THE Asset The administration’s immigration crackdown targets Hong Kong citizens who are allowed to live and work in the United States, potentially exposing them to immediate deportation once their legal status expires in February.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have arrested at least a dozen of these people at U.S. airports since June, according to attorneys who represented the detainees in immigration court. ICE agents have threatened to detain them indefinitely unless they self-deport — despite a Biden-era presidential directive that allows them to live and work in the United States until Feb. 5, 2027, according to lawyers and detainees.
“ICE agents forced me to sign a voluntary departure document,” said a Hong Kong citizen arrested while trying to board a flight at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport in July. “They said, ‘If you don’t sign this, you’ll go to jail for months.’ » The individual was granted anonymity due to concerns about possible retaliation by ICE.
Academic researchers have identified at least two dozen other people from Hong Kong who have been arrested this year, although it is unclear whether they qualify for protection or whether any of them are currently in detention.
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