Around the world, refugees are shut out of the US by Trump’s new policies

By REBECCA SANTANA DAKE KANG and GISELA SALOMON Associated Press When President Donald Trump suspended the refugee venture on day one of his current administration thousands of people around the world who had been so close to a new life in America ascertained themselves abandoned Related Articles Howie Carr Political office sure beats working right Ayanna US military conducts strike on another suspected drug boat as probe into the first strike begins Grand jury rejects new mortgage fraud indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James Supreme Court allows Texas to use a congressional map favorable to Republicans in Stress of Houthi combat was a key factor in series of costly Navy mishaps investigations show Various had already sold possessions or ended leases in preparation for trip They had submitted reams of documents supporting their cases been interviewed by U S leaders and in countless cases already had tickets to fly to America As part of Trump s crackdown on both legal and illegal migration the Republican president has upended the decades-old refugee activity that has served as a beacon for those fleeing war and persecution In October he resumed the activity but set a historic low of refugee admissions at just mostly white South Africans A litany of new restrictions was communicated after an Afghan national became the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members last week The Trump administration also plans a review of refugees let in during the Democratic Biden administration Trump s administration has cited economic and national defense concerns for its agenda changes About people were being processed to come to the U S as refugees around the world when the effort was halted according to the administration Dozens of white South Africans have been let in this year But only about others have been admitted as a impact of a lawsuit by advocates seeking to restart the refugee project noted Mevl de Akay Alp a lawyer arguing the matter It s crucial that we don t abandon those families and that we don t abandon the thousands of people who were relying on the promise of coming here as refugees reported Akay Alp with the International Refugee Assistance Project The Associated Press spoke to three families whose lives have been thrown into disarray because of the changing policies A family separated by tightened restrictions The Dawoods had waited years for the opportunity to come to the U S After fleeing civil war in Syria they settled in northern Iraq They hoped to find a home that could provide better medicinal care for a daughter who had fallen from the fourth floor of the family s apartment building After they were accepted as refugees to the U S son Ibrahim and his sister Ava relocated to New Haven Connecticut in November His parents and one of his brothers were scheduled to fly in January Syrian refugee Abdulilah Amin Dawoud poses for a picture at his home in Irbil Iraq Nov AP Photo Farid Abdulwahed But just two days before they were to board their flight mother Hayat Fatah fainted at a clinical check and her departure was postponed Mohammed another sibling didn t want to leave his parents behind I reported This is it The chance is gone But I had to stay with my father and mother Mohammed declared Nearly a year later he and his parents are still waiting Without a residency card Mohammed can t work or advance outside of their home in the city of Irbil The family gets by on money sent from relatives abroad Mohammed had dreams for his hoped-for new life in America starting a business or finishing his studies to become a petroleum engineer getting married and building a family Whether it was now a year from now two years later or four years I will wait and hope that I will go he declared In America Ibrahim often wakes up early to tutor people online before going to his job as a math educator at a private school and then he takes care of his sister when he gets home He reported his mother often cries when they talk because she wishes she were in America to help care for her daughter Ibrahim commented one solace has been the welcome he s received in the U S Supporters have stepped in to take him and his sister to frequent specialist appointments and helped them adjust to their new lives I really appreciate the kindness of the people here he noted After a decade in limbo a Chinese pastor wonders when his turn will come Chinese Christian Lu Taizhi fled to Thailand more than a decade ago fearing persecution for his beliefs He s lived in legal limbo since waiting to be resettled in the United States Lu Taizhi a Chinese Christian who is waiting to be resettled in the United States points to the webpage of the International Rescue Committee which is under maintenance and not operational in Ban Wawee village Chiang Rai Province Thailand Nov AP Photo Tian Macleod Ji Lu explained he has long admired the U S for what he calls its Christian character a place where he feels he and his family can seek freedom He declared he was disappointed that people like him and his family who applied for refugee status legally face so countless difficulties in going to the U S I oppose illegal immigration Numerous are fake refugees or illegal immigrants they ve never faced oppression I m opposed to this Lu explained But I hope America can accept people like us real refugees who faced real oppression It s really disappointing Lu comes from a long lineage of dissent He was born into a family branded as hostile elements by the Chinese Communist Party for its land ownership and ties to a competing political party A guide and poet Lu grew interested in history banned by the Chinese state penning tributes to the bloody Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing In Lu was arrested after police located poems and essays he secretly published criticizing Chinese politics and the guidance system After his release Lu became a Christian and began preaching drawing scrutiny from local administration Year after year officers knocked on his door warning him not to organize protests or publish commentary criticizing the Party With Chinese leader Xi Jinping s rise to power controls tightened When Beijing arrested hundreds of rights lawyers in Lu took his family and fled worried police would come for him After traveling across Southeast Asia Lu and his family settled in Thailand where they applied for refugee status with the United Nations Eight years later the U N notified Lu the U S had accepted his application But their first flight in April was postponed because Lu s sons passports had expired A second scheduled for Jan was canceled without explanation and the bulk contemporary one scheduled for Feb was canceled shortly after Trump s inauguration His application has been put on hold indefinitely Lu reported This day Lu is scraping a meager living as a tutor and pastor in Northern Thailand He s separated from his wife and children in Bangkok Thailand s capital but says he has no choice if he wants to earn money and advocacy his family I am very supportive of all of Trump s policies because I think only President Trump can dismantle the CCP Lu reported using an acronym referring to the Chinese Communist Party So I don t have any complaints I just wait silently I don t want to lose her Louis arrived in the United States as a refugee in September He left his wife and two children in East Africa hoping they could soon be reunited in the U S Louis a Congolese refugee stands for an anonymous portrait at the International Rescue Committee IRC office Wednesday Nov in Louisville Ky AP Photo Jon Cherry But that dream faded a scarce months later with Trump s return to the presidency Louis who insisted on being identified only by his first name out of concern that speaking publicly could complicate his matter was recounted in January that a request he had made to bring his family to the U S had been frozen due to changes in refugee policies Now the family members live thousands of miles apart without knowing when they will be reunited His wife Apolina and the children and years old are in a refugee camp in Uganda Louis is in Kentucky I don t want to lose her and she does not want to lose me mentioned Louis who resettled in Kentucky with the help of the International Rescue Committee The hope that I had went slowly down I thought that we would never meet again he disclosed referring to the moment when he received the notice Louis and Apolina s families applied for refugee status after fleeing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo Louis application initiated by his parents was approved Apolina s made separately by her parents was not They hoped if Louis applied for family reunification in the U S that would ease the way to bring over Apolina and the two children Apolina thought that as the wife of a refugee it would take her no more than one year to reunite with her husband who now works in an appliance factory and has already applied for permanent residency The separation hasn t been easy for her and the children who live in a tent in the refugee camp The younger one who was months old when Louis left cries every time he sees his father in a video call The older one keeps asking where Louis is and when he will see him Apolina fears that as time drags on the children will forget their father I feel terrible because I miss my husband very much explained Apolina in a phone interview from Uganda I pray for him that God enables him to be individual until we meet again Santana announced from Washington Kang from Beijing and Salomon from Miami Associated Press writers Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi Kenya and Salar Salim in Irbil Iraq contributed to this description