The Trump administration’s $1 billion immigration swindle

The backlash against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign showed that voters are not willing to let governmental abuse loudly play out on American streets. But while masked federal agents have left suburbia, the administration’s anti-immigrant efforts continue to proceed apace in the shadows through bureaucratic brutality.

Hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants, people who came to the U.S. in the fabled “right way,” now find themselves in limbo, many losing their jobs and risking deportation after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) refuses to process their cases — all while pocketing more than $1 billion in fees.

Visas, work permits, legal permanent residency, and citizenship applications are all frozen, not because of anything an immigrant did, but because of where they were born.

Starting on Jan. 1, USCIS extended an (indefinite) processing pause for immigrants already in the U.S. from 39 countries, mostly in Africa, and the Palestinian territories. This followed a December presidential proclamation that essentially banned all legal immigration from these nations.

The flimsy argument for the ban — that vetting immigrants from these countries is difficult because governments don’t provide enough information — fully falls apart for those who have already gone through the process in the U.S.

This includes people like Tamilore and Ayomide, two men who would only speak with me on condition that I did not use their full names. Both are in their early 30s, work in finance, and have spent thousands of dollars on applications and legal fees.

Tamilore came to the U.S. in 2021 to pursue an MBA, spending around $250,000 for the degree at a top business school. He works as an investment banker and had applied for legal permanent residency, known as a green card, when the pause hit. He is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

» READ MORE: Trump’s immigration crackdown also threatens Americans’ pocketbooks | Luis F. Carrasco

“I was on the path to my American dream,” he said. “Learn, get a good-paying job, build a portfolio, start a business.”

His work authorization is expiring within the year, at which point his company will be forced to terminate his employment, Tamilore told me.

“The question for me is, how do I take care of my family, take care of myself, pay for healthcare? I have to start going into my savings,” he said. “I can see the hardship in front of me.”

Ayomide, who is from Nigeria and married to a U.S. citizen, is already struggling. He had an employment offer — his “dream job,” he said — but because he had not received his work permit, the offer was rescinded.

“My wife is the one that is taking care of me, which is sad,” he said. “It’s very hard for me at this point to just rely fully on someone. It’s never happened ever since I stopped being catered for by my parents.”

Based on the presidential proclamations, dual nationals like Tamilore are supposed to be exempt from the pause. Similarly, petitions filed by U.S. citizens, like in Ayomide’s case, should also be exempt, experts said. However, USCIS has decided to include these applicants in the freeze.

One need not look too hard to find out why the agency — which is almost entirely funded by fees and whose mission is to facilitate legal immigration — has now taken a hard-line approach.

» READ MORE: As clashes with ICE heat up, Trump’s cold war against immigration rages on | Luis F. Carrasco

Its director, Joseph Edlow, is a loyal Trump foot soldier determined to help pull up America’s welcome mat. Under Edlow, USCIS has cut green card approvals in half, allowed some agents to carry weapons and make arrests, and subjected immigrants to “anti-Americanism” screenings. The agency has also partnered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain people who come in for what they think are routine USCIS appointments or interviews.

Again, these are legal immigrants we are talking about. People who are working, paying taxes, and have done all that’s been asked of them when they came here.

Fortunately, contravening the Trump administration’s attitude, most Americans support legal immigration and understand that immigrants are a boon to the U.S., culturally and economically. Political pressure has led the administration to allow physicians from travel-ban countries to be exempted from the processing hold. The change, made quietly in late April, undoubtedly stems from the outsized role foreign doctors play in U.S. healthcare. But they are far from the only group contributing to making America great.

Immigrants also continue to consider the United States the land of opportunity, but for how long? Tamilore and Ayomide are part of lawsuits against the government, but if they don’t find a solution soon, they doubt they can outwait Trump.

“There’s no way I’m going to wait three years,” Ayomide said. “It’s bonkers. Automatically, I’m put behind. My career just goes down the drain.”

Tamilore said he has job offers in the U.K., but he’s not willing to give up just yet.

“I still believe in an American dream, and so that’s kind of a little bit off the table. But if it has to come to that, then that’s what we’ll take.”