Simon Cox Blog: This Will Be America’s Worst Year on Record for Refugee Resettlement

Thursday, 20 September 2018

This Will Be America’s Worst Year on Record for Refugee Resettlement

The administration says there is a genocide happening to Christians in Iraq. Only 18 of them have been given resettlement in America this year.

Only 30,000 refugees will be allowed to resettle in the United States next year, per a new ceiling imposed by the president. The slash in the number of permitted refugees marks a dramatic decrease from the 45,000-person ceiling last year. For three decades before that, the resettlement ceiling hadn’t dropped below 70,000.

The policy shift was announced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday, and refugee advocates were quick to push back.

“This repeated reduction in the number of refugees allowed into the US is incredibly troubling,” said World Relief CEO Tim Breene following Pompeo’s announcement. “Not only is it a continuation of a series of unprecedented attacks on our American values and on the humanitarian nature of the refugee resettlement program, but it falls far short of helping the large number of vulnerable people around the world.”

Joe S. Vásquez, chair of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, called the decrease “deeply disturbing” and said it “leaves many human lives in danger.”

“To cut off protection for many who are fleeing persecution, at a time of unprecedented global humanitarian need, contradicts who we are as a nation,” he said.

Pompeo, who initially argued to keep the number stable at 45,000, defended the administration’s change, asserting it was actually a positive reflection of American values.

“Our proposal of resettling up to 30,000 refugees under a new ceiling reflects the United States’ longstanding record as the most generous nation in the world for protection-based immigration and assistance,” he said.

The feud over resettlement numbers comes as the number of ...