Faith groups decry federal plans for a record low refugee cap
SAN DIEGO » Refugee advocates, including faithbased groups that President Donald Trump is courting in his re- election bid, called on Congress Thursday to halt his administration’s plans to slash the limit on refugees allowed into the U. S. to a record low, saying it goes against America’s values.
In a notice sent to Congress late Wednesday, just 34 minutes before a statutory deadline to do so, the government unveiled its proposal to allow 15,000 refugees into the country in the fiscal year that started Thursday.
The number is 3,000 fewer than the historically low ceiling of 18,000 that Trumpset for thefiscal year that ended Wednesday.
Scott Arbeiter, president of World Relief, a global Christian aid agency, said Trump has reneged on his promise to protect persecuted Christians in the world.
“Instead, we’ve seen the resettlement of refugees from countries known for persecution drop about 90% in some cases over the last four years,” Arbeiter said in a statement. “This is unconscionable.”
The administration’s plan was released as Trump vilified refugees as an unwanted burden for the country at a campaign rally in Duluth, Minnesota. He assailed his challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, who has vowed to raise the ceiling on refugee admissions to 125,000 if elected.
“Biden will turn Minnesota into a refugee camp, and he said that — overwhelming public resources, overcrowding schools and inundating hospitals. You know that. It’s already there. It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to your state,” Trump told supporters.
The Council on American- Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, denounced the chipping away of the refugee program as part of “the ongoing Trump administration effort to maintain systemic anti-Black racism and white supremacy.”
Since taking office, Trump has cut the number of refugees allowed into the country by more than 80%, reflecting his broader efforts to drastically reduce legal and illegal immigration.