Trump claimed he would protect Christians who faced persecution in their country. Indonesia is a Muslim majority country with a horrible human rights record.
"Arino Massie arrived in the United States 16 years ago, after fleeing religious persecution in Muslim-majority Indonesia in the 1990s. He’s a Christian, and like the other members of a community of around 80 Indonesian Christians that left their home country — some more than 20 years ago — he now lives in New Jersey, works a blue-collar job and attends the Reformed Church of Highland Park with his family.
That is, Massie did until he was deported on Thursday.
Massie and the rest of his community overstayed their tourist visas. As male temporary visa holders from Muslim nations, after September 11, 2001, they were required by a new policy to register with the federal government, putting them on ICE’s radar. They then applied for asylum, but were rejected, having missed the one-year deadline.
Since then, they, like other Indonesian Christians have been at risk of deportation on an intermittent basis. Their situation was a sort of limbo: they were not deported, despite no longer being in the country legally, but they were given no paths to permanent legal status. As WNYC reports, “an ICE raid on a group of Indonesian Christians in 2006 put the community in the cross-hairs. Many were deported; others were held in detention.”
At this point, the reverend of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, Seth Kaper-Dale, intervened. The window of opportunity for asylum having passed, he worked out a deal with the Obama administration in 2009, which allowed a number to stay in the country under an “order of supervision.” It only lasted until 2012, when the raids began again.
Kaper-Dale then took more extreme measures, turning his church into a safe refuge, housing Indonesian Christians for 11 months — and turning national media attention on the story. In 2013, they were again granted orders of supervision, provided they remained in the community and kept clean criminal records.
They did, but just this week, four men were detained as part of the Trump administration’s expanded deportation policy, which now covers those without criminal records. Three of the men are still being detained. Massie was put on a plane to Japan and sent back to the country he fled almost two decades ago. He leaves behind not only the community to which he contributed, but a wife and a 13-year-old son, who is an American citizen. "
The problems are numerous. The one year requirement should have been waived so they could apply for asylum. Clearly they meet the requirements. Also Obama agreed to allow them to stay. He is often accused of being pro-Muslim and anti-Christian. Yet in this case he allowed them to stay. Trump who said he would protect Christians ignored Obama's' decision and deported him. To boot, the individual had no criminal record and was a fixture in the community. To separate this man from his family is criminal. If this person is persecuted, Trump and these ICE agents should be held accountable and thrown in jail.
Of course Trump sycophants will cheer this. It just shows how cruel and heartless they are.
Christian Who Fled Religious Persecution Deported in Trump-Era ICE Surge
"Arino Massie arrived in the United States 16 years ago, after fleeing religious persecution in Muslim-majority Indonesia in the 1990s. He’s a Christian, and like the other members of a community of around 80 Indonesian Christians that left their home country — some more than 20 years ago — he now lives in New Jersey, works a blue-collar job and attends the Reformed Church of Highland Park with his family.
That is, Massie did until he was deported on Thursday.
Massie and the rest of his community overstayed their tourist visas. As male temporary visa holders from Muslim nations, after September 11, 2001, they were required by a new policy to register with the federal government, putting them on ICE’s radar. They then applied for asylum, but were rejected, having missed the one-year deadline.
Since then, they, like other Indonesian Christians have been at risk of deportation on an intermittent basis. Their situation was a sort of limbo: they were not deported, despite no longer being in the country legally, but they were given no paths to permanent legal status. As WNYC reports, “an ICE raid on a group of Indonesian Christians in 2006 put the community in the cross-hairs. Many were deported; others were held in detention.”
At this point, the reverend of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, Seth Kaper-Dale, intervened. The window of opportunity for asylum having passed, he worked out a deal with the Obama administration in 2009, which allowed a number to stay in the country under an “order of supervision.” It only lasted until 2012, when the raids began again.
Kaper-Dale then took more extreme measures, turning his church into a safe refuge, housing Indonesian Christians for 11 months — and turning national media attention on the story. In 2013, they were again granted orders of supervision, provided they remained in the community and kept clean criminal records.
They did, but just this week, four men were detained as part of the Trump administration’s expanded deportation policy, which now covers those without criminal records. Three of the men are still being detained. Massie was put on a plane to Japan and sent back to the country he fled almost two decades ago. He leaves behind not only the community to which he contributed, but a wife and a 13-year-old son, who is an American citizen. "
The problems are numerous. The one year requirement should have been waived so they could apply for asylum. Clearly they meet the requirements. Also Obama agreed to allow them to stay. He is often accused of being pro-Muslim and anti-Christian. Yet in this case he allowed them to stay. Trump who said he would protect Christians ignored Obama's' decision and deported him. To boot, the individual had no criminal record and was a fixture in the community. To separate this man from his family is criminal. If this person is persecuted, Trump and these ICE agents should be held accountable and thrown in jail.
Of course Trump sycophants will cheer this. It just shows how cruel and heartless they are.
Christian Who Fled Religious Persecution Deported in Trump-Era ICE Surge
