Resettlements at target

10,000th Syrian war refugee set to reach U.S. shores.

AMMAN, Jordan — The U.S. on Monday will reach its target of taking in 10,000 Syrian war refugees in a year-old resettlement program, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan said Sunday after meeting families headed to California and Virginia.

The resettlement program has emerged as an issue in the presidential campaign, with Republican Donald Trump alleging displaced Syrians pose a potential security threat.

Alice Wells, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan, said Sunday that the government is working to keep Americans safe as it takes in some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“Refugees are the most thoroughly screened category of travelers to the United States, and Syrian refugees are subject to even greater scrutiny,” she said.

Wells said the target of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S. in the 2016 fiscal year will be reached Monday as several hundred Syrians depart from Jordan.

Nadim Fawzi Jouriyeh, 49, a former construction worker from the war-ravaged Syrian city of Homs whose family is headed to San Diego, said he feels “fear and joy, fear of the unknown and our new lives, but great joy for our children’s lives and future.”

Jouriyeh, who suffers from heart problems, will be traveling with his wife, Rajaa, 42, and their four children.

The resettlement program focuses on the most vulnerable refugees, including those who were subjected to violence or torture or are sick.

Close to 5 million Syrians have fled civil war since 2011. Most struggle to survive in tough conditions in neighboring countries, including Jordan, which hosts close to 660,000 Syrian refugees.

RAAD ADAYLEH/AP Syrian refugee Nadim Fawzi Jouriyeh, 49, whose family is headed to San Diego, is flanked Sunday by two sons.