On Monday, the Governor of New Hampshire, fellow Republican Chris Sununu, made a public request to President Donald Trump to end the attempt to deport 69 Christians from Indonesia. The group is living in the state illegally after fleeing violence in their home country 20 years ago.
The group has been living near the coast of the state after a deal, reached in 2010 with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), enabling them to stay, as long as they attended check-ins with US immigration officials at regular intervals and handed over their passports. But, in August, group members arriving for scheduled meetings at the Manchester, New Hampshire ICE office, were told to buy one-way tickets back to their home nation.
Sununu’s office made his letter to the President, sent on Friday, public on Monday. In the letter, Sununu requested reconsideration of the decision to deport the Indonesian immigrants by the Trump administration and urged them instead to pass a resolution to enable them to remain in the US. Some group members, who are all ethnic Chinese, told Reuters that they believe discrimination and even violence will be waiting for them in their own country, which contains the largest Muslim nation in the world.
Sununu says that while he agrees with the need to cut down on illegal immigration to the US, the legal immigration process should also be made more practical and streamlined.