Burmese refugees in Iowa summoned by U.S. immigration officials

Dozens of refugees in Iowa received letters from immigration officials asking them to appear for an interview and provide information that validates their status.

The refugees are from the country formerly known as Burma, a group that has grown in the past five years to include more than 8,000 living in Iowa.

“Everybody is scared. The children in high school are scared, and their teachers are calling us,” said Abigail Sui, program manager of Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resources, or EMBARC, a nonprofit organization in Des Moines.

She said at least 50 refugees in Iowa, all who came from Burma and to the U.S. through Malaysia, got the letter from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department that requested the in-person interview. One letter required travel to Indianapolis, while a refugee from Indiana appeared at the USCIS offices in Des Moines for an interview Monday, according to EMBARC.

Already facing resettlement hardships, the refugees would have to fund a trip to the interviews and take time off work, said Sui. In addition, no interpreters would be made available.

Those who got the letters are either citizens, permanent residents holding green cards or trying to get green cards, said Sui, who is from Burma but didn’t get a letter.

“A current USCIS investigation has raised concerns about identity and biographic information provided to USCIS in a number of cases involving Burmese refugees, including many who have resettled in the U.S.,” said Sharon Rummery, a USCIS public affairs officer based in San Francisco.

She said in an email that the USCIS sent 1,000 requests for interviews nationwide that “will help determine the refugee’s immigration status or eligibility for future immigration benefits.”

The interviews are voluntary, but Sui said that she thinks consequences are possible if the refugees do not go.

Most of the people that received letters have similar names, and Sui said recent attention by President Donald Trump to the process of petitioning for family members might be a factor.

Trump has called for an end to "chain migration," saying on Jan. 30 that “under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives."

Neither U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents can directly petition for an aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, in-law or grandparent to come to the United States. But once a parent is accepted, for example, they could petition for a sibling, through the process for each step can take years.