USA TODAY International Edition
Refugee admissions drop sharply
Program persists after rulings stop Trump orders, but arrivals nosedive
The number of refugees arriving in the U. S. has dropped sharply this year because of President Trump’s threats to bar their entry, even though his order for a total 120- day ban has been blocked twice by federal courts, a USA TODAY analysis of government figures shows.
The U. S. accepted 2,070 refugees in March, the lowest month- ly total since 2013, State Department data show. April ended with 3,316 refugees admitted, the second- lowest since 2013.
“The statements from this administration about refugees are shocking to me,” said Kay Bellor of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which resettled 13,000 refugees in 26 states last year. “It’s language I’ve never heard used with refugees, who have always enjoyed bipartisan support because they’re the best part of what the U. S. does.”
Refugees are a special class of migrants who seek asylum be- cause war, persecution or natural disasters have forced them to flee their home countries. Worldwide, there are more refugees than at any time since World War II as a result of so many regional conflicts, the United Nations says.
Faced with that crisis, President Obama increased the number of refugees the U. S. accepts each year from 70,000 in fiscal year 2015 to 85,000 in 2016 and a proposed 110,000 in 2017. That compares to about 1 million Ger- many accepted in the past year. Trump, however, wants to lower that number to 50,000 because of concerns that terrorists might pose as refugees to enter the U. S.
Trump’s executive orders in January and March suspended the refugee program in what he said was an effort to improve the vetting procedures.
A federal judge in Seattle blocked Trump’s original order, which included a 90- day ban on travelers from seven majorityMuslim nations. A federal judge in Hawaii blocked Trump’s second attempt to institute the travel ban just hours before it was set to go into effect March 15. The administration is appealing those
rulings that concluded the bans are unconstitutional.
The legal wrangling resulted in the refugee program being suspended for only seven days. But Trump’s order to reduce the annual cap for admissions to 50,000 remained in effect for nearly two months until blocked by the judge reviewing the revised ban in March. The State Department said it “adjusted the pace of refugee arrivals” simply to respond to the lowered refugee cap.
The U. S. has admitted more than 42,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017, which began Oct. 1. Fewer than 8,000 spots will be available in the five remaining months of the fiscal year if Trump’s ceiling is enforced.
Among the refugees whose admission to the U. S. are on hold is schoolteacher Ahmed Najafi, 32, who has spent two years in Turkey after fleeing Iraq because he became a Christian. His refugee status was recognized in August, and the International Catholic Migration Commission was handling his paperwork to be resettled in the U. S. But shortly after Trump announced his first travel ban, the agency “told me my case was deferred,” Najafi said. “But they never gave me any reason for this delay.
“For me, the delay is particularly hard because of my conversion to Christianity,” Najafi said. “My family no longer speaks to me, I’m shunned by other refugees from Baghdad ... and under Sharia ( Muslim law), people think that the right thing to do is kill me.”
Syrian refugee Mohammed Mohanna has been stuck for three years in Turkey, where he said that “it is very hard to live as an openly gay man.”
“It looked like I was going to America — at least that’s what UNCHR ( the United Nations refugee agency) told me in January,” said Mohanna, 36, an optometrist from Damascus. The International Organization for Migration “was working on my travel documents just days before the travel ban came in.”
“The resettlement agency said they were aware of the severity of my case but told me, ‘ There is nothing we can do to expedite your file,’ ” he said. “I need somebody to help me with this problem, not just say, ‘ Sorry, we know it’s difficult.’ ”
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Services, which advocates for lower immigration levels, said he is encouraged to see the administration slowing down the number of refugees entering the country. He said the U. S. should help refugees living abroad rather than reward a select few with admittance to the U. S.
“Do you feed one refugee caviar and the others get nothing, or do you feed all of them rice and beans?” he said. “Refugee resettlement is immoral.”
“The statements from this administration about refugees are shocking to me. It’s language I’ve never heard used with refugees, who have always enjoyed bipartisan support because they’re the best part of what the U. S. does.” Kay Bellor, of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
No matter how the courts ultimately rule on Trump’s travel ban, the president has authority to drastically lower the number of refugees admitted to the U. S.
The uncertainty is wreaking havoc not just on refugees hoping to reach the U. S. but on American workers who help them get there.
In March, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service’s local affiliates laid off about half of their resettlement staff — over 100 workers. Church World Service laid off 547 workers in March, mostly those processing refugee cases in Africa.
“The decision to reduce our staff was a direct result of these executive orders, which sabotage our ability to offer vital services, support and counsel to families seeking to rebuild their lives in safety,” said Church World Service president and CEO John McCullough.