US Immigration Policy and the Normalization of Military Rule in Myanmar |
On November 24, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it had terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Burmese nationals. Secretary Kristi Noem justified the decision by claiming that conditions had “improved enough” to make the return safe, citing the military’s declared end to its state of emergency, plans for elections, and what DHS described as “notable progress in governance and stability.”
That assessment stands in direct contradiction to Washington’s own policy positions. Just one week before the DHS announcement, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Myanmar reiterated that the junta’s planned upcoming election is a “sham,” echoing warnings from the European Union and independent experts and researchers. How DHS concluded that Myanmar is suddenly safe, while the rest of the U.S. institutions continue to denounce the regime’s political process as illegitimate, remains unanswered.
To Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, the DHS description borders on Myanmar military propaganda and was subsequently slammed by U.N. experts, including Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar. It also reflects the quiet normalization of military rule. In addition to misrepresenting reality, this move will have profound consequences for Burmese communities in the United States and the U.S. as a global normative actor.
Nearly five years after the military seized power, Myanmar remains under a regime that arrested the elected president, Win Myint, imprisoned its de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, dissolved parliament, and........