Trump plans to slash U.S. refugee admissions to new low

[webfact]

Trump plans to slash U.S. refugee admissions to new low

By Kristina Cooke and Mica Rosenberg

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Duluth International Airport in Duluth, Minnesota, U.S., September 30, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration has announced plans to let only 15,000 refugees resettle in the United States in the 2021 fiscal year that began on Thursday, setting another record low in the history of the modern refugee program.

 

The U.S. State Department said late on Wednesday the ceiling reflects the Trump administration's prioritizing of the "safety and well-being of Americans, especially in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic." Trump, seeking re-election on Nov. 3, has taken a hard line toward legal and illegal immigration during his presidency, including slashing refugee admissions every year since taking office in 2017.

 

The Trump administration has said that refugees from war-torn regions should be resettled closer to their home countries and that the United States extends asylum to thousands of people through a separate process.

 

Critics have said that the United States under Trump has abandoned its longstanding role as a safe haven for persecuted people and that cutting refugee admissions undermines other foreign policy goals.

 

The refugee cap was cut to 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year that ended on Wednesday, and only 11,814 refugees were resettled, according to the latest government figures, as increased vetting by the Trump administration and the coronavirus pandemic slowed arrivals.

 

U.S. presidents typically set yearly refugee levels around the Oct. 1 beginning of each fiscal year. Under U.S. law, the president must consult Congress before finalizing the annual number of refugees it plans to accept, but the determination is ultimately set by the White House.

 

The 2021 plan lays out specific allocations, including 5,000 slots for refugees who suffered or fear persecution on the basis of religion, 4,000 slots for refugees from Iraq who helped the United States, and 1,000 slots for refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. That leaves 5,000 for all others.

 

Even though 4,000 slots were allocated for Iraqis affiliated with the United States during the 2020 fiscal year, only 123 had been resettled as of Sept. 25, according to government figures.

 

A law called the Refugee Act of 1980 created the modern U.S. refugee resettlement program. The cap set for refugees in the subsequent four decades has never been as low as the one planned for 2021. Before President Barack Obama left office, he set the cap for fiscal year 2017 at 110,000 refugees, but Trump slashed that in half soon after becoming president.

 

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has pledged to raise refugee admissions to 125,000 a year if he defeats Trump. Advocates have said the refugee program could take years to recover after Trump-era reductions.

 

Tens of thousands of refugees are in the pipeline for arrival to the United States, many with applications far along in the approval and vetting process.

 

Krish Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which helps resettle recently arrived refugees, wrote on Twitter that the Trump administration's cuts represent "a complete abdication of our moral duty and all that we stand for as a nation."

 

(Reporting by Kristina Cooke in Los Angeles and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Additional reporting by Mimi Dwyer in Los Angeles; Editing by Robert Birsel and Will Dunham)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-02

 

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[thaibeachlovers]

Perhaps Trump could make a deal that for every illegal immigrant deported a legal refugee would be allowed in- ie no increase in total numbers.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Perhaps Trump could make a deal that for every illegal immigrant deported a legal refugee would be allowed in- ie no increase in total numbers.

Trump can’t make any deal.

 

 

[Tug]

He won’t be around long enough to inforce it it’s just another dog whistle 

[Scott]

Off-topic post and replies removed.  

 

[spidermike007]

It does not mean anything. He will be gone, baby gone in three months. All he has done to destroy the US and its economy and trade, will be reversed with the exception of the lifetime court appointments. See ya Don! 

[Enzian]

What's the end game? you all want everyone in the <deleted> world to move here? And where did I sign up for this "moral duty"? 

My son in CA pointed out to me on the phone yesterday that in the 90s I was making $40/hr as a B license carpenter self-employed, and now his friends doing the same kind of work are getting like $27 and $35 per hour for the same kind of work, 25 years and inflation later. And we all know the reason, Central America and Mexico. And to be honest, I'd rather hire those guys than the average Americans, but that should never have been our choice. End of rant.

[simple1]

30 minutes ago, Enzian said:

What's the end game? you all want everyone in the <deleted> world to move here? And where did I sign up for this "moral duty"? 

My son in CA pointed out to me on the phone yesterday that in the 90s I was making $40/hr as a B license carpenter self-employed, and now his friends doing the same kind of work are getting like $27 and $35 per hour for the same kind of work, 25 years and inflation later. And we all know the reason, Central America and Mexico. And to be honest, I'd rather hire those guys than the average Americans, but that should never have been our choice. End of rant.

Think you will find the aim for trump's edict is UNHCR vetted refugees for resettlement, where the greatest numbers of refugees originate, though will have a flow on effect on Latinos. A number of UNHCR vetted refugees are Christian, so it will be interesting to see the US evangelical response who so far seem to have supported trump without question i.e. their hypocrisy concerning trump's unchristian policies to date.

[Boon Mee]

5 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Trump can’t make any deal.

 

 

Sure, and that's why he's been nominated three times now for the Nobel Peace Prize ???? for his deal-making acumen? 

[Enoon]

3 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Sure, and that's why he's been nominated three times now for the Nobel Peace Prize ???? for his deal-making acumen? 

He's not going to get one.

 

Loads of people are eligible to nominate.

 

It in no way indicates an endorsement by the committee.

 

Trumps nomination is not by any means the first, or most risible, hopeless nomination:

 

"Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was nominated twice: in 1945 for his effort to end World War II and again in 1948 by a professor from the Czech Republic. And fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was nominated in 1935 by two law professors, one from Germany and the other from France. (Adolf Hitler was nominated in 1939 — the nomination was later withdrawn — by “an anti-fascist member of the Swedish parliament who never intended his submission to be taken seriously,” according to Nobel archives.)"

 

Trump's Nobel Nonsense - FactCheck.org

 

Trumps latest friend?:

"On Sept. 9, Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a far-right Norwegian politician, announced on Fox News that he had nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize."

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Enoon

[Deli]

Quote

 

1 is already 1 too many. Look what happened to Europe, once they opened the floos gates.

[simple1]

8 minutes ago, Deli said:

1 is already 1 too many. Look what happened to Europe, once they opened the floos gates.

Entirely different situation. Resettlement refugees are fully vetted by UNHCR and US government agencies and visas for entry will manage the flow.

[jcsmith]

13 hours ago, Deli said:

1 is already 1 too many. Look what happened to Europe, once they opened the floos gates.

That's the most un-American statement ever. Immigration was a pillar of America. 

[Odysseus123]

13 hours ago, Deli said:

1 is already 1 too many. Look what happened to Europe, once they opened the floos gates.

Spoken by Tecumseh,I believe...

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, jcsmith said:

That's the most un-American statement ever. Immigration was a pillar of America. 

Previous immigrants were needed to tame this country. To supply man power for the industrial revolution. There were restrictions. Have you seen pics of Ellis Is. and how folks were treated. We are a land of immigrants who were needed for their labor. Folks to do labor not in much demand these days. If they can't be of service to this country, why should they come here.

[Scott]

26 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Previous immigrants were needed to tame this country. To supply man power for the industrial revolution. There were restrictions. Have you seen pics of Ellis Is. and how folks were treated. We are a land of immigrants who were needed for their labor. Folks to do labor not in much demand these days. If they can't be of service to this country, why should they come here.

I think you are getting mixed up between immigrants and refugees.   Refugees are people fleeing a country because of persecution.   They do not necessarily wish to leave.

[Enzian]

24 minutes ago, Scott said:

I think you are getting mixed up between immigrants and refugees.   Refugees are people fleeing a country because of persecution.   They do not necessarily wish to leave.

I still want to know the end game and why the US in its current form is obligated to relieve the suffering of the world, and why it is some but not others. Next door in Burma there are millions treated badly and could make a good case to relocate; I've met some in the border camps. The pollution in Manila shortens one's life by many years and gives reason to relocate. The evil of Hun Sen gives grounds to relocate at least a couple of million of Cambodians. I don't trust the whole process; it's token virtue signaling at best.

[Scott]

3 minutes ago, Enzian said:

I still want to know the end game and why the US in its current form is obligated to relieve the suffering of the world, and why it is some but not others. Next door in Burma there are millions treated badly and could make a good case to relocate; I've met some in the border camps. The pollution in Manila shortens one's life by many years and gives reason to relocate. The evil of Hun Sen gives grounds to relocate at least a couple of million of Cambodians. I don't trust the whole process; it's token virtue signaling at best.

Refugees are people who have a well-founded fear of persecution.  It has to fall into one of the 5 categories.  Because your poor or life is difficult or unpleasant does not qualify you.   But either way, the US President sets the number of REFUGEES who are admitted.  

 

[thaibeachlovers]

23 hours ago, jcsmith said:

That's the most un-American statement ever. Immigration was a pillar of America. 

The Native Americans would disagree with you.

[thaibeachlovers]

21 hours ago, Enzian said:

I still want to know the end game and why the US in its current form is obligated to relieve the suffering of the world, and why it is some but not others. Next door in Burma there are millions treated badly and could make a good case to relocate; I've met some in the border camps. The pollution in Manila shortens one's life by many years and gives reason to relocate. The evil of Hun Sen gives grounds to relocate at least a couple of million of Cambodians. I don't trust the whole process; it's token virtue signaling at best.

In my opinion, by allowing a few refugees in, the western world is using that as an excuse not to do anything about the tragic situation in some countries that make some choose to leave and move to a richer safer country.

 

 

[simple1]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

In my opinion, by allowing a few refugees in, the western world is using that as an excuse not to do anything about the tragic situation in some countries that make some choose to leave and move to a richer safer country.

 

 

trump is also cutting foreign aid

[thaibeachlovers]

22 hours ago, simple1 said:

trump is also cutting foreign aid

I'm sure you are aware that the US is in debt to the tune of several trillion $. Trump's responsibility is to the people of the US, not foreign citizens, IMO.

The US is not responsible for the whole world, IMO.

In the wake of corona economic destruction I expect many western countries will be reducing or eliminating their foreign aid as well.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'm sure you are aware that the US is in debt to the tune of several trillion $. Trump's responsibility is to the people of the US, not foreign citizens, IMO.

The US is not responsible for the whole world, IMO.

In the wake of corona economic destruction I expect many western countries will be reducing or eliminating their foreign aid as well.

 

 

Usual hyperbole from a trump supporter, never claimed US is responsible for the 'whole world', especially taking into account trump's isolationism (America First) polices. BTW foreign aid, more often than not, is aimed at contributing to fulfilling national security objectives by way of soft diplomacy, as well as creating work for the donor country population. Any reduction in foreign aid will be driven by right wing policy, not Covid related matters, though likely Covid will be used as cover.

Edited October 5, 2020 by simple1

[Morch]

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'm sure you are aware that the US is in debt to the tune of several trillion $. Trump's responsibility is to the people of the US, not foreign citizens, IMO.

The US is not responsible for the whole world, IMO.

In the wake of corona economic destruction I expect many western countries will be reducing or eliminating their foreign aid as well.

 

Unless much mistaken, Trump's policies made this debt grow. A lot. Trying to paint him as someone who is acquainted with the concept of fiscal responsibility is rich. And that's ignoring the way he handled his own various scams business ventures.