The Committee to Protect Journalists joined PEN America and other partner organizations in a joint letter Tuesday urging Congress to take immediate action to protect journalists affiliated with the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) outlets — such as Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — from the risk of deportation.
USAGM-affiliated journalists face serious threats, imprisonment, and persecution in their home countries due to their reporting on politically sensitive issues. The situation has been exacerbated by the Trump administration’s move to dismantle USAGM and by delays in immigration processing. The letter calls on Congress to press the State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to prevent deportations and to secure the legal status of these journalists. Protecting them, the letter emphasizes, is a moral obligation and a vital stand for press freedom and democratic values.
Read the full letter here.