US vows to help Europe, but will it take in more migrants?

[webfact]

US vows to help Europe, but will it take in more migrants?
By BRADLEY KLAPPER and ALICIA A. CALDWELL

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration wants to help its allies across the Atlantic with an escalating migrant crisis, but is unlikely to open America's doors to vast numbers of Syrian and other refugees arriving each day by the thousands in Europe.

While Germany braces for some 800,000 asylum seekers this year, many of whom are fleeing Syria's civil war, the U.S. isn't saying if it will increase its worldwide quota for resettling refugees from 70,000. Only a fraction of those would be Syrians, who must first navigate a multiyear application process before learning if they can start a new life in the United States.

Secretary of State John Kerry plans to brief members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees on Wednesday about how many Syrian refugees the U.S. is willing to take in.

When it comes to the current migrant challenge, the U.S. and Europe are clearly in different places. Whereas the United States is separated by an ocean from the Middle East and North Africa, Europe's place adjacent to one of the world's most volatile regions makes it an obvious destination for people fleeing war, persecution and poverty. And there are no gut-wrenching images of refugees drowning while trying to swim or smuggle their way across 3,000 miles of open sea.

Still, a spokesman for the National Security Council said Monday the U.S. was "actively considering" steps to alleviate the situation in Europe, where more than 340,000 people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia now have arrived. Beyond Syria, many are also fleeing parts of Iraq that are under the Islamic State group's control.

The spokesman, Peter Boogaard, said the steps could include "refugee resettlement" and White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Tuesday said a "range of approaches" was being studied. But as for taking more Syrians and others in, Earnest said, "There is a process for doing this."

That process, as it currently stands, is slow. Refugees wait around three years to find out if they can move to the United States, meaning Washington wouldn't be able to offer quick assistance. Throughout Syria's 4½-year civil war, the U.S. has accepted only about 1,500 Syrians — a tiny percentage of the 11.6 million people who have been chased out of the country or uprooted from their homes by the conflict.

On Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton called for a "concerted global effort" to assist the refugees, in an interview with The Associated Press. Washington has spearheaded such efforts previously.

After the fall of Saigon in 1975, the U.S. accepted more than 1 million refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. In 1999, tens of thousands of mostly Muslim Kosovar Albanians were flown to the U.S., processed at Fort Dix in New Jersey and ultimately resettled. During the Iraq war, more than 50,000 refugees were allowed to come under a special, expedited program for people whose religious beliefs or past work for the U.S. military put their lives at risk.

But what those situations involved and Syria's may lack is a sense of U.S. responsibility. Refugee operations in Southeast Asia followed years of U.S. warfare there, as did the decision to take in tens of thousands of Iraqis over the last decade. Many Americans will feel differently about taking large numbers of Syrians displaced by a war that the United States has tried hard to avoid.

Asked directly if the Obama administration felt responsible to share Europe's refugee burden, Earnest stressed U.S. support thus far: $4 billion provided in humanitarian aid, more than any other country, and ongoing diplomatic work to resolve Syria's conflict peacefully. The diplomacy appears nowhere near ending violence that started in 2011 with a government crackdown on political opponents, spawning an armed insurgency, and led to Islamic State extremists seizing much of the country.

Security concerns also run high, especially after two Iraqi refugees were arrested in Kentucky four years ago on charges they plotted to help kill American troops in Iraq. U.S. officials appeared to miss several security warnings. Lawmakers and presidential candidates have cited the case in opposing more Syrian refugees in the U.S.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the House Homeland Security Committee chairman, said the U.S. has "a responsibility as well, to protect the American people and our country. Terrorists have exploited the refugee process to sneak into our country in the past, and officials have warned my committee that we lack the on-the-ground intelligence in Syria needed to confidently vet individuals for resettlement."

Stacie Blake, director of government and community relations for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, said the U.S. was equipped to properly screen refugees fleeing Syria. "We have faith in our system's ability to vet," she said. Her group is among several pushing for the administration to raise by more than 40 percent the total number of refugees allowed in annually.

Those resettled in communities around the U.S. are treated as legal immigrants who are immediately eligible to work. They have to apply to become legal permanent residents and receive green cards within a year of arriving. They can later become citizens.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-09

[DirtyDan]

Where's Russia and China in all of this? They're the ones that vetoed the UN Security Counsel's resolution to go into Syria and attempt to police the civil war in the first place.

[capcc76]

Obama wants to open doors, but he knows that will kill chances if a democrat getting elected.

Case in point, Obama cares nothing about people. He cares only about politics and his legacy crap like Iran deal and Obamacare. People who champion him are blind.

[Usernames]

No where in the world is there a discussion of letting in the millions of "refugees." Instead, governments just do it. Citizens have no say, no influence, and no role, other than to line up and get ready to pay more in taxes and probably get blown to bits by more than a few terrorists who have come in with the asylum seekers. Totalitarian leaders throughout the world. No better Putin.

[Rancid]

Where's Russia and China in all of this? They're the ones that vetoed the UN Security Counsel's resolution to go into Syria and attempt to police the civil war in the first place.

They aren't the ones who instigated the civil war, it was the US, as usual.

[konying]

Where's Russia and China in all of this? They're the ones that vetoed the UN Security Counsel's resolution to go into Syria and attempt to police the civil war in the first place.

Both were smart enough to vote against going into Syria full stop and both even smarter not to take any refugees at all from Syria

[craigt3365]

They aren't the ones who instigated the civil war, it was the US, as usual.

Though many here would like to blame the US for everything, the Syrian Civil war was brought during the Arab Spring uprisings, starting in Tunisia. Reasons for the uprisings?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_Revolution

The demonstrations were precipitated by high unemployment, food inflation, corruption,^[10][11] a lack of political freedoms like freedom of speech^[12] and poor living conditions.

Syria followed later:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War

The Syrian Civil War (Arabic: الحرب الأهلية السورية‎) is an ongoing armed conflict taking place in Syria. The unrest began in the early spring of 2011 within the context of Arab Spring protests, with nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government, whose forces responded with violent crackdowns. The conflict gradually morphed from prominent protests to an armed rebellion after months of military sieges.^[72]

Interesting comment from the above link:

The state of human rights in Syria has long been the subject of harsh criticism from global organizations.^[121] The country was under emergency rule from 1963 until 2011, banning public gatherings of more than five people,^[122] and effectively granting security forces sweeping powers of arrest and detention.

Might have been nipped in the bud if the UN Security Council took decisive action. Unfortunately, profits prevented this. And that wasn't the fault of the US.

[DirtyDan]

Where's Russia and China in all of this? They're the ones that vetoed the UN Security Counsel's resolution to go into Syria and attempt to police the civil war in the first place.

They aren't the ones who instigated the civil war, it was the US, as usual.

I often laugh when I read Russian news stories and compare them to the exact same story published from an American source - it's like two completely different topics!

My news sources state it was the people that rose up, and that Russia was influenced in vetoing intervention due to their selling massive amounts of arms to the regime (as well as their ports and infrastructure upgrades). So, seeing as I'm not from the Middle East and mostly reliant upon English speaking new sources, how do you come to the conclusion that is was the US that started the civil war? I'm interested to hear your opinion.

[schlog]

They aren't the ones who instigated the civil war, it was the US, as usual.

Though many here would like to blame the US for everything, the Syrian Civil war was brought during the Arab Spring uprisings, starting in Tunisia. Reasons for the uprisings?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_Revolution

The demonstrations were precipitated by high unemployment, food inflation, corruption,^[10][11] a lack of political freedoms like freedom of speech^[12] and poor living conditions.

Syria followed later:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War

The Syrian Civil War (Arabic: الحرب الأهلية السورية‎) is an ongoing armed conflict taking place in Syria. The unrest began in the early spring of 2011 within the context of Arab Spring protests, with nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government, whose forces responded with violent crackdowns. The conflict gradually morphed from prominent protests to an armed rebellion after months of military sieges.^[72]

Interesting comment from the above link:

The state of human rights in Syria has long been the subject of harsh criticism from global organizations.^[121] The country was under emergency rule from 1963 until 2011, banning public gatherings of more than five people,^[122] and effectively granting security forces sweeping powers of arrest and detention.

Might have been nipped in the bud if the UN Security Council took decisive action. Unfortunately, profits prevented this. And that wasn't the fault of the US.

Little bit simple-minded. One key to it all is the fiat currency for trading oil.

The truth is behind the smoke.....

[derator01]

Please stay on topic and show respect to other members.

[kamahele]

I don't have issues with us taking in refugees from this crisis but normally, the US takes in a lot of refugees from all over the world. We also have 11.5 million unregistered aliens, many of which are refugees from Central American drug wars. Europe has a back yard, and we have a different back yard. Big question is, why aren't rich middle eastern countries like Saudi Arabia taking in refugees?!

[JakeSully]

Obama wants to open doors, but he knows that will kill chances if a democrat getting elected.

Case in point, Obama cares nothing about people. He cares only about politics and his legacy crap like Iran deal and Obamacare. People who champion him are blind.

Most champion him only because of 3 things:

1. Ended wars costing us money and lives and limbs

2. Didn't fight LBGT for equal rights

3. Didn't like being dropped by insurance companies coverage

Can someone do better than him? Sure

But has anyone done as good a job as him domestically to make folks better? Nope, not in my lifetime.

I would like the next POTUS to tread very carefully in the world affairs as the sideeffects are refugees and we already have a ton from Somalia in the Minnesota area and we actually gave refugee status to the Tsarnev family under Bush. Some good Americans they turned out to be.

[Scott]

The number of people allowed to immigrate to the US is set by Congress and from that number, the President sets the number of refugees who will be allocated spots. Any of those fleeing conflicts in the M.E. potentially could apply for resettlement. Usually, the UN will submit an application for refugees. Any of those fleeing who have a connection to the US will be given priority, including those who have family members already in the US. If they have family members, then they are required to enter as an immigrant and not as a refugee and the family is required to sponsor them and pay the costs associated with resettlement.

[craigt3365]

The US paid the UNHCR almost 1.3 billion last year to help refugees around the world. And has some 450,000 refugees in the country.

http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e492086.html

As far as being a donor to this worthy organization, the US is in the #1 spot by a big margin.

http://www.unhcr.org/558a639f9.html

[glaswegian]

the eu is turnin out tae be a big failure and is headin at full speed for a break up, this refugee prb cany be stopped unless the war going on in syria can be stopped

[IAMHERE]

Looks to me like the same anti-Americans that complain about the USA being the worlds policeman, not they want the USA to be the worlds home for all the immigrants. The USA has plenty of immigrants (legal and non-legal) every year already.

[Scott]

An off-topic post that violates Fair Use Policy has been removed.

[otherstuff1957]

Europe is engaged in a large-scale experiment in social engineering. It will probably be 30 or 40 years before we can really assess the results of that experiment. Perhaps it will turn out well, perhaps it will not.

The US should wait until the European experiment's results are clear before rushing into a serious commitments.

[ozyjon]

It's going to be a disaster, the European culture / way of life will change,

Europe is mainly catholic yet the majority of refugees are Muslim,

conspiracy theories are rife (and could be true) many theories point to a

new WW3, could this really happen, where are the Aliens when you need

them to protect us ? Should we worry, the US caused all this in the first

place, many YouTube videos to watch now.

A Muslim, sometimes spelled Moslem,^[1] relates to a person who follows the religion of Islam

Muslim “refugees” in Budapest chanted “Allahu Akbar” and “<deleted> you” while others in Italy attacked an old lady and threw feces at bystanders as Germany announced that it would be prepared to take 500,000 asylum seekers every year.

You will never see the truth on Television news.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed.