Obama is scheduled to host a summit on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly to call on worldwide leaders to help with the global refugee crisis, according to the State Department.
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The U.S. has tried to encourage other countries, too, to increase their contribution to alleviating the refugee crisis.
“The common sense concerns of the American people are simply ignored as the Administration expands its reckless and extreme policies”. Jeff Sessions, who chairs the Immigration and the National Interest subcommittee, said in a statement.
Kerry made the remarks to members of Congress on Tuesday, a senior administration official told NPR.
Kerry has said repeatedly over the past year that the United States will admit at least 100,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017 and try to admit more if it were able.
The administration has not said how numerous new refugees they expect to come from Syria.
The Southeast Asian nation, also known as Myanmar, sent 18,386 refugees to the United States in 2015, more than 26 percent of the total and surpassing Iraq, the previous leader that past year sent 12,676 refugees. “As the secretary has said, this is who we are; this is America at its best”. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has called for allowing in 65,000 Syrian refugees.
Congo has also seen a massive uptick in refugees over the last month, while admissions from Iraq, Bhutan and Myanmar remain strong. Last year Donald Trump suggested temporarily barring Muslim immigrants from the U.S. That bill would also require the FBI to perform a background investigation on every refugee from those countries, in addition to the one the Department of Homeland Security now conducts.
“My position has been that I just hope they are well vetted before they are brought over”, said Sen.
The refugee policy has also been the top issue in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. According to the annual refugee report to Congress, obtained by the Wall Street Journal, the number of refugees admitted will increase from 85,000 this fiscal year to 110,000 in 2017.
Refugees – who often wait more than 1 ½ years in camps before being resettled – undergo strict vetting by the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies before being brought into the US but some Republicans have noted that FBI Director James Comey said in some cases Syrians’ backgrounds aren’t fully known because there is no documentation available to the U.S.to research.
The news comes only days after it was reported that Obama had delivered on his pledge to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016.
While the number of Syrians coming to the U.S.is on the rise, overall it is a drop in the bucket.
San Diego led the nation in resettling Syrian refugees, welcoming 604. But no Syrian refugees have been accused of plotting or carrying out attacks inside the United States. It’s a leading source of refugee resettlement.
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Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have sought refuge in Europe while many others wait in neighboring countries and refugee camps for the war to end or a chance to move away from the carnage.
