1. Declared a national emergency at the southern US border and will deploy additional personnel and restart border wall construction.
2. Suspended refugee resettlement, without an end date.
3. Canceled asylum appointments, humanitarian parole, and detaining and/or removing those who violate federal law.
4. Empowered officials to "repeal, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged in the invasion" of the southern border.
5. Ended birthright citizenship for those born in the US to parent(s) who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents.

There are additional executive orders that also may affect immigration, such as designating cartels as terrorist organizations, additional vetting measures for visas, deploying the US military to the border, and trade policy that has implications for work visas.

as of 1/21/25

While any immigrant is at risk for detainment, questioning, and/or deportation, there are a number of groups we work with at Treetops that are at heightened risk because of how they arrived or where they are from. As of April 2025, the following groups have been named specifically:

• Afghans
• Cubans
• Haitians
• Nicaraguans
• South Sudanese
• Ukrainians
• Venezuelans

The following are policies and announcements that currently affect immigrants and refugees that we work with at Treetops:

• No new applications for benefits, asylum, temporary protected status (TPS), or other statuses are being processed for those on humanitarian parole. Those with humanitarian parole revoked will not be able to seek another status and so are at risk for deportation.
• Legal support is prohibited for unaccompanied minors and funding has been canceled for certain organizations. According to MIRC, this order affects 800 children in Michigan.
• Detaining legal residents without due process and in some cases, sending them to El Salvador prison or deporting them. 
• Revoking international student visas without notice or reason.
• Registration requirements, regardless of status.
• Canceling funding for English-language learning support. Locally affecting West Michigan Literacy Center.
• Use of the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 is allowed by supreme court enabling detainment and deportation without due process.
• 75% of Venezuelan migrants sent to El Salvador prison do not have criminal records.
• IRS will share records of undocumented immigrants to DHS.
• Revoked visas and travel for all South Sudan passport holders.

As of 4/10/25

As always, Treetops takes a posture of listening to understand deeply the needs of our community and how best to respond.

Leaders and staff connected to community members share resources, information, and support. Treetops continually provides training and education on the rapidly changing recommendations from immigration law experts.

The Collective Care team is training and working with local agencies to fill gaps in resettlement support for refugees currently in their initial months.

Review this document in English from Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) that helps answer important questions, explains immigrant rights, and how to respond if someone is approached, questioned, or arrested.

Also available in the following languages:

• Arabic
• Bangla
• Dari
• French
• Kinyarwanda
• Pashto
• Spanish

Know Your Rights Mini Cards are available in these langauges:

• Haitian Creole
• Nepali
• Somali
• Swahili
• Tigrinya

Note: This is not legal advice and does not substitute for consultation with an attorney.

The short answer is no. This fact sheet from the ACLU about sanctuary congregations for faith communities answers a lot of questions about the legality of harboring or assisting an undocumented immigrant.

Yes! The Kent County Welcome Plan has a lot of resources on their page about passports, travel, citizenship classes, Know Your Rights pamphlets, and legal service providers.

616-221-5542: Free Immigration Services Hotline

Kent County Know Your Rights Guide

Michigan Immigrant Rights Center

Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates (Michigan)

1. Call your representatives and share your opinion on recent immigration policy changes.
2. Donate to local organizations that support refugees and immigrants, like Treetops.
3. Volunteer in your community with organizations that provide support or advocacy for immigrants.
4. March, protest, write, and advocate on behalf of immigrants and refugees on your social media, at work, and with your friends and family.