最新蜜桃影像

最新蜜桃影像
Courtesy of Joe Flood / Flickr

Advocates: Impeachment hearings spotlight sentiment about immigrants of all types

Immigration lawyers and advocates say the impeachment hearings raise uncomfortable issues about treatment of immigrants sitting at the witness table.

Lawyers, advocates and immigrants view some of the reaction to the impeachment hearings as a broad reflection of what they see as Trump鈥檚 immigration ideology.

So far, three witnesses testifying before the House Intelligence Committee hearings are immigrants.

Marie Yovanovitch, who was born in Canada, is a daughter of immigrants fleeing the Soviet Union, Lt. Col. Alex Vindman was brought to the U.S. by his father who fled a Soviet-controlled Ukraine and Fiona Hill鈥檚 coal miner father brought her from Northern England for better economic opportunities.

Most of the attention has been on Vindman and Yovanovitch. Immigration advocates have noticed.

All three witnesses earned Ivy League degrees and held positions in service to the U.S. Vindman and Yovanovitch faced the same 鈥渄uality鈥 accusations by the Trump administration that other immigrants go through as well, said former Maryland State Delegate Maric茅 Morales, now an immigration lawyer.

Conservative media have been critical of Vindman. Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade said that Vindman 鈥渢ends to feel sympatico with the Ukraine,鈥 according to Newsweek. Trump also attacked Yovanovitch, prompting the Democrats to push back with claims of 鈥渨itness intimidation.鈥

The 鈥渢reatment of Vindman鈥 represents the 鈥渋rony of Trump鈥檚 relationship with immigration,鈥 Morales said. She explained how the 鈥渂latant anti-immigrant sentiment鈥 of questioning Ukranian-born Vindman鈥檚 loyalty to the U.S. symbolizes 鈥淭rump鈥檚 disloyalty to the American people.鈥

Vindman showed up in his military uniform this week to show his collection of awards and his 鈥渉igh- ranking positions in U.S. service,鈥 Morales said. But 鈥淩epublican congressmen questioned his loyalty simply because he鈥檚 an immigrant.鈥

In the hearing GOP legal counsel raised the issue of Vindman being offered a high-ranking position in the Ukrainian government; Vindman said it was 鈥渃omical.鈥

Morales, who is also the youngest Latina to serve at the state level in the country, said although immigration policies aren鈥檛 at the heart of the impeachment hearings, the Ukraine scandal is suitable because it鈥檚 most accessible to the public.

Marie Yovanovitch and Alex Vindman both come from parents who lived under Soviet rule. (Yousef Alshammari / 最新蜜桃影像, Associated Press, Getty Images)

Trump policies on immigration

Morales said she has officially endorsed Elizabeth Warren and highlighted the importance of voting when it comes to new leadership.

For immigration advocacy veteran Douglas Rivlin, political change also comes with voting.

Rivlin, who serves as the director of communications at America鈥檚 Voice, an immigration advocacy organization, said what lies in the 鈥渉eart of the Ukraine scandal鈥 is 鈥淭rump鈥檚 decisions based on his own self interest which also explains a lot of Trump鈥檚 immigration policies.鈥

An reports that 34% of the American public consider 鈥渄issatisfaction with the government and poor leadership鈥 as the most important problem facing the country.

The same poll reports 13% consider immigration as the most important problem. The two mentioned categories are the highest on the list of options that include racism and poverty as choices.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I think Congress is correct in pursuing the Ukraine case,鈥 he said. 鈥淓ven though there are any number of other policies that are outside the law, are screaming for more congressional oversight, and need strong pushback in the courts.鈥

When asked if her field has seen drastic change with the Trump administration, immigration lawyer Eileen Blessinger said immigration policies under Trump have made her clients鈥 lives more difficult than before.

鈥淚t will take years upon years to undo this,鈥 Blessinger said of circuit and appellate courts dismissing the authority of immigration courts, a legal phenomenon she said Trump empowered.

To solidify their clients鈥 cases, immigration lawyers seek psychological verification for trauma. Gabriela Romo, a psychologist with a specialty in dealing with a range of immigrants, said 鈥淚 have more clients since Trump.鈥

When it comes to impeachment and immigration related news cycles, 鈥渢he fear and anxiety of being deported鈥 by Trump is a recurring theme she said.

Romo said 鈥渨atching the news is a trigger that reminds traumatized immigrants about the abandonment and the risk of danger鈥 they constantly face.

Contributing: Matt Thibault

Yousef Alshammari

I鈥檓 a DC-based Kuwaiti journalist working on a graduate degree in international journalism at American University. Politics and culture by day, insomnia and fiction by night.

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