New Trump policy threatens Buffalo refugees

Investigative Post interviewed Wooksoo Kim, a UB School of Social Work professor and director of the school’s Immigrant and Refugee Research Institute, for a story about a new Trump administration policy that could threaten more than 100,000 refugees nationwide, including 1,000 in Buffalo alone.

The new rules say that ICE can detain any refugee who has lived in the U.S. for more than a year and has not applied for a green card. However, the government only allows refugees to apply for permanent residence after they have been physically present in the country for at least a year.

“It is ridiculous when you think about it,” Kim said. “You don’t have a green card because the system doesn’t allow you to apply for a green card for a year, and then you get picked up because of that.”