White House officials are considering two options that would significantly decrease the number of refugees accepted into the US. One option would cut the refugee cap by at least half, to 10,000 to 15,000, reserving most of those spots for those who assisted the U.S. military abroad in places like Iraq or Afghanistan. A second option would reduce the number to zero while leaving discretion to the president. Both options were being weighed ahead of meeting on September 10 to discuss the number of refugees the president will decide to admit this year. There are more refugees now than ever before, and either of these options would solidify that the U.S. is no longer a world leader in accepting refugees. Some officials have not announced their recommendations for the annual number of refugees. Meanwhile, many retired military members have implored the president to refrain from cutting the number of refugees further, focusing on the important national security interests in the refugee program.
– Weekly Immigration Briefing by Olivia Hester, Immigration Law Analyst at Docketwise
Posted in: Immigration
posted on: September 20, 2019