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South Florida teen fears for family's future as proposed rule threatens asylum seekers' work permits
South Florida teen fears for family's future as proposed rule threatens asylum seekers' work permits

CBS News

time5 days ago

  • Politics
  • CBS News

South Florida teen fears for family's future as proposed rule threatens asylum seekers' work permits

A South Florida teenager is voicing concern for his family's future as reports circulate that a possible Trump administration regulation could strip work permits from many asylum seekers. The regulation could affect Venezuelans like his father, who fled political turmoil for a better life in the United States. "He came here to fight for us" Sebastian Latuche, 15, a ninth grader at a South Florida high school, says the potential change is weighing heavily on his family. "It just hurts me seeing him like this, worrying him too much. He came here to fight for us, to give us a better life," Sebastian told CBS News Miami. His father, Javier Latuche, has lived in the U.S. for 11 years after leaving Venezuela, where his business was confiscated by the Maduro regime. Now a small business owner running a real estate agency, Javier said he's deeply unsettled by reports of looming restrictions on work permits for asylum seekers. "I am scared of having my work permit revoked," he said, despite having applied for both Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and asylum. "I haven't been able to sleep, I could not work today, I feel extremely vulnerable," added the father of two, including an eight-year-old U.S. citizen. Sebastian echoed the fear gripping his household. "I'm worried because of the situation. Me, my dad and my mom, where we don't have papers yet." Community leaders warn of mental toll on families Venezuelan and immigrant rights activists gathered Wednesday at the Arepazo, a popular Venezuelan meeting spot in the City of Doral, to voice concerns about the potential policy's emotional toll, particularly on children. "The emotional toll, fear, and legal uncertainty are severely affecting the mental health of thousands of migrant children," said human rights activist Juan Correa Villalonga. Venezuelan activist Helen Villalonga pleaded for compassion. "What did we do to you Donald Trump to deserve this? Many of my people believed in you, trusted you to change Venezuela, not destroy our families." Two officials from the Department of Homeland Security told CBS News that the Trump administration is considering a regulation that would prevent most asylum seekers from obtaining work permits. Though no public announcement has been made, anxiety is spreading throughout immigrant communities. "Who can live in this city or anywhere in the U.S. without a work permit?" said José Antonio Colina of the Venezuelan Political Persecuted Exiles group. In a statement to CBS News, DHS declined to confirm the reports, stating it does not comment on the "deliberate process or possible decision making." However, the department added: "Over the previous years, the Biden administration eviscerated the integrity of America's asylum system. The department is exploring all possible options to protect our national security and increase program integrity." A teen's hope for stability For Sebastian, the immigration debate is not about politics. It's about family. "Now it's just getting a little harder than my parents imagined it to be. They came here for me and my brother."

Trump turns America's back on another ally — Afghans
Trump turns America's back on another ally — Afghans

Yahoo

time12-05-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Trump turns America's back on another ally — Afghans

Fifty years ago, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. The speed of that conquest was a surprise, but the United States successfully scrambled to evacuate, not just our own personnel but a substantial number of Vietnamese civilians who were endangered by their association with the U.S. These refugees were eventually resettled in America, with our government spending half-a-billion dollars to provide transportation, healthcare and accommodations for Southeast Asian refugees. Fast-forward to the present. President Donald Trump has arbitrarily suspended the U.S. State Department's refugee program, leaving thousands of Afghans stranded and endangered. We have stopped helping Afghans come to the U.S., even those who fought against the Taliban shoulder-to-shoulder with our own troops and qualified for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program. And now Trump has started deporting Afghan refugees back to the tender mercies of the ruthless Taliban. As a Vietnam veteran, I'm embarrassed and enraged that Trump is turning his back on those who put themselves in danger, who shed their blood, to help us fight the Taliban. Trump's fanatical war against all immigrants is even more thoughtless, destructive and cruel than his war on government employees. Opinion: I fled a dictatorship. Trump and his policies are hauntingly familiar. John O'Shea, Palm Beach Gardens This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump suspends program that helps Afghans who helped us | Letter

Quakers march against Trump's crackdown on immigrants carrying on their long faith tradition
Quakers march against Trump's crackdown on immigrants carrying on their long faith tradition

Associated Press

time10-05-2025

  • Politics
  • Associated Press

Quakers march against Trump's crackdown on immigrants carrying on their long faith tradition

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — A group of Quakers are marching more than 300 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate against the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants. The march extends a long tradition of Quaker activism. Historically, Quakers have been involved in peaceful protests to end wars and slavery, and support women's voting rights in line with their commitment to justice and peace. Far more recently, Quakers sued the federal government earlier this year over immigration gents ability to make arrests at houses of worship. Organizers of the march say their protest seeks to show solidarity with migrants and other groups that are being targeted by President Donald Trump's administration. 'It feels really daunting to be up against such critical and large and in some ways existential threats,' said Jess Hobbs Pifer, a 25-year-old Quaker and march organizer, who said she felt 'a connection' to the faith's long history of activism. 'I just have to put one foot in front of the other to move towards something better, something more true to what Quakers before us saw for this country and what people saw for the American Experiment, the American dream,' she said. Their goal is to walk south from the Flushing Quaker Meeting House — across New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania — to the U.S. Capitol to deliver a copy of the 'Flushing Remonstrance' — a 17th century document that called for religious freedom and opposed a ban on Quaker worship. Quakers say it remains relevant in 2025 as a reminder to 'uphold the guiding principle that all are welcome.' 'We really saw a common thread between the ways that the administration is sort of flying against the norms and ideals of constitutional law and equality before the law,' said Max Goodman, 28, a Quaker, who joined the march. 'Even when they aren't breaking rules explicitly, they're really engaging in bad faith with the spirit of pluralism, tolerance and respect for human dignity that undergirds our founding documents as Americans and also shows up in this document that's really important in New York Quaker history.' A Quaker history of resistance The Religious Society of Friends — best known as the Quakers — originated in 17th century England. The Christian group was founded by George Fox, an Englishman who objected to Anglican emphasis on ceremony. In the 1640s, he said he heard a voice that led him to develop a personal relationship with Christ, described as the Inner Light. Fox taught that the Inner Light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms. Brought to court for opposing the established church, Fox tangled with a judge who derided him as a 'quaker' in reference to his agitation over religious matters. Following the faith's core beliefs in nonviolence and justice, Quakers have demonstrated for the abolition of slavery, in favor of the suffrage movement, against both World Wars, and the U.S. role in the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, said Ross Brubeck, 38, one of the Quaker march organizers. They also joined protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle and the Black Lives Matter protests after the 2020 killing of George Floyd. 'Within the DNA of Quakerism is actions speaking out against authority,' said Brubeck, who was marching along a trail in New Jersey with companions waving an upside-down American flag — intended to serve as a signal of distress. 'Quakers have had a central role in opposition to repression within the United States since its founding,' Brubeck said. The basic unit of Quaker organization is the weekly meeting, which corresponds to the congregation in other churches. Quakers gather for silent worship in meeting houses, where they wait for a message from God to move through them until they speak. When Brubeck and his group reached downtown Princeton, they were met by members of the local Quaker group, who praised them for their effort and guided them to their meeting house. After taking their shoes off their blistery feet, some rested on wooden pews and later prayed in silence, holding hands in a circle in preparation for another long walk. 'I felt humbled by their presence knowing what a long way they've been walking,' said Casey Oware, a member of the Princeton Friends Meeting. 'And also a sense of connection knowing that we're fighting for the same thing.' Her friend, Marae McGhee, a retired teacher and member of the local Quaker group, agreed: 'It's such a disturbing time and I think a lot of people feel that there's little they can do. But these folks are doing it — they're giving their feet and their energy.' Quaker beliefs and a lawsuit challenge to Trump Quaker practices and beliefs vary from a more Bible-centered Christianity, with pastors as worship leaders, to a more liberal approach with less structured worship and a wide range of teachings. One the most well-known Quakers was William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania following the faith's emphasis on religious tolerance; the group became influential in cities like Philadelphia. But members of the group have also faced scorn for refusing to join wars due to their belief in pacifism and nonviolence. Some were persecuted and even killed for trying to spread their religious beliefs. Earlier this year, five Quaker congregations filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship. The Quaker groups were later joined by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple. Following that, more than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans — ranging from the Episcopal Church and the Union for Reform Judaism to the Mennonites — filed a similar lawsuit, but a federal judge ruled against them last month. During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump insisted that immigrants were an existential threat to America. Immigration into the U.S., both legal and illegal, surged during President Joe Biden's administration, and Trump assailed that influx in ways that proved powerful with voters. Since returning to the White House, Trump has launched a campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him. 'Immigrants are the ones experiencing the most acute persecution in the United States,' Brubeck said. 'The message to Trump is that the power is not his to make.' __ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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