Lindsay Stark, associate professor at the Brown School
We sit on a thin cushion in one of the two rooms that make up the apartment in East Amman, Jordan. Our host, Mohammed, sits on the floor, having given us the best seating. His legs are tucked under him as he pulls out a tattered manila envelope that contains his family’s official refugee documents. His wife sits beside me, their 4-year-old son tugging at her, crying for falafel. He is hungry.
Mohammed tells us how his family had been granted asylum to Texas when the Trump ban was put into effect. Now he does not know what is next for his family. He has missed three rent payments in the past six months.
A trained welder and construction worker, he takes odd jobs when they are available, which is rarely. His family is completely reliant on food vouchers for their survival. And still the vouchers are not enough. Mohammed’s family’s struggle is the norm, not the exception.
As President Trump proposes new policies that would charge fees to asylum seekers and prevent those crossing a border illegally from obtaining a work permit, families who have suffered extreme human rights violations will now be subject to increased suffering and without any tangible benefits for the American people.
Read the full piece in The Hill.