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ImmIGRATION SEPTEMBER 17, 2021 | The Indian Eye 42
reflections of two immigration
lawyers on the 20th anniversary of
the september 11 attacks
Cyrus D. mehta kait- on September 11, 2001 to immigration equated to tionals” in 2017, blocked charging the person with
lyN BOx* be practicing law, it was terrorism. The immigrant nationals from a number of an offense. In the post 9/11
this event that inspired her visa preferences remain primarily Muslim-majori- sweep, immigrants from
t is hard to believe that to join the ranks of immi- hopelessly oversubscribed ty countries from entering mainly Muslim countries
20 years have gone by gration lawyers in 2021 to resulting in waits lasting the United States under were detained and deport-
Isince planes hijacked repeat the mantra that im- more than a decade. Skilled the guise of preventing ed in secret. Although they
by terrorists crashed into migration is not a threat to workers are also trapped in terrorist attacks. A more were detained because of
the Twin Towers in New America. never ending backlogs un- watered down version of immigration violations, it
York, the Pentagon in DC A week before 9/11, der the employment-based this policy motivated by a was under the pretext of
and into a field in Penn- Presidents Vicente Fox of second and third prefer- combustible mix of Islam- investigating them for sus-
sylvania instead of Capitol Mexico and Bush were in ences only because of the ophobia and xenophobia, pected links to terrorism.
Hill killing just under 3000 serious negotiations on measly fixed supply of vi- which came to be known as In the end, the 1000 plus
people. These cataclysmic an immigration deal that sas and the per country the Muslim ban, was up- immigrants who were de-
events on September 11, would have granted ben- limits. The H-1B cap limit held by the Supreme Court tained and deported in se-
2001 forever changed the efits to undocumented of 65,000 has never been in Trump v Hawaii. After cret were not charged or
role of immigration law- immigrants. But after the expanded, save for an ad- the Supreme Court upheld convicted of terrorism. As
yers. For the past 20 years, terrorist attacks, the deal ditional measly 20,000 un- the Muslim ban, Trump if this were not enough,
our mission has been to ad- that was made between der a special advance de- got emboldened and used the Bush Administration
vocate that immigration is Presidents Bush and Vi- gree cap. Several efforts to the immense power giv- implemented Special Reg-
completely separate from cente to legalize the status achieve comprehensive im- en under INA 212(f) to istration, which applied to
terrorism. This was our of millions of productive migration reform in Con- find other ways to restrict males from 26 countries,
mission on the 10th anni- undocumented immigrants gress have failed. immigration and asylum. 25 of which had significant
versary of the 9/11 when was put into cold storage. Although the trag- The administration’s in- Islamic populations. Duti-
Cyrus Mehta was inspired The immigration system ic events of 9/11 are now humane attitude towards fully, 85,000 people lined
to write a deeply person- has continued to break, twenty years in the past, immigrants was further il- up to register, thinking that
al blog and it remains our and crash, but Congress the scars of racism and lustrating by the policy of they should cooperate with
mission even on the 20th has never been interested xenophobia that they left separating children from the government. 13,000
anniversary. Although in fixing it, perhaps based behind continue to bleed their parents at the border, men who were found to
Kaitlyn Box was too young on a subconscious fear that today. President Trump as well as the Migrant Pro- have immigration viola-
and his administration’s tection Protocols (MPP), tions, many of whom may
four- year assault on im- which trapped asylum have been on the path to
migration made devastat- seekers in Mexico while getting green cards, were
ingly clear that some in their cases were adjudicat- placed in deportation pro-
the United States still view ed. Through a variety of ceedings. No one was con-
immigrants, particularly Presidential Proclamations victed of terrorism under
non-white immigrants and that limited green card ap- the now discredited Special
those from Muslim-major- plications and the issuance Registration program.
ity countries, as a threat. of employment based visas, Just as race and religion
Trump repeatedly equated the administration prop- were being used as proxies
immigrants, especially un- agated the idea that even for individualized suspicion
documented immigrants, highly-skilled immigrants and guilt post September
to criminals, terrorists, and are a menace to the U.S. 11, Trump also used race
job stealers. These views economy and push Amer- and religion to brand im-
were plainly reflected in the ican employees out of the migrants as dangerous and
administration’s policies as workforce. thus justifying travel bans,
well. Trump’s rationale for Trump’s xenophobia enhanced enforcement
constructing a wall along as president of the United and the stripping away of
the U.S. border with Mexi- States was made possible the power of Immigration
co, among his earliest cam- by the hysteria caused by Judges to control their
paign promises, was to stop the 9/11 attacks. Less than courtrooms and dockets.
m of the flow of rapists and drug ten days after September Though Trump has
dealers into the United 11, President Bush’s Attor- now been replaced, his
CYRUS D. MEHTA & PARTNERS PLLC States from Mexico, despite ney General John Ashcroft malignant policies live on
abundant evidence that tweaked the rules to make in the courts and continue
immigrants commit fewer it easier to detain immi- to perpetuate harmful and
crimes than native-born grants. The expanded regu- untrue narratives about im-
U.S. citizens. The various lation authorized immigra- migrants. While President
iterations of the travel ban, tion enforcement agents Biden had rescinded MPP,
beginning with Executive to hold any non-citizen in a federal judge in Texas or-
Order 13769, “Protecting custody for 48 hours or an dered the administration to
the Nation From Terrorist unspecified “additional reinstate the program, find-
2 6th Floor Attacks by Foreign Na- reasonable time” before ing that the administration
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