Trump administration's budget cuts endanger foreign journalists working in US
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump's recent executive order to dismantle the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has put foreign journalists in America in grave danger.
The move threatens their jobs and legal status, as it puts funding for media outlets like Radio Free Asia (RFA), which offer uncensored news coverage around the world, in jeopardy.
Impending budget cuts could mean deportation or persecution of these journalists when they return home.
Deportation concerns
Journalists fear deportation amid budget cuts
Cambodian journalists Vuthy Tha and Hour Hum, who fled to the US on work visas after spending seven years in Thailand, are now uncertain about their jobs and legal status.
The duo was bringing unbiased news coverage to audiences in Cambodia via Radio Free Asia.
They fear deportation to Cambodia, a single-party state hostile to independent media, where they could be persecuted for their journalistic work.
Safety at risk
Trump administration's cuts threaten journalists' safety
The Trump administration's moves to dismantle or shrink federal agencies have already led to mass firings and leaves. But cuts to USAGM are particularly alarming: it could lead to the deportation of journalists who have defied authoritarian regimes, completing a US mission of delivering pro-democracy programming.
Reporters Without Borders and 36 human rights organizations warn that at least 84 USAGM journalists in America on work visas could be deported; 23 are at serious risk of arrest on return.
Intervention needed
Advocacy groups call for intervention
Thibaut Bruttin, Director General of Reporters Without Borders, condemned the betrayal of journalists willing to risk their lives to reveal repression in their countries.
He called on Congress to take responsibility for protecting these reporters and all USAGM-funded outlets.
The State Department said it is coordinating with USAGM on imprisoned journalists and condemning unjust detentions for exercising freedom of expression.
Legal action
Journalists take legal action against Trump's order
Many journalists from Voice of America (VOA), another news service run by USAGM, have sued Trump's order in federal court.
The petition also includes two unnamed foreign journalists on temporary visas who would be at risk of imprisonment or physical danger if deported.
Meanwhile, RFA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, another USAGM-funded media outlet, have also sued for the restoration of funding.