Dallas Immigration Caseworkers Seek Answers For Refugees, Immigrants In Uncertain Times

Those assisting would-be immigrants are no longer able to estimate how long paperwork and approvals will take.

By Stella M. ChavezFebruary 1, 2018 9:30 am, , ,

From KERA:

It’s been a year since the Trump administration issued an executive order restricting entry into the U.S. from several Muslim-majority countries. The travel ban has faced several legal challenges and immigrant advocates say it’s had a chilling effect on refugees and other immigrants.

Olga Casaretti, an immigration caseworker, is trying to work through these uncertain times. She helps with family reunifications and asylum seekers at the International Rescue Committee in Dallas. Before last year, she could tell her clients how long the process would take.

Lately, she’s not sure.

“It may be one year, it may be two years of administrative processing, and although it’s always difficult to tell someone that they’re going to be separated with their families…it gave them some peace of mind to know that it will take this [certain amount of time],” she said. “At this time, we no longer know how long it will take.”

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