Last night, Rachel Maddow announced that USCIS has decided to deny medical deferments of deportation for some critically ill children. The letters seem to focus on children’s families being treated at well-regarded children’s hospitals in Boston and elsewhere. When asked about the unadvertised policy, officials at USCIS stated that ICE would now handle these deferments. When ICE was asked, officials stated that they were unaware that they had been tasked with this assignment and that no program was in place to process these deferments. Families have been advised in a letter that they will be required to leave the US and the medical care necessary to save their lives in 33 days.
This was the reaction of the Boston Globe:
“Step by malicious step, the Trump administration is turning the American immigration system into an apparatus of appalling, intentional cruelty.
The latest case in point is a relatively small program known as “medical deferred action,” in which immigrants without legal status who are suffering from serious medical conditions are granted a reprieve from deportation so that they can have access to much-needed medical treatment in the United States.
Trump halted the program this month, threatening to deport these patients, including children with leukemia, muscular dystrophy, or cystic fibrosis. The program’s termination means suspending or interrupting medical care, which in some instances is virtually a death sentence.”