Asylum
seekers protest the closure of their detention center on Manus
Island, Papua New Guinea on Oct. 31, 2017.
Australia Broadcasting Coroporation via AP,
File
Dozens of refugees detained by Australia are headed to
the US as part of a
resettlement deal with the
US.
President Donald Trump has been critical of the deal in
the past.
The refugee resettlements come as the full picture of
immigration reform in the US remains in flux.
Dozens of refugees detained by Australia and held in the Manus
Island detention center have been sent for resettlement in the
US.
A group of around 40 refugees, predominantly single men, have
left for New York, news outlet
The Australian reported.Eighteen additional refugees are
expected to fly to the US next month, according to aid groups.
More than 1,500 asylum-seekers still remain on the islands,
according to The Australian.
Fifty-four refugees were resettled in the US last
September after the US agreed to resettle up to 1,250
refugees from Australian-run camps. In exchange, Australia agreed
to accept a
small number of Central American refugees.
The deal was originally agreed upon between the Obama and
Turnbull administrations. President Donald Trump has been
critical of the resettlement plan.
In a
tweet last year, Trump said Obama had agreed to take in
"thousands of illegal immigrants" and called it a "dumb deal."
Trump expressed his displeasure with the deal in a phone
conversation with Turnbull last year, according to phone
transcripts obtained by
The Washington Post. Trump said the US-Australia resettlement
deal makes the US "look awfully bad."
Australia officially shut down operations at Manus Island last
October.
Police stormed the center and forced asylum seekers and
refugees to move elsewhere on the island in Papa New Guinea.
New Zealand has previously offered to take 150 refugees from
Manus Island. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he
would consider the offer after the US completed its refugee
transfers.
Unresolved immigration reform in the US
The refugee resettlements come as the full picture of immigration
reform in the US remains in flux.
Trump has sought to implement a travel ban on some predominantly
Muslim countries, an effort that has
faced multiple court challenges.
The White House has also significantly upped its deployment of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers under Trump's
promise to
crackdown on illegal immigration.
Additionally, the fate of some 700,000 people protected under the
Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program
remains unresolved.
Trump said in September that he planned to put an end to the DACA
program, which gives temporary protection to some individuals
brought to the US illegally as minors.
This month, a US judge
temporarily halted the Trump administration's moves to shut
down the program.
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