Less than a year ago, in response to an historic global refugee crisis, involving millions of Syrians in flight from violence and conflict, President Obama directed his Administration to increase the number of Syrian refugees provided safe haven in the United States.
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The United States has officially achieved President Barack Obama’s goal of accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees in fiscal year 2016 with more than a month to spare.
The Obama administration’s objective was to reach the refugee goal by the beginning of the next fiscal year, which begins on October 1. “Our 10,000th Syrian refugee will arrive this afternoon”, National Security Adviser Susan Rice said in a statement.
Though formerly supported by both parties, the refugee program has become more controversial since the 2001 terror attacks and more recent Islamic militant attacks around the world.
Rice said the USA will admit at least 85,000 refugees from various countries this year. In fiscal year 2015, the USA accepted 1,500 Syrian refugees.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters the administration plans to increase the number by a few thousand in fiscal 2017.
Now the US has already admitted more than six times the number of refugees from the civil war-torn Mideast country it took in the previous fiscal year. Obama would like to see a “ramping up of those efforts” but is realistic about how quickly that could happen, he said.
“Thousands of families from Syria have found safety on our shores, and that is a wonderful thing”. After approval, arrangements are made to match the refugee with a voluntary agency in the US that specializes in helping them find a new home and employment. “The U.S. must do more to uphold its responsibility to do all it can to protect those fleeing human rights abuses”. In comparison, more than 378,000 Syrians have sought asylum in Germany in the past five years. The Obama administration has said that refugees fleeing war and persecution are the most scrutinized of all immigrants who come into the United States.
Obama’s decision to admit any Syrian refugees has been opposed by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and many GOP lawmakers, who have stoked fears that there might be terrorists in their midst.
Digging through state department data revealed 196 Syrian refugees moved to Tennessee, 103 to Memphis.
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On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States had reached a set goal of welcoming 10,000 refugees from Syria.
