Official refuses to tell lawmakers why Trump administration wants to end humanitarian immigration policy

Maria Isabel Bueso and Jonathan Sanchez.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

During a hearing Wednesday on an endangered medical deferred action immigration program, House lawmakers listened as a 16-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis shared his fear that he will die if he is deported back to Honduras, where doctors are unable to provide treatment for his condition. They also heard from Thomas Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who said the "bigger problem" is the lack of enforcement along the southern border, which "affects many, many more lives, many more than this policy change."

Under medical deferred action, seriously ill immigrants can apply to stay in the United States without risk of deportation as they receive medical treatment not available in their home countries. Last month, applicants started receiving letters from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services telling them such requests were no longer being accepted, and they needed to leave the U.S. within 33 days. After a public uproar, the agency backtracked, saying earlier this month that all pending requests will be reopened.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.