Maria (far right) will be separated from her permanent resident husband and U.S. citizen children while President Trump's suspension of immigration is in effect.
On April 23, President Trump issued a proclamation suspending the entry into the United States of aliens as immigrants subject to some exceptions. Not all family immigration is suspended, but the spouses and children of permanent residents and the parents and siblings of U.S. citizens are not allowed to enter.
The suspension affects Maria and her family. Maria is a stay-at-home mom who has been separated from her family since August 2019 when she went to the consulate in Cd. Juarez, Mexico, for an immigrant visa interview. She has since filed and been approved for a waiver and her case is ready for an immigrant visa to be issued. The suspension will increase the hardship that her family has suffered because of the separation.
Her three citizen children have had their 7th, 14th and 21st birthdays without their mother. They are experiencing depression and anxiety because of the separation. Her youngest child spends many nights crying himself to sleep and only feels really happy when he is able to video chat with his mother. The COVID-19 crisis has increased their need for their mother.
Her permanent resident husband is recovering from colon surgery while being the single parent to two depressed and anxious minor children. He desperately needs his wife of 29 years to be with him and their family.
The Proclamation furthers the President's long-term goal of limiting or ending the immigration of family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The Washington Post reported that in a recorded call, Stephen Miller, the chief architect of the president’s immigration agenda told supporters that the Proclamation will "usher in the kind of broader long-term changes to American society he has advocated for years, even though the 60-day measures were publicly characterized as a “pause” during the coronavirus pandemic."
The Trump administration has been trying for years to scrap the family-based U.S. immigration model, which Miller and other restrictionists call “chain migration.” Instead, the White House favors a more restrictive system based on job skills and U.S. labor market demands.
For now, Maria and her family are the victims of a policy that targets families and not workers.