RefugeesWith 10,000 Syrian refugees resettled in the U.S., are more on the way?
This week, the Obama administration announced that it plans to accept 110,000 refugees from around the world in 2017, a 57 percent increase. This comes after the United States met its goal in August of settling a minimum of 10,000 Syrians in 2016, as part of its commitment to do more for Syrian refugees. Focusing on violence and terror drives xenophobia and resentment but does little to change the status quo. It also misrepresents the refugees who have settled in the United States. The vast majority of refugees, Syrian refugees included, are peaceful and looking forward to integrating into U.S. society. In 2015, the Obama administration acknowledged that the United States could effectively settle more Syrian refugees. The United States has a unique opportunity to safely settle more Syrian refugees as part of a united response to the country’s ongoing civil war. Time will tell whether the current ceasefire will lead to a lasting peace and allow Syrians to rebuild their lives and contemplate a return to their homeland.
On 12 September, a new cease-fire took effect in Syria.
With a lull in fighting, some are hopeful for an end to the nation’s ongoing civil war. Yet, even if the war ends soon, rebuilding the country will take time. As many refugees anxiously wait and hope for peace and the opportunity to return to their homeland, the U.S. government has revised its position on refugees.
This week, the Obama administration announced that it plans to accept 110,000 refugees from around the world in 2017, a 57 percent increase. This comes after the United States met its goal in August of settling a minimum of 10,000 Syrians in 2016, as part of its commitment to do more for Syrian refugees.
Some people have described the settlement of 10,000 Syrians refugees in 2016 as a dangerous “surge.” Former Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann was quoted as saying, “President Obama is doing everything within his power to advance an Islamic invasion of the U.S.” She added that the refugees were “primarily made up of Muslims emanating from global terror hotspots.”
Others have lamented there were too few Christians among the settled, and that the Obama administration is biased and supports the entry of Syrian refugees at the expense of reforming the nation’s resettlement policies.
Writing about Syrian resettlement in April, I asked, what are the chances that a refugee might become your next-door neighbor? With only about 2,000 refugees settled through 2015, the odds were low.
But what do the numbers mean now?
Is it time to worry?
Has the increase in the number of Syrian refugees bound for the United States and settled in recent months compromised the vetting process? Erik Prince, former CEO of the military contractor Blackwater, argued, “The U.S. government has very little idea where refugees are coming from” and cannot protect the nation from acts of terror.
Nevertheless, vetting continues to follow a strict system that includes two stages of interviews that begin with the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNHCR determines a refugee’s status according to the Geneva conventions by collecting a variety of personal and biometric data. Those refugees who have completed their screening are referred to the United States, where the Department of Homeland Security conducts a second round of reviews and interviews that often take several additional months.
