I was struck by a recent article in Christianity Today, The Trump-Era Laughter at Immigrant Suffering Is Deforming Our Souls, by Russell Moore. The article discusses the “funny” memes, songs, and jokes posted by the White House and DHS, mocking Haitians, Venezuelans, and others as they are detained and deported from our country. Mr. Moore’s main thesis is that whether you support or oppose our government’s immigration policies, laughing at the suffering of non-citizens is corrosive to the individual doing the laughing and to American society writ large. “What we learn to laugh at,” Mr. Moore writes, “trains our consciences to enjoy and not to recoil from what once would have shocked us.”
Of course, I agree with Mr. Moore, and for me, the article raises some questions: What is the purpose of mocking immigrants? Who are these jokes meant for? Do they serve their intended purpose? And probably most important, how can we move beyond this cruel moment?
As Mr. Moore notes, laughter can have diametrically opposing meanings:
Laughter can be joyous and life-giving. But as with most beautiful things, when twisted, laughter can be the ugliest thing in the world. Jesus was hailed by crowds amid great laughter, yes, but he was crucified to the sound of laughter too. The soldiers dressed Jesus up in mock kingly costumery—and made fun of him, enjoying his degradation.
In Mr. Moore’s example, the soldiers mocked Jesus during his most desperate moment. Why? Perhaps it was a way to distinguish the “in” group from the “out” group, those with power from those without power. But I suspect it was something more fundamental. By ridiculing his suffering, the soldiers sought to deny the truth that Jesus represented. It was a way to reject who Jesus was and what he stood for. As that old wag Dan Aykroyd mused, “We mock what we don’t understand.” Here, the soldiers’ laughter allowed them to avoid engaging with the substance of Jesus’s message.
What, then, is the intention of the White House and DHS in mocking immigrants? For one, it offers a raison d’être for ICE agents, USCIS officers, Immigration Judges, and others working in immigration enforcement. If we convince ourselves that non-citizens are bad people, it is easier to treat them poorly. Also, it is a way to separate “us” from “them,” the good from the bad, and in many cases, the white from the non-white. It invites “us” to join in the fun, and by participating (actively or passively), we signal that we’re members of the club. Most insidiously, by degrading non-citizens and encouraging all of us to pile on, the memes and jokes are meant to dehumanize the targeted populations.
This same tactic was used by the Nazis against Jews and by Hutu militias against Tutsis, among many others. And while I don’t think we’re on the precipice of genocide, we’ve certainly become inured to non-citizens dying in ICE custody. According to its own data, 35 people died in ICE detention in FY 2026 (so far), compared with 12 in FY 2024 and four in FY 2023. On top of that, thousands of families have been torn apart and millions of non-citizens and their loved ones are living in fear. Dehumanizing people allows us to laugh at their pain, and serves as a gateway to much worse.
Are the Administration’s little jokes working? The available data suggests that they are not. Gallup polling from June 2026 finds that 39% of Americans favor or strongly favor deporting all illegal immigrants, while 58% oppose or strongly oppose that proposition. In June 2024, 47% favored or strongly favored deporting all illegal immigrants and 51% opposed or strongly opposed the idea. In other words, Americans’ attitudes toward deporting unlawful immigrants has shifted away from the Trump Administration’s position. While this is a positive development, I imagine it is cold comfort to the people who are daily harmed by our government’s assault on immigrants.
So it seems that the images of ICE agents harming people and tearing families apart has marginally shifted public opinion in favor of non-citizens. What more can we advocates do to counter our government’s efforts to dehumanize immigrants (and others)? There is obviously no magic solution, especially in this age of disinformation, but we are not powerless either. First, we should continue doing what is working–shining a light on the Administration’s cruelty, the harm it is causing non-citizens and their families, and the harm it is causing to our country. Second, we need to keep challenging the Administration’s lies. Telling these lies is intellectual dishonesty; choosing to believe them is intellectual cowardice. We can’t force people to believe as we do, but we can help give them tools to understand when they are being lied to, and to be intellectually courageous enough to question the government’s propaganda. Third, as Mr. Moore does, we need to make the moral case for treating people humanely. Whether that morality is based on religious tenets or secular values, it’s pretty basic that each of us–and especially our powerful government–should do unto others as we would have done to us. Finally, I think we need to reflect on who we want to be, and remember that how we behave towards others largely defines who we are.
All this takes courage. The intellectual courage to seek out the truth in the face of the Administration’s lies, and the moral courage to stand up to our government’s demeaning “humor.” Such courage is more necessary now than ever, for the sake of our non-citizen neighbors and for us all.
HI Jason
Sometime back you mentioned where we can enter our Alien on a website to see if we have any issues under our number to return to USA.
Please kindly can you mention that Alien number for me.
Thank you
I am not sure what you are referring to. There is a website where you can check whether you have a removal order – you can follow the link under Resources called EOIR Case Status and enter you Alien number and country to see that. Take care, Jason
Hello Jason hope you are doing well,
I have found out recently that all men except for few cases should register for selective services, up until age of 26 when they are in us. I came to US at age 21 and applied for asylum after around 10 months. I was out of status for couple months in between. But i never knew about selective services and never was informed about it. My friends say they were registered when they were in dmv but i dont recall dmv ever asking to register for selective services. On the website i checked it says i am not registered and people say its an issue and will have problems naturalizing. I am 29 years old now and waiting for interview decision for a while now. Can you pls give advise what can be done at this point
I do not know if it is possible to register late; I think it is not. In the past, for clients who failed to register, we provide a brief explanation (usually that they did not know about the obligation) and that has been ok. These days, when USCIS is looking for excuses to deny citizenship, you may need to provide more, but I have not dealt with this issue since the second Trump Administration came into office. If you have a naturalization interview coming up, you should probably talk with a lawyer about how to approach this issue in the current environment. If you are still waiting for your asylum interview, I doubt that you will be asked about selective service. I have never had a client asked about that. If you are asked, you would need to explain that you did not know and that once you learned about it, you tried to register. If you have any evidence of that, such as a screen shot of the website that shows you cannot register, you can include that as part of your evidence. You might also be able to go to a selective service office to ask about this issue in person, or maybe you can call and talk to someone, but I do not know about that, sorry. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason,
I am a past client of yours from 2019 and am eligible to apply for citizenship, but a little worried about a past discrepancy I discovered between I485 and I589 when preparing N400 as the relevant questions were quite different.
I’ve emailed you about this with more details but really hoping for some clarity on how to do handle a situation like this. Feels a bit like a rug pull as I didn’t realize until now.
I replied to your email earlier today, so you should have that. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason,
I was your client at your previous office before you joined the Osorio Law Firm since Aug 2018, and had my asylum interview on Feb 2023. I understand that you are no longer with that firm, and I wanted to reach out because I have a question and would really appreciate your honest advice.
As you know, you were the biggest reason I felt comfortable staying with your office and never doubting my case. I had a lot of trust in you and in the way you handled my case.
Now that my case is with this office and you are no longer there, I’m honestly not sure how to evaluate whether they have enough experience handling Afghan cases. I’m also concerned about what would happen if my case were transferred to immigration court or if something more serious happened, such as ICE detention. In that situation, how can I make sure that the attorneys at the firm would be able and willing to support me and handle my case properly?
I’m sorry if this question is too direct or inappropriate. I just don’t have much knowledge about the firm or their experience with cases like mine, and I would feel much more comfortable hearing your honest opinion.
Thank you for understanding, and I really appreciate any guidance you can give me.
Hopefully, you will just receive a positive decision in your case, but if not, or if you are detained, the firm can assist. They do a lot of Afghan cases, and they work on many cases for people who get detained, including federal litigation (which I did not do). You should be assigned to a paralegal and a lawyer, and you may want to reach out to them just so you have their contact info in case you need it. Otherwise, I do not think there is anything else to do at this time except wait for the decision. Take care, Jason
Just wondering, based on the current situation is it safe to travel to third countries with RTD ( Asylee/Pending GC) ?
I have not heard about anyone in this situation having a problem, as long as they do not have a criminal record and are not being accused of fraud. Otherwise, it should be safe.Take care, Jason
Hi, I have a question about my Green Card case.
I filed my I-485 based on asylum granted by the Boston Immigration Court in April 2022. USCIS received my I-485 on April 5, 2023.
I had my I-485 interview at the Lawrence, MA USCIS office about a month ago. I still haven’t received a decision, and my USCIS online account has not updated to show that I had an interview. The last update is still related to the RFE I previously responded to.
Is this normal? Since my I-485 has been pending since April 2023, should I submit a case inquiry now, or should I wait longer after the interview?
Thank you.
Unfortunately, a delay like this is pretty normal, as many asylees have had their I-485 cases move slowly.I am not sure there is a lot you can do about the delay, as USCIS will claim that the delay is for enhanced security checks (which is utter nonsense in my opinion). Maybe you want to ask your Congress person to inquire for you, as that may be the most effective thing you can do at this stage – you can find their contact info if you follow the link under Resources called House or Representatives or Senate. Take care, Jason
Also her claim started with her spouse’s family trying to take her child away for FGM. She also fear the family persecuting her for refusing to submit her child for FGM
Where a person fears that she may be harmed because her family wants to take her children for FGM, and where the person previously had been a victim of FGM, this seems to me to present a strong case for asylum based on “other serious harm.” I think I discussed that scenario in the article I referenced previously. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason,
A friend who USCIS determined meets the refugee definition but referred her case to court based on fundamental change which they attributed to her being an FGM victim, an act they claim cannot be repeated. The friend has since updated her case to include individualized country report evidence , documented FGM sequelae and psychological report that diagnosed PTSD, MDD and general anxiety disorder. The case is set for next month. Cross service and response deadline has expired and DHS filed nothing. I just want to know, what could be the effect of DHS filing nothing here?
DHS usually files nothing in court cases, so that is normal. The decision your friend received from the asylum office was not a good one, and the argument they used against her (that the harm was already done, so she can’t be circumcised again) is based on some assumptions that are probably false: (1) she won’t suffer “other serious harm” in her country based on being a woman or based on any other reason and (2) she is not suffering ongoing harm from the FGM that allows her to qualify for asylum based on “humanitarian asylum.” I wrote about FGM and “other serious harm” asylum on March 26, 2012 and maybe that article could give her some ideas. If she has not done so, she should talk to her lawyer about “humanitarian asylum,” as people who have FGM often use that argument to overcome DHS’s claim that a person who was already circumcised does not have a fear of future harm in her country. Take care, Jason
Thank you Jason. Yes, she already worked with a Lawyer and her case has been improved with additional evidence from her PCP listing the medical issues she is currently facing and the psychological report was also updated and diagnosed PTSD, MDD and general anxiety. Country conditions experts were also engaged. Regards
Those things sound like they will cover “humanitarian asylum,” but she might also want to think about the legal theory of “other serious harm” asylum, if she has not already done so, as that can be a good basis to overcome the objections she faced from the government at the asylum office. Take care, Jason
Thank you. The attorney also raised religion persecution as she is a convert from Islam to Christianity and Christians in her country are currently facing serious persecution. Regards
Thank you for the platform and the resources it provides to help with asylum-seeker preparation. I’m writing on behalf of my family and me. We arrived in 2017 and filed Affirmative Asylum the following month. My daughter is currently 16 years. She has already completed her fingerprint appointment at the USCIS-designated office in 2017. We are hoping for an in-person interview soon. Should I register my daughter with CBP or any other websites for her registration? My other son is 14 and also completed the fingerprint registration with us back in 2017 as well.
If your children are already included a dependents on your asylum case, there is nothing more you need to do, especially since they already did their fingerprint appointments. I do not know of any registration with CBP and so I think nothing needs to be done there. Take care, Jason
I am a green card holder based on an approved asylum case. My asylum was approved in 2019, and I received my green card in 2022. I applied for naturalization about three months ago.
This morning, I received a notification from USCIS regarding my asylum case receipt number, even though the case was already approved in 2019. The notification says:
“We reached a decision on your application. You should expect to receive the decision shortly.”
This is the exact same notification I received back in 2019 when USCIS originally approved my asylum case.
I’m confused about why I would receive this notification now, especially since the asylum case was already approved several years ago. Could this be related to my pending naturalization application, or does it indicate that USCIS has reopened or taken some action on my old asylum case?
I would really appreciate any insight
Many people are receiving this same notice and it seems to be a USCIS error. I know one lawyer whose firm received more than 60 such notices. I think you can ignore this message. If there are additional messages from USCIS, you will have to see what they say, but I think this particular message is meaningless and can be ignored. Take care, Jason
Good afternoon,
I am in the same situation of you. Any updates? Have you received anything?
Thanks,
Regards,
Hi Jason,
Can an asylee use INA §245(k) for an EB-2 NIW I-485?
My immigration timeline:
1. Entered the U.S. in F-1 status in Aug. 2021
2. Filed for asylum in May 2022
3. Continuously maintained F-1 status while asylum was pending
4. SEVIS stayed Active; no termination/reinstatement
5. No unauthorized employment and never used a C08 EAD
6. Asylum was granted in Feb. 2025 while I was still maintaining valid F-1 status
7. I have never left the U.S. since my 2021 F-1 admission
8. My asylum status remains valid and unrevoked
9. I’m considering filing an EB-2 NIW I-485.
My understanding is that asylee status is not “lawful nonimmigrant status,” so INA §245(c)(7) would apply on its face. However, INA §245(k) can exempt certain employment-based applicants from §245(c)(7) if they have not accumulated more than 180 days of status violations, unauthorized employment, etc. since their most recent lawful admission.
USCIS Policy Manual also refers to failure to maintain “lawful immigration status” for the §245(k) calculation, and asylees are listed as being in lawful immigration status.
So in a direct F-1 → granted asylum transition with no status gap or unauthorized employment, would the asylee period count as lawful status for §245(k), making the countable violation period effectively 0 days?
I do not see why you need to use IN A 245(k). That section only worked in certain areas of the US, as different USCIS offices seemed to have different policies, and lately, it seems like it is not working anywhere. That said, it would be easier to adjust status based on your approved asylum, rather than EB2. I guess it is possible that the EB2 would be faster, but if you get the GC based on asylum, your card will be back-dated one year, which will probably get you to US citizenship faster. Also, an EB2 GC would be subject to the new public charge rules, which are burdensome, and those rules do not apply to an adjustment based on asylum. Finally, applying based on asylum is less expensive, as you do not need to pay for the I-140. I guess I just don’t see any advantage to applying based on EB2 rather than approved asylum. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason,
Jason, thanks for your reply. Do you mean for my situation, I don’t even need 245(k) exemption for EB2 based I-485? I’ve already filed asylee based I-485 this March, I am considering file another EB2 based I-485 as the processing time is much shorter.
Since you have asylum, you should be eligible to adjust status based on asylum status. Also, 245(k) is for people whose status has expired and that is not you, since you have status (i.e., asylee). I do not think it is a great idea to have two I-485 forms pending at the same time. I would talk to a lawyer before trying that, so the lawyer can look at your specific situation. I have never done that for a client, and I suspect it might cause confusion with USCIS, and also that it is unlikely to make things faster. Take care, Jason
Hello sir, i have been in usa for 14 years i have asylum pending for quite a while, i filed after one year after finishing school. I have passport of my home country, i want to voluntary leave usa and go back to my home. I don’t wish to continue my asylum case. My old parents are sick and im the only child. i dont wanna go through withdrawing case and stuff. Can i just simply leave by booking flight ticket and fly back or will ice arrest me at airport ( even though im voluntarily leaving ) have you heard reports of people deported or arrested while self deporting. Also im not eligible to use cbp app
I have heard about a few cases where the person was trying to leave and got detained. I do not have details about those cases, and so I do not know if the person may have had criminal issues or a prior deportation order. That said, I think you should be eligible to use the CBP One app and it may be worth another try. In at least one case, ICE was going to detain a person who was leaving, but when ICE saw that the person had used the CBP One app, they allowed the person to leave. Also, it is really pretty easy to withdraw a case after you leave the US, and so you may want to do that, as it would make it easier to return to the US if you ever want to do that. I wrote about withdrawing on December 7, 2022. Take care, Jason
Check
My status show decision mailed , check i94 still same is that sign that I’m referred to court ?
Many people are receiving online notices that a decision was mailed. Many of these people have already received asylum; some receipt asylum years ago. It seems that this is an error from USCIS. In your particular case, I am not sure if that is part of the same error, or if a decision was actually mailed. You can check whether your case was referred to court if you follow the link under Resources called EOIR Case Status. I suppose you can also send an email to the asylum office, though they often do respond. You can find their email if you follow the link under Resources called Asylum Office Locator. Otherwise, you will have to wait to see if you get a decision in the mail. Good luck, Jason
How long need to be update on EOIR after decision is mailed I had interview 2 weeks ago , or does I94 old stay in system , because my status is Changed today,
I applied in 2016
The timing of decisions is not predictable. Sometimes, they take days; other times, they take years. However, if you had your interview 2 weeks ago, it is certainly possible that they are issuing a decision and you will get something in the mail soon. Take care, Jason
Hi Jason, hope you doing well.
My question is back in my home country I only attended my church services and nothing else , I was not part of any other organization or any other group, by mistake I checked Yes on this box. page 9.
(Part 8 General eligibility and in admissibility grounds.)
(have you ever been a member of involved in or in any way associated with organization Association fund Foundation party club Society or similar group in the United States or in any other location in the world including any military service.)
My application is submitted and I need to know how I can fix this error.
Thank you very much.
This does not seem like a mistake to me. You were involved with your church and that is the type of information the question is asking about. You can always submit some additional explanation if you think that is needed. If you think the explanation will be long or involved, it is best to submit it in writing before the interview, or if it is just a short clarification, you can tell the officer at the interview. Take care, Jason
Thank you Jason, I hope this affiliation question do not disqualify me or make me ineligible with the bar for getting a greencard.
Based on what you wrote, I can’t imagine that would be the case, but if you are worried about it, you can talk about the specifics of the situation with a lawyer to see what they think is the best approach. Take care, Jason
Thanks for your help Jason. Quick question, what it means if you receive an uscis email alert that a decision has been made and mailed out on your already approved asylum since 2020?
Apparently, this is happening to many people. It seems to be an error on USCIS’s part, and unless you hear something more from USCIS, I think you can safely ignore that message. Take care, Jason