigrant communities from several countries listed in the travel ban, criticized the administration’s approach.
“We’re really doing ourselves, as a country, a disservice by categorically excluding these other groups without working to be careful and making sure that we have a nuanced and effective approach to security,” Finney said.
Hassan Abdalla, a refugee from Sudan who is receiving assistance from World Relief Spokane, has family members stuck abroad who are affected by both the travel ban and the suspension of the resettlement program.
“They are suffering, of course. There is lack of food,” Abdalla said of his family members still in Sudan.
Both Danesh and Abdalla want the Trump administration to consider the human cost of the policy.
“We just ask him to consider this situation as a human,” Danesh said.
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