Dauphin County Commissioner calls on Trump administration to end deportations to Bhutan
Dauphin County Board Chairman Justin Douglas says the Trump administration Wednesday should end the deportation of Bhutanese residents.
Since President Donald Trump took office, Dauphin County officials say as many as 18 Bhutanese residents who legally immigrated to the U.S. as refugees may have been deported back to the country where many fled ethnic cleansing. Alyson Wert, a spokesperson for Douglas, said three lived in the county.
'We owe it to these individuals and to the promise we've made as a nation committed to protecting the vulnerable,' Douglas said at a Dauphin County Commission meeting on Wednesday. 'We have a moral and legal obligation not to return refugees to a country that once ethnically cleansed them. … Some may say this is political, but for me it's about people. It's about my constituents. '
As of April 1, at least four of the deportees appear to have been arrested in Nepal while attempting to contact family members in refugee camps there. Fourteen were unaccounted for, at this point. Douglas said at least nine other Bhutanese Pennsylvanians have been detained.
Central Pennsylvania is home to the largest population of Bhutanese Nepali refugees in the country. In the last decades, tens of thousands of them were welcomed into the U.S. as refugees following ethnic cleansing of Nepalese-speaking minorities in Bhutan. Many settled around Harrisburg which has a Bhutanese Nepali population estimated in the tens of thousands.
All of the Bhutanese residents detained or deported by ICE appear to be men, and at least some had criminal charges that Douglas and family members describe as 'minor.'
He said the impact of the arrests has reverberated across the Bhutanese community.
'The community right now is living in uncertainty, unsure of who might be targeted next,' Douglas said. 'Yes, these individuals may have minor criminal histories, which enabled ICE to attempt to remove them from the United States. But that is no reason to rip them away from their wives, children, brothers, sisters and community.'
The detentions have caught the attention of Pennsylvania lawmakers at both the state and federal level.
Democratic state lawmakers representing Dauphin County in Harrisburg have spoken out against the arrests. On March 29, U.S. Congressman Scott Perry (R-Dauphin), a supporter of Trump's hardline immigration policies generally, said on social media that he met with Bhutanese community members in Harrisburg.
A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately respond to a request for more details on the deportations and arrests.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
a minute ago
- CNBC
Americans fear AI permanently displacing workers, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Americans are deeply concerned over the prospect that advances in artificial intelligence could put swaths of the country out of work permanently, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The six-day poll, which concluded on Monday, showed 71% of respondents said they were concerned that AI will be "putting too many people out of work permanently." The new technology burst into the national conversation in late 2022 when OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot launched and became the fastest-growing application of all time, with tech heavyweights like Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft offering their own AI products. While at present there are few signs of mass unemployment - the U.S. jobless rate was just 4.2% in July - artificial intelligence is stirring concerns as it reshapes jobs, industries and day-to-day life. Some 77% of respondents to the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they worried the technology could be used to stir up political chaos, a sign of unease over the now-common use of AI technology to create realistic videos of imaginary events. President Donald Trump last month posted on social media an AI-generated video of former Democratic president Barack Obama being arrested, an event that never happened. Americans are also leery about military applications for AI, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. Some 48% of respondents said the government should never use AI to determine the target of a military strike, compared with 24% who said the government should allow that sort of use of the technology. Another 28% said they were not sure. The general enthusiasm for AI shown by many people and companies has fueled further investments, such as Foxconn and SoftBank's planned data center equipment factory in Ohio. It has also upended national security policies as the United States and China vie for AI dominance. More than half of Americans - some 61% - said they were concerned about the amount of electricity needed to power the fast-growing technology. Google said earlier this month it had signed agreements with two U.S. electric utilities to reduce its AI data center power consumption during times of surging demand on the grid, as energy-intensive AI use outpaces power supplies. The new technology has also come under criticism for applications that have let AI bots hold romantic conversations with children, generate false medical information and help people make racist arguments. Two-thirds of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they worried that people would ditch relationships with other people in favor of AI companions. People were split on whether AI technology will improve education. Some 36% of respondents thought it would help, while 40% disagreed and the rest were not sure. The Reuters/Ipsos survey gathered responses online from 4,446 U.S. adults nationwide and had a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.
Forbes
a minute ago
- Forbes
Trump Promised Ukraine Security Guarantees From US And Europe— Here's What That Entails: Analyst
Tinatin Japaridze, an analyst with Eurasia Group, joined "Forbes Newsroom" to break down President Donald Trump's separate meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Watch the full interview above.
CBS News
a minute ago
- CBS News
House committee to make Epstein files public after Justice Department subpoena
Washington — The House Oversight Committee intends to release some of the documents from the Justice Department about the case involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesperson said Tuesday. The committee expects to receive the documents later this week after issuing a subpoena in August to the department for records related to Epstein, a well-connected financier who was convicted of sex trafficking and died in federal custody in 2019. Controversy has swirled around the Epstein files in recent months, after the Justice Department issued the findings of an internal review that was met with anger by many of President Trump's supporters. The review found no "client list" or evidence that Epstein had blackmailed prominent figures. Still, the issue divided Mr. Trump's base, spurring calls for greater transparency. The committee spokesperson said the panel plans to release files after a review is conducted and redactions are made. "The Committee intends to make the records public after thorough review to ensure all victims' identification and child sexual abuse material are redacted," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The Committee will also consult with the DOJ to ensure any documents released do not negatively impact ongoing criminal cases and investigations." House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Monday that the Justice Department was complying with the subpoena, which set an Aug. 19 deadline, and would begin sharing the records with the panel on Friday. "There are many records in DOJ's custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted," Comer said in a statement. "I appreciate the Trump Administration's commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter." The committee also earlier this month subpoenaed a slew of former attorneys general and FBI directors, as well as former President Bill Clinton, for testimony. On Monday, former Attorney General William Barr testified before the committee behind closed doors.
