How exactly is a person who has lawful status today suddenly put on the path to losing it tomorrow?
Motomura explained that the administration is challenging the validity of various forms of lawful status. He said, “The administration is taking status away from non-citizens who have lawful status today.” Other than the lawful permanent residence (or green card), immigrants hold many statuses “that I think, sometimes people call in-between,” he added.
These “in-between” statuses—such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and humanitarian parole—are not long-term, but they come with essential work permits. Crucially, Motomura stressed that these statuses are “definitely lawful.” For many, these statuses are not the end of the journey, but a stop. They “are in the process of applying for a green card or a long-term status.”
By targeting these temporary, yet lawful, statuses, the Department of Homeland Security is, through changes in policy, effectively demolishing the bridge to long-term integration for entire communities.
The threat extends even to those with the most secure statuses. Motomura also issued a stark warning regarding the highest form of legal integration. “The administration is also quite intent on denaturalization of citizens.” This action involves looking back into past cases and attempting to strip citizenship from people who legally immigrated, became permanent residents and then naturalized years or decades ago,” he said.
This effort to rescind legal pathways accelerated after a high-profile incident involving an Afghan refugee and former elite CIA-trained squad member, an incident the administration used to blame refugees, restrict visas for 19 countries, and freeze Afghan immigration requests.
For advocates on the ground, the reality is one of daily struggle. Ferro, speaking on behalf of the Venezuelan community, encapsulated the emotional toll. “What I am hearing, what I am hearing over and over every single day is terror, fear, exhaustion, and betrayal,” she said.
When the administration targets lawful statuses like humanitarian parole, the Justice Action Center fights back in court, said Laura Flores-Perilla. “This is unprecedented and cruel and so that’s what we’re working on in that litigation,” she said.
Furthermore, the administration is attacking the infrastructure of legal review itself. Judge Johnson explained how the removal of judges and courts serves the larger goal of the policy shift. He said, “If you remove judges, remove courts, you’re removing that process of review, you’re turning people that once had legal status into this illegal status.”
The uncertainty is most poignant for young people like DACA recipients. Andrea, a DACA activist, reminded us that these policies are deeply personal. “I think sometimes within the media we can maybe forget that when we’re asking questions to these individuals, so kind of remembering that the humanity in it is that these policies are affecting people, these are our lives,” she said.
The U.S. is not simply changing rules for the future; it is replacing security with precarity for millions who believed they were safe, fundamentally challenging the definition of legal residency itself.
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