Experts warn of impending crisis for immigrants amid Trump's citizenship restrictions

The Trump administration has announced the closure of processing offices established in Latin America by the Biden administration to provide legal immigration pathways for migrants.

According to internal documents obtained by CBS News, the offices, located in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala, were designed to facilitate legal immigration applications for programs such as refugee resettlement, family-based visas, work visas, and humanitarian parole, Caliber.Az reports citing foreign media.

The internal State Department documents describe the closure of these "Safe Mobility Initiative" offices as part of a broader strategy to reassess US migration processes in light of national interests. The decision also aligns with President Trump's executive order that suspended the US. Refugee Admissions Program, a critical avenue for individuals fleeing conflict and persecution.

Initially announced in May 2023, the Safe Mobility Offices aimed to deter illegal border crossings by providing migrants with legitimate options to enter the US legally. The Biden administration had argued that these initiatives, coupled with restrictions on asylum, would discourage dangerous treks to the US southern border.

In related news, a lawsuit has been filed against President Trump regarding his executive order limiting birthright citizenship, which poses significant implications for asylum-seekers. The order, titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," seeks to restrict birthright citizenship to children born to at least one US citizen or permanent resident parent. Critics warn that this could render some children born to asylum-seekers stateless, especially for those from countries without diplomatic representation in the US, such as Venezuela.

The case highlights the plight of pregnant asylum-seekers, including a plaintiff named Monica, who fears persecution if she is forced to return to Venezuela. Currently awaiting her asylum case, Monica expressed concern about the potential ramifications of the executive order on her unborn child’s citizenship status.

Legal experts have pointed out that children born in the US to asylum-seekers may face unique challenges, including the inability to secure citizenship from their home countries due to the lack of diplomatic offices.

“We will most likely have a crisis of thousands of stateless children born in the US, not only from Venezuela, but from any immigrant that gives birth and their country does not have an embassy in the US,” said Juan De la Vega, an immigration attorney in Miami.

While the executive order is temporarily blocked by a federal court in Seattle, the ongoing litigation raises questions about the long-term implications for asylum-seekers and their children. Legal experts suggest that there may still be pathways to citizenship for these children, although the situation remains complex.

“The executive order states the parents’ legal status cannot be ‘unlawful or temporary.’ If you’re applying for asylum, you are here lawfully and your process is not temporary; you intend to stay here permanently,” said Helena Tetzeli, an attorney with the American Immigration Lawyers Association.